Interviewing to Pom Graphic Design. A print designer.

Hello, so happy you visit me! Lots of thanks.

I am very pleased to interview to a great and talented print designer today, Pamela Gallegos. She is the owner of “Pom Graphic design” a graphic studio. I love her tribal and ethnic artwork! I hope you enjoy it!

Did you feel you wanted to be a designer since you were a child? Did you have a strong vocation for it?

I think it might have started in my adolescence years. I was unstoppable at doing doodles and spirals, spirals were found in each single one of my drawings. I would say that what gave me more inspiration was my traveling around my country, so many wonderful and mystic places to visit full of history, culture and of course art.

Tell us something about your background. Are you a self-taught designer? Have you done any course about patterns?

I started my graphic design career in Lima-Peru and then traveled to the states At the age of 19 for two reasons: 1 because I felt like I needed more to grow personally, 2 to finish my career in Miami Florida, where I achieved my Bachelor’s degree for Graphic Design in The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. I have always been very interested in learning more about different cultures and different ways of living life as well. Both have always intrigued me.

Now I am self-teaching myself with tutorials online to keep up with all the current tendencies and trends in the fashion and graphic design industry.

Pamela Gallegos at Gifford Lane Art Stroll. March 2nd 2014.

How long how you been designing patterns?

I started getting more into patterns in 2011 when I illustrated my first hand drawn pattern design, which I drew with pencil and finished off using Rapidograph pens. Then in 2012 I started to digitize all my illustrations to convert them in pattern designs.

How would you describe your style? Which colours do you like most and where do you find you get your inspiration from?

I would say my style is very much diverse but mostly focused on nature elements were always my number 1 inspiration to becoming an artist. You can see many organic and geometrical multicolor or black and white shapes in each piece, with tribal, Aztec, ethnic and native motifs as well including abstract representations of nature such as; the sun, the moon, spirals, rain, fire, river, wind, tribal motifs.

I also get my inspiration from different cultures and art movements. For example, some of my work has certain influence of my Inca culture, and native icons. These influences are not only from nature elements, but from animal elements as well. My art also has some Egyptian influences. An art movement that inspires some of my work is Art Nouveau, especially the organic shapes and fluidity that you will observe in my art.

You will see a diversity of color flow in my artwork which has a lot to do with my roots and my colorful Peruvian culture.

Do you usually paint by hand? How is your creative process?
I create my art with Rapidograph pens, pencil, oil, acrylics, color markers and then digitize it in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. It usually takes me around 2 weeks to have one artwork finished from hand illustration to digital form.

Do you license your work? Which brands do you work with?

Yes I do. I currently license with these companies: Kess Inhouse, Wysiwatch, DiaNoche Designs, Curioos, Rad France, Vividly Clothing, Poster Junkies, ArtsCase, Keka Case, Vandal T-shirts Brasil, Art From Concentrate, Artfully Walls, Casetagram, Hurunia and coming soon for summer 2015 I will be licensed with Bucketfeet & Dakine Outerwear Gear & Clothing.

Could you tell us the worst and the best for you about being a freelance designer?

For me the best part is the freedom and independence I get from working on my own. I guess any freelance artist would say that right? The feeling of being in charge of the money you make each month can be very liberating and inspirational. Of course it has its ups and downs. A downside would be when I get a creative block or lack of inspiration, and what is the best solution for this? Just to keep creating, even if it is nonsense doodles, we just gotta keep it coming, when we keep it flowing always something interesting will come and of course always with passion. We can't let a lack of inspiration stop us from working.

Do you think it is necessary to promote your work using the social media? Could you give us some tips and tell some of the best sites to do it?

Yes, it is called shameless self-promotion J. And it is essential for an artist to grow to expose ourselves and our art out there, then when the big clients and big companies come its when we can feel like all this hard work in promoting has come to achieve its purpose. There are plenty of sites for promoting, the ones I use the most and find that bring me the most sales and clients are: Instagram, Pinterest, Wanelo and Keep. And for online stores I find most of my graphic design clients on Etsy.

It would be nice to discover something about you daily life. How is a week day for you?

Of course it has to start with coffee right? J After that everything just flows. I spend my day working on freelance artwork for my graphic design clients, when I am done or find some time for myself I work on creating new patterns and artwork for my portfolio and online stores, and then just enjoy my day with my 2 furry ones, my husband and exercise every time I can, I am a big fan of indoor cycling.

Favorite moments or experience as an artist so far?

Mmm, not sure if I have experienced a “favorite moment” yet, but with the daily steps that I take towards growing, achieving and evolving within my art, I have to say that I do experience a sense of accomplishment. These are the moments that count the most and inspire me to become a better artist. I desire to be continuously creating and spreading my art, which hopefully one day will be recognized around the world. Maybe when that day comes I will be able to say that I have experienced my favorite moment.