Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kaitlyn Armitano. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Kaitlyn, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

In my experience, having a curious mind and realizing that nothing is set in stone is what’s most important to being successful. Being curious about all the facets of your field as well as what’s going on in other fields around you is extremely important because it opens you up to unique and creative solutions that otherwise you wouldn’t have.

My first year In college I was all over the place with what I wanted to do. At first I was going to be a painter, then discovered printmaking and illustrations, decided that was going to be my career, and immediately changed to wanting to be a potter after finding joy in raku. I continued down this path of exploring all different creative fields until I found that I absolutely loved graphic design. That became my focus and my passion, but I didn’t stop wanting to explore other fields.

In the middle of finishing my degree I decided to take a fibers class, which to many made no sense because it wouldn’t count as an elective towards my graphic design degree, but wanted so much to take a class in something I knew I wouldn’t be able to learn on my own, and it was amazing. Being able to combine the two worlds into my work allowed my to create pieces I couldn’t have dreamed of without it. My senior project was a combination of animations that were triggered by tactile buttons that were created with what I had learned not only in my fibers class but also with what I was able to learn from taking a coding class. It was truly an amalgamation of all the random creative avenues I pursued—just because they interested me—and they came together to create something unexpected and unique.

That takes me to my current career where those little things I learned have helped just make my life easier and me faster as a designer. Something as simple as creating a box becomes something more interesting when I can take what I learned from using paper-folding techniques with fabrics and translate that into a box that brings excitement to the person opening it. It’s that little added spice that helps you think even further beyond the box.

I feel like a lot of times when we are just starting out we are told that we need to know right away what we are going to do with the rest of out lives, and that’s not only daunting but can paralyze us into never looking outside our chosen fields or exploring something completely out of our wheelhouses. To me, this is where burnout happens—and even worse, people end up hating the creative thing that once brought them joy and allowed them an outlet.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m very bad about talking about myself, but I’m a senior designer at a marketing communications firm specializing in consumer PR, social and digital media, influencer relations, and experiential marketing in New York City called HUNTER. In our department I can be tasked with anything from creating the full years worth of social assets for our clients feeds to creating all the need for our global events. No two days are the same—some days I’m editing photos, other days I’m crafting custom hand lettering, and just the other day, I was painting jackets.

Being able to touch all these different facets of what our clients need comes from me having the knowledge from the things I was curious about. It has made me a well rounded designer, and someone that is known for being able to do it all. That versatility has opened doors for me to be involved in projects that might have otherwise gone to other people or agencies. It has made for work that I’m proud of and never get bored of creating.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

For my, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is when we’ve finished a project and all get to sit back and see what happens to it when it’s released out to the world. Because my work materializes as object out in the wild, its extremely rewarding to see people interact or react to this thing you’ve worked on for so long. But being able to sit back with all the people who worked hard together to create this thing that it out there and laugh about the struggles and celebrate the victories, that’s what makes it all worthwhile.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I feel like a lot of non-creatives have a hard time understanding that creativity is more of a living thing that you nurture and keep alive, rather than a skill you’ve honed and can turn on at will.

Being creative isn’t something you can just turn on when asked to do something and immediately produce the perfect result. Instead, I think of it as something you fill up inside, like buckets of water. Some days you’re filled to the brim, and other days you need to let the water run a bit before you can start filling those buckets again.

Along with that though, it’s also something that can’t really be turned off. I’m sure there are plenty of creatives out there who have been staring at nothing for hours and doodling until they couldn’t doodle anymore, only for the idea to being forming as you’re in the shower or right before you feel yourself falling asleep. It’s alive inside you. And because of that, its also something you need to nurture and take care of just as you would anything else in your life. Going to shows, reading books, keeping wrappers or deciding to walk down a road covered in art instead of the main one—those little things are how creatives nourish their creative spirit. To non-creatives, they might seem unnecessary or unrelated to the work you do, but in reality, they’re essential for keeping that creative flow alive.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.krarmitano.com/