Crista Rowe

I’m a fixer… with a baked-in sense of aesthetic and a range of tools in my wheelhouse. Throughout what you would call my formative years, I carried a sketchbook everywhere: schools, parties, car rides, etc. I was always the kid in the corner with a book and a pencil.

I also had the good fortune to have an amazing high school art teacher, who went above and beyond to introduce her students to a multitude of mediums. Coming from a rather low-income household, I was used to making do with what I had, or using it in some new way. That mindset grew wings with the introduction of things other than paper and pencil. By the time I graduated high school, I had experience working with paint, collage, printmaking, sculpture, woodwork, screenprinting, and porcelain.

Then in 1997 I started down the digital rabbit hole. Art was always part of my identity, but looking forward I knew that I needed to use it in a way that could generate an income. In my sketchbook days I dreamed of working for a company like Disney…and to be fair that dream never truly died, but my background tempered that dream with the realistic expectations of my circumstances. So, I traded a traditional pen for a pen tablet and threw myself into graphic design.

Almost right from the start I worked as a student designer on campus, taking positions in both Adult Education and the Communications offices. I learned to create practical pieces, make revisions, and most importantly maintain aesthetics while meeting customer expectation.

I hold a BFA in both Drawing/Painting as well as Graphic Design, and I currently work as a Graphic Designer for Village Printing, Inc. Fortunately for me, the work is varied and projects that allow creative freedom are sprinkled in consistently enough to keep it from getting old. A common issue I think for anyone who trades their skills for an income.