At the age of three, I sat on my dad’s lap in front of the home computer. Before my eyes I saw clouds, a sun, and a blue sky appear on the screen. He was drawing on Microsoft Paint, and within a few years, he would be the one watching me draw on that computer any chance I got.

 

By the time I was 14, I had created hundreds of drawings using Microsoft Paint. The home computer did not have internet access, so I spent hours every day figuring out what I could create on the applications available. Animations sprang from PowerPoint slides, illustrated short stories formed on Publisher, and I even created my own brand for video creations, Garage Door Productions, where I roped my siblings into being detectives, mob bosses, and music video artists. When I wasn’t starring in my self-written productions, I was pouring hours into the editing process behind the scenes meticulously creating transition slides and stitching together clips. 

 

It wasn’t until my high school art teacher introduced me to graphic design and Adobe products that I discovered those skills could be a real future for me. My art teacher created new class material and independent study projects for me as I surpassed every graphic design course my school had
to offer.

 

I was finally able to focus all my energy on art at Saginaw Valley State University, obtaining a degree in graphic design with a minor in marketing. While earning my degree, I also gained first-hand experience as a graphic designer at the university’s Center for Academic Innovation where I created graphics for online courses, designed booklets and promotional materials for symposiums, and expanded my knowledge of accessibility in the design field. 

 

Post-graduation, I found work at a small print shop in my hometown where I designed materials for local businesses and walk-in customers. It was there that I learned the production side of the design field; printing, scoring, cutting and stapling everything I designed on my computer and often also meeting the customers who would be using those materials first-hand.

 

It wasn’t long before I was itching for a change, and found it at a publishing group working in the interior book design department. I was first hired as a design associate correcting backlist titles to be reprinted, which was often tedious work, but helped me gain knowledge about the ins and outs of book design. My passion for books and how to design them well grew when I was later promoted to a full graphic designer position after only one year. Working on the typography and layout design for the interiors of hundreds of frontlist titles gave me a whole new skillset. Surpassing my previous design experience focused on mass-production, and entering into a new mindset of using my expertise to create a product with finesse and purpose. Even with the constraints of publishing: deadlines, budgets, and author preferences, being able to create a beautiful design from pages of raw text was both fulfilling and a welcome challenge that sharpened every skill I brought to the position and gave me a new appreciation for the minute details of typographic design.

 

Outside of my day job, I stay busy with freelance design work creating logos, yard signs, product labels, and other materials for local businesses and events. I also run an art blog for my illustrations that brings out my weird love of exploring the everyday lives of animals and inanimate objects.

 

My passion has always been in creating something impactful with a touch of fun. Something as useful as it is simply a joy to look at. The beginnings of that idea started back when I was sitting on the computer having fun with my dad, and continues in my design work to this day, over twenty years later. 

Nadine lives in Michigan and tries to stay as close to the lake as she can. When she’s not drawing or designing you can find her working on her goal of reading all the Newbery award winners, going on long walks through the woods with her partner, Talea, hanging out with a few of her seven siblings, or watching Chicken Run and laughing until she cries.