Tyler Elise Blinderman
Cloudia and Friends by Tyler Elise Blinderman
Tyler Elise Blinderman is a Boston-based (soon to be Vermont) designer and illustrator with a strong focus on personal growth, mental health, and the environment. We spoke with Tyler to learn more about her career path, where she finds inspiration, and some of her favorite design resources.
Hi Tyler! Tell us about yourself, how did you get to where you are today? What first sparked your interest in design?
I was a pretty creative kid growing up, but I never really thought about going into design until I was in my first semester of college. When I was young, I wanted to be a chef and in high school I was set on being a photographer, and then somehow I ended up going to school for Biochemistry. I was actually taking an Intro Graphic Design class to fill a requirement in my first semester and that’s where I had the “this exists and I’m thinking about doing biochem for the rest of my life?!” realization. I switched my major so fast and it was the best decision I think I have ever made; it is truly incredible to be able to do what you love every day.
Designer Tyler Elise Blinderman
How would you describe your aesthetic and how has your design style changed over time?
I think as you grow as a person your aesthetic naturally tends to grow with you. For a long time, I was basing my art off of what I thought other people would like. I was really focused on lettering with “shareable” quotes and at a certain point it felt like a chore to create. Now, I tend to focus on topics that are important to me, whether it’s mental health, social justice, environmentalism, etc. and I create them in a way that feels exciting and more aligned with me. I’m sure my work could look completely different a year from now, but that’s also a really exciting part about growing as an artist.
Where do you find creative inspiration?
It’s hard to nail down just a few places because I feel like I’m constantly drawing in inspiration no matter where I may be, but I’d say I mostly draw inspiration from nature and the communities that I’m a part of. One of those communities is a network of New England Designers called Bay State Design Shop, or BSDS for short. It’s incredible to have a place to go to share ideas, get feedback, or even attend in person events (which will hopefully return soon!)
Social media is also such an easy tool to use to find inspiration. I follow so many amazing artists and creators, I find myself being inspired by them on the daily. Sometimes seeing someone create something even just gives me the inspiration to pick up my pencil and get to work on something I’ve been putting off for a while.
What’s one of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?
One of my favorite projects that I’ve worked on to date is the Good & Gooey branding and baking mix packaging. So far, we’ve created a handful of different mixes with varying packaging and it’s really cool to see this cohesive family built out. Package design is always so exciting because you get to see and hold a tangible end product. These were also even more fun, because the actual end product was some delicious cookies and brownies. Highly recommend.
Good & Gooey Branding and Baking Mix Packaging by Tyler Elise Blinderman
What are some of your favorite design resources?
Recently I’ve been trying to learn more about the business side of things and have really learned a ton from the book Freelance, and Business, and Stuff: A Guide for Creatives by Amy and Jennifer Hood, as well as The Dark Art of Pricing by Jessica Hische. I also love the Chrome extension Muzli for some great design inspiration all consolidated into one place. I’ve always wanted to get into more design podcasts, but it’s so hard to tear myself away from true crime-- if anyone reading this has any recommendations, please send ‘em my way!
What advice would you give to designers who are just starting out?
Oh man, I could write a novel here, but I’ll stick to my top 3.
My first piece of advice is: don’t be afraid to suck at something new. Everyone started somewhere, if you saw my old sketchbooks, you would cringe. It’s so easy to want to be immediately incredible at something, but all things take time and practice, and in a few years, you’ll look back at your progress and be amazed with how far you’ve come.
My second piece of advice is: don’t be afraid to take risks. This one is different for everyone and I want to acknowledge that there are some risks that some folks don’t have the privilege to take, but no matter how big or how small they may be, trust that you can handle whatever is coming your way. Changing my major to design felt like the riskiest thing in the world at the time, but now I see that it was the single best decision I have ever made. So, whatever it is, go for it.
And my third piece of advice is: take a break! Make time for other hobbies or even just time to relax. As someone who works full-time in design, and does design in their free time for fun, trust me when I say it can very easily become not fun anymore. It’s so important to me to invest time in other things that I love, whether it’s going for a hike, reading a book, spending time with friends and family, etc. in order to feel refreshed and inspired when I get back to what I’m working on. So if you’re starting to feel burnt out and frustrated, put it down, go for a walk, it’ll be there when you get back.
Normalize Changing Your Opinion by Tyler Elise Blinderman
Thank you for sharing with us Tyler! To view more of Tyler’s work, check out her shots on Dribbble.
All images courtesy of Tyler Elise Blinderman.