Nicole Garcia

Nicole Garcia a multidisciplinary 3D artist and product designer based in Portland, Oregon. Her work is playful yet refined, and she enjoys collaborating with clients to develop unique and fresh visual identities. Over the course of her career, Nicole has worked with a range of clients including Snapchat, Webflow, and HP.

Hi Nicole! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today? When did you first become interested in art and design? 

One of my earliest memories was watching my dad recreate the characters of my favorite show, Blue’s Clues. He used my crayons and drew them on notebook paper we had lying around. The finished result looked exactly like the actual show’s artwork — and the rest of my family was astonished. We didn’t know that my dad had such a knack for drawing!

Since then, I was mesmerized by the power of illustration. I practiced drawing in all of my free time after school, filling boxes upon boxes with sketches. I even got a drawing tablet and started creating digital art in Photoshop.

But as I got older, I knew I had to pursue a “more practical” career. So I explored paths in healthcare, computer science, business, and cybersecurity. It wasn’t until later in college that I stumbled upon the field of graphic design — and it seemed like the best of both worlds, balancing practicality with the art that I had loved so much my whole life. After pursuing graphic design for a few years, I found my way into where I am currently, with 3D art and product design.

3D Artist and Product Designer Nicole Garcia

How would you describe your aesthetic and how has your design style changed over time? 

My aesthetic is definitely on the playful side. I love incorporating design principles with my artwork to create a result that feels structured yet whimsical. And while I’ve always loved this style of work, it’s taken time to develop my skills to this point where I can capture what I’m envisioning. I started as a 2D illustrator, but it wasn’t until I became proficient in 3D that I felt like I could actually represent my artistic vision. 

I also treat every project as an opportunity to develop my skills further. In short, I think my style is ever-evolving.

Are there particular themes you like to explore through your work? What types of projects do you enjoy the most? 

Most of my personal work is inspired by my own daily life: I enjoy capturing experiences I’ve had or my other artistic interests in fashion, furniture design, or video games. For example, I’ve been enjoying the process of chronicling my various outfits through 3D characters, as it’s a way to blend my interest in clothing with 3D character design.

I love personal projects like these because it’s a chance to push myself out of my comfort zone. I can experiment, try new things, and even mess up or start over. Personal projects are more forgiving like that, because you don’t have to get it approved by someone else or meet a certain deadline. So I savor the opportunity to do personal work whenever I have time between client projects.

Your 3D art and animations are amazing and unique! What’s your creative process like when creating 3D art and animations?

There’s no way I’d be able to manage the full process on my own! So I’m grateful to have the collaboration of my partner, Eric Ruperto, who’s a motion designer. We’ll usually start by talking about any ideas we have: they might be silly, random, or based on recent life experiences. We’ll have a back-and-forth discussion, proposing new ideas or details based on what the other person has described. 

But, to decide which ideas to pursue, we gauge it against a certain criteria: Does it take our past work to the next level? Does it incorporate new techniques or new learnings since our last project? By asking these questions, we challenge each other to produce work that’s a step further from what we’ve done before. And that process of challenging ourselves characterizes a lot of our creative process.

In addition to your incredible visual art, you are also a skilled product designer. What’s your product design philosophy and how do you approach product design projects? 

My product design philosophy isn’t too different from my approach toward my artwork — it’s all about creating a positive experience for the user or viewer. With product design, there are just more factors to consider, like how to use design to address business needs, or how to build upon existing features in an elegant way, rather than haphazardly. Understanding those factors is key to successfully approaching product design projects.

You’ve worked with a range of clients including Snapchat, Webflow, HP, and Udacity over the course of your career. What is your creative process like when working with clients? What is your approach to creative collaboration? 

Similar to product design, a lot of the process in working with clients is all about understanding the larger context. Usually this is captured in the creative brief, which also outlines the client’s needs and wants. I try to maintain these details at the top of my mind, because if you can understand the client’s criteria, you can also understand the creative freedom available to you in any project. In doing this, I can identify where my creative input is valuable. And I can provide that to the client to create a result that we’re all ecstatic about.

You regularly share design tips, answer questions from your audience, and share behind-the-scenes looks at your process on platforms like Instagram. Why is this an important part of your work?

I didn’t have much guidance in my creative career, so I feel for others who are in a similar position. It can be almost impossible to feel confident in your work and your career path. You have to figure out a lot on your own, which can be discouraging. So one of my biggest goals has been to help out others, with the hope that my tips, advice, or process can shine a light on what it means to do this kind of creative work. 

Today, sharing what I do and how I do it has become integral to my work — and in many ways, it speaks louder than the finished product. 

Where do you find creative inspiration? Do you have any favorite design resources?

I used to struggle a lot with finding creative inspiration, because I didn’t know what I was looking for or how to navigate the labyrinth of content on social media. As I gained a little more experience, I then started to dictate where and how I should find inspiration, thinking it had to be “of a certain design caliber” to qualify as good inspiration. But that quickly becomes restrictive, and it can lead to creative burnout. 

Now, I’ve learned that the best place to look is in your own curiosity. In thinking about what naturally interests you, you can often find a plethora of inspiration. For example, I love reading, writing, photography, and connecting with new people. As I explore those interests — when I read a book on a new subject, or take a trip with others and document it with photos — I can reflect on what I’ve experienced and learned, which leads me to new inspiration for my work.

What advice would you give to designers and illustrators who are just starting out? 

Creative careers aren’t as glamorous as they might seem; it requires a lot of hard work. It’s stressful and confusing. And every day there’s new challenges — whether internally, like finding the time and energy to meet a deadline, or externally, like staying competitive in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence. 

But it’s also infinitely rewarding to pursue a career in creating beautiful, positive experiences for other people. If you can focus on that, while enjoying all the small wins along the way, you’ll find your own definition of success. That’s what matters most.

What are you working on now and what’s up next for you? 

Outside of a few ongoing client projects, I’m excited to renew my focus on putting out more educational resources. I’ve been publishing articles on my Substack since early 2022. Going forward, I’ll be writing more about freelancing, in addition to subjects like job hunting and product design. 

Collaborating with others has also become more of a focus for me. I recently launched a new personal website with the help of a friend who’s a front-end developer. I’m working with other designers to build out a small design agency, and we’re currently working on our first client project (more details to come!). So my work has shifted away from more independent projects and into more collaborative partnerships. I’m excited for this new chapter, and I’m looking forward to sharing my learnings along the way!

Thank you for sharing with us Nicole! To view more of Nicole’s work, visit her website, follow her on Instagram, check out her Dribbble shots, and follow her on Substack.

Nicole was nominated by Dribbble. All art courtesy of Nicole Garcia.