About Me
May 25, 2024
Hello there. My name is Staci Smith and I’m a designer. Creativity is my passion. My creative pursuits are varied, and it has been a challenge to showcase the different things I’ve worked on. Here’s a peek into my journey into graphic design with its joys and challenges along the way.
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I’m a life-long journaler, and I’d love to use that experience to write about my creative journey with all its ups and downs. I’m definitely not perfect, and I fail spectacularly sometimes. But my secret weapon is my growth mindset. No longer do I dwell on or punish myself for my mistakes. I ponder what went on, and see what I can learn from it. I then turn that into a dialogue in which I am teaching someone else. I teach them how to do it better, while explaining the ‘why’.
As long as I can remember I’ve pursued creative projects. I loved cutting things up as a child, and I made collages from the pretty pictures in magazines. I also loved to cut up old and thrift store clothes to see how they were constructed, and then use the elements to make something else entirely. I would draw, color, paint, craft, all the things. When I was about in middle school I realized that when I had control over the color palette I tended to use ALL the colors resulting in a psychedelic aesthetic. This earned me the nickname Psychedelic Staci, which I love.
My love of this colorful aesthetic has remained, and is my default. But, part of the challenge of design is to suit the needs of the design and brand, and so I can drop the rainbow colors when necessary. I’m adept now at using branding colors, and I can adopt a more demure palette anytime. Not everyone wants their retinas burned when looking at an image. I find the combination of all the colors of the light spectrum to be harmonious and delightfully stimulating.
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When I reached high school I signed up for a graphic design class and loved it! I learned about Photoshop, and expanded on those skills for the next 7 years, past high school and into college and even after. I graduated early from high school and started studying architecture at Texas Tech University. I learned much more about design, and loved it! I especially appreciated the technical aspects of design on the engineering and drafting side of architecture. I loved learning how to draw in 2D and 3D, for physical drawings and also in the computer. I took interior design courses too. I like the puzzle of rearranging elements in a space while working around things that must remain.
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After college I went to seminary school for a while until I got married. I didn’t pursue a design career then, but went into hospitality instead. I can’t help but still pursue creative projects, and I dabbled in all sorts of things. My husband and I decided to move to Washington state, and we’ve been here for 10 years now!
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I’ve worked at the Salish Lodge & Spa, a cool lodge that sits on top of a waterfall, for almost 10 years now. I’ve learned so much! Back in 2022 I moved forward with a long awaited career switch. I have not switched 100% yet, but I hope that will be soon. In the meantime I continue to build on my skills!
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I picked up my MacBook Pro on September 1, 2022 and I consider that the first day of my graphic design journey. I also picked up a set of Sony noise-canceling headphones that were expensive but totally worth it because I literally use them every day to help with my misophonia and ADHD.
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At that point I had very little experience with Apple products, and there was quite a bit of a learning curve for this Android & PC girl. I laugh that I had to Google the simplest things. But now I’m so glad I learned because I am Mac and PC literate, which is an asset. I can switch seamlessly between both, and as a bonus skill I’m good at transferring information and files between Apple and non-Apple products, like my Mac and Android smartphone.
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When I first learned graphic design back in 2000, YouTube didn’t even exist! Funny enough Photoshop is still the same (but better). In 2007 I stopped doing computer design, Social Media was still in its infancy, and smartphones weren’t around yet. Fast forward to 2022, everything is different! There are so many great resources to learn from, from YouTube tutorials to free courses online, and so much more!
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I’m passionate about learning new things. I love reading, puzzles, paper crafts, neuroscience, math (I’m a nerd), Tetris, and Pinterest. I love reading my Bible and I like to take my favorite verses and turn them into Bible verse pictures. I like to use a different font and style with each one.
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I have synesthesia, a brain perception where two senses are combined. I have grapheme/color synesthesia, which means my letters and numbers have a color attached to them that stays the same. For example, A is red, B is blue, C is yellow, D is green, and E is white. 1 is white, 2 is blue, 3 is red, 4 is green, and 5 is pink. I attribute this perception to my spelling ability and number recall. I’m also good at pattern recognition.
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When I started my journey back into graphic design, I was able to get a part time position at the Lodge where I worked as an assistant graphic designer. I’m so grateful for getting this opportunity to learn and grow so much. I work with the marketing manager and food & beverage manager to create all sorts of marketing materials and menus. I’m responsible for updating all the menus seasonally, with alcohol updates occurring more frequently. I create the holiday menus as well as specialty menus for partnership events like Maker’s Mark, Angel’s Envy, and Friendsgiving, and menus for themed months, like honey month or wine month.
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I also design advertisements, both print and digital, for the Lodge, as well as brochures and flyers. I’ve designed 3 wine bottle labels, 2 logos, and a t-shirt for them as well. I’ve created a Compendium from scratch that is used in all the guest rooms. I’ve learned so much every step of the way!
I learn new things every day, and I can’t stop! This has been such an awesome journey so far, and I’m excited to share it with you! So much more to come!
