We recently connected with Olivia Stauber and have shared our conversation below.
Olivia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
I was lucky enough to have parents that encouraged my creativity from a young age. At age three, my mom was blown away by some of the drawings I was doing and took them to an art teacher. She asked if what she should do to help nourish this talent, should I be put in classes? The art teacher told her absolutely NO classes yet, just give me all the materials and mediums I could want to play and explore. That’s exactly what my parents did and I continued to play with paints, charcoal pencils, collage, and more. This then eventually developed into playing with fabrics, sewing, photographing my “looks”, and exploring the very mediums I use now in my career. I thank that art teacher every day for the advice she gave my mother.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a NYC based Art Director, Graphic Designer, and Photographer. I’ve always known I would be in a creative field, I was in AP Photography in highschool and wanted to go to school to be a Fashion Journalist originally. I ended up at the University of Miami studying Journalism and Photography while working on the school magazine. It was there I discovered the school had a Creative Advertising program where you could actually major in Art Direction.
Through the tactile skills I learned there and on the magazine, I started freelancing for small clients and eventually ended up at a brand called The Mayfair Group where I was integral in every step of their creative process. I am someone who easily sees how all things in a business connect to each other which I think is rare for creatives because sometimes we work in silos. This gives me a great advantage in my creative strategy as well as in how I am able to pitch to clients.
There are a few core things I believe. One, is that as an art director or designer, it is MY job to adapt my skills to your brands identity. I can serve as guidance to update or elevate what is already there, but it is imperative for me to understand and not try to change the core of the brand.
One thing I am very proud of is how I run a set. I believe that when issues arise, as the team builder, it is my job to make sure issues are fixed quickly and CALMLY. This allows everyone to keep moving forward and doing their job. It doesn’t matter who or how the problem arose, it only matters how it will be fixed.
I’ve been lucky enough to work with both agencies like Utendahl Creative when they worked with Go Puff, high luxury brands like Reza High Jewelry, and creator /podcasts like The Pretty Basic Podcast.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
CONTRACTS CONTRACTS CONTRACTS! All issue’s that have ever arisen in my freelance business could have been fixed with a better contract.
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
Remember that you hire a creative for THEIR expertise, eye, and taste. Trust them to use those things to serve you.
Contact Info:
- Website: oliviarstauber.cargo.site
- Instagram: instagram.com/livstauber
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-stauber-253575141/