We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Natalie McCray-Krauz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Natalie, appreciate you joining us today. Parents can play a significant role in affecting how our lives and careers turn out – and so we think it’s important to look back and have conversations about what our parents did that affected us positive (or negatively) so that we can learn from the billions of experiences in each generation. What’s something you feel your parents did right that impacted you positively.
During my design career I have always drawn on one of the main things my parents taught me; especially my mother. She said “It is not how others see it but how you see!” I was taught that although we can share perspectives with others never let it dictate other ways of seeing for yourself. See things for more than what they are.
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I have applied this to the many areas of design I have worked in throughout my career from styling, illustration to graphic design to now jewelry design. Every aspect of design, no matter the genre, is about problems and solution. If the mind can think it then it is matter of finding a way to bring that idea to fruition.
My mother’s a very creative fiber artist and my father is a retired architect who has worked on same amazing projects from Ralph Lauren to NASA. The story of his licensing exam was a validation and example of problem solving. I found that seeing it “my way” allowed me to navigate design problems by examining the solution first rather than problem. If you visualize the result you can work steps backward or in another order to solve the problem. Answers are linear, at times, if we remove the obstacles.
These mental tools come in handy especially with projects where the budget constraints are tight. I always want clients to look like caviar even on a spam budget. I also implement cross marketing during times like this. My clients are aware of each other and when appropriate I create win win situations that cuts costs. Sometimes you have to think outside the box to see unexpected cross overs. I did a very successful Christmas campaign pairing a high end, boho women’s boutique with a hardware store.
It is the problem solving and psychology behind design that has held my interest for years.
Natalie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Natalie McCray is a highly creative and multitalented freelance art director, graphic designer, photographer and illustrator with extensive experience in multimedia, marketing and print design. She has been giving voice to clients’ visions with innovative designs and brand development for almost 25 years. Innovation not only in creativity and presentation, but in client relations as well—where other companies stop listening is where McCray starts. At the heart of her design strategy is communication. She is able to clearly and concisely identify the message and present it in a way that transcends barriers and results in a moment of “a-ha” for the client and their audience. A comprehensive, very hands-on approach to art direction and design allows McCray to integrate all aspects of a project into a seamless whole. This approach allows her access to clients’ minds and transforms sketchy visions into a branded identity that occupy a niche in consumers’ thought process. “I love to see things for more than what they are. Art can always be found in the unexpected. And I love to create things that give a voice to that”.
Best recognized for her award-winning advertisements for retailers, restaurateurs and merchants around the globe, Natalie has a diverse skill set that includes exceptional collaborative and interpersonal skills, well-developed written and verbal communication abilities, as well as being a team player but is also a leader and self-starter. She is skilled in client / vendor relations and negotiations in order to build and maintain “win-win” partnerships. Always a passionate and inventive creator of innovative marketing strategies and campaigns; McCray is accustomed to performing in deadline-driven environments with an emphasis on working within budget requirements. She works with corporations and small businesses, as well as on personal projects that fulfill her quest for beauty and balance, McCray investigates materials and mediums that allow her to reinvent her work and unilaterally raise her bar and the bar around her. She has effectively coordinated other freelance designers, consultants and vendors to meet all project requirements while established trusting relationships with designers, vendors, and key clients. No detail is too small in the world of creating design cohesion.
While Natalie’s artistic talent was evident as a young child born in history filled Tuskegee, Alabama they were also nurtured within the landscapes of Germany, Italy and New York. She was born to an architect father and fiber artist mother with both pragmatic and artistic sensibilities. The family moved to Jacksonville, Florida when McCray was very young. It is where she calls home with both parents residing in American Beach, Florida. Although recognized for her award-winning designs for clients from South Africa to France, small business to Fortune 500, Natalie has provided creative designs for major initiatives in Jacksonville, Florida including Sight & Sound, MugWump, Pilot Pen, Flying Iguana, Coop 303, Mayo Clinic, LISC Jacksonville, The SmileStylist, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, as well as Arbus and Jacksonville Magazines; serving as a graphic designer, columnist, illustrator and photographer. She has designed several major projects specifically for the arts, transportation, education and businesses serving the African American community in NE Florida and beyond. A few of these projects include The Ritz Chamber Players, Donovin Darius Foundation, DCPS, FSCJ, GroundWorks Jacksonville Youth Corps, and the HBCU Conferences 2020-2022. Other global and local clientele includes Rodo Italy, the Golden Globes & Oscars, Pilot Pen, Al’s Pizza, Flying Iguana, Coop 303, The SmileStylist, Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens and Mayo Clinic,
Whether conceptualizing in-store displays, planning client events, photographing products for campaigns or developing branding programs, McCray works in a design “ego free zone” simply for the love of marrying form and function. Her company motto is “All information can be beautiful”. This aesthetic thread is carried throughout all projects in a multitude of genres including art direction for films (Baby of the Family, Tina McElroy-Ansa) full bus wraps, retail packaging, merchant logos and advertisements. She has been recognized for her attention to detail from print house design awards to a handmade media-kits recognized by Gucci. The designs are special to consumers and clients to whom some deemed McCray the “aesthetic director” for the many design hats she wears. Identity packages, direct mailers and advertisements crafted for boutiques are saved and collected, one series having been used as a teaching aid at the University of North Florida as an example of a successful campaign strategy. “We may live in a world where design lines are blurred but cohesion is always the a focus to complete the story.”
Design was always a part of her life. Her artist mother always made certain that she never followed the perception of others but to see thing for more than what they were. “See what you see something can be.” Armed with a BA in Fashion Design and Marketing from the American College (now SCAD) in Atlanta, Georgia; these skills were honed from the very diverse projects she managed in the Reddi-Arts graphic department to the corporate advertising world of BellSouth’s BAPCO where quantity and quality were the focus. After toggling between the corporate world and freelance with the likes of HGTV and Pinewoods Studios, McCray saw her window. Jobs are easy to come by but a career built on a passion for all things art, drive and self-determination are not. Using tools such as the full Adobe Creative Suite – PhotoShop and Illustrator, Quark Express, InDesign, and the Office Suite – Word, Excel and PowerPoint is included in nearly 30 years later love of design and helping clients’ vision come to life is still a passion.
McCray brings her personal aesthetic of beauty to every endeavor, whether a corporate logo, pro-bono projects or a purely personal expression of joy within her personal artwork. Practical experience has brought to the table a sense of what the public wants and understands and how to visually create the abstract thoughts of her clients. One thing McCray adheres to for all clients and finds applicable is a favorite quote from Maya Angelou. “They may not remember what you said but they will remember how you made them feel.” To McCray, this is the aim of great design.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
My business was built on word of mouth. I would not recommend it in this day and age. People would see advertisements or photos and call seeking the designer or photographer. The world is a small place. I lived in Florida and had a new client from California find me via a printer I used in New York that had sent out one of my direct mailers in one of their sample packs. My work has always spoken for itself. I love design and photography.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
I had to unlearn that a pedigree doesn’t make you a professional nor good at something. Knowledge is a tool but so is talent, hard work and practice with all of the above. I was a stylist for other photographers for years. They used to call me the light finder. When cameras went from film to digital, a photographer handed me the camera on set one day and said “you always have great ideas for the shot. Shoot it now. It’s digital so we aren’t out anything.” From that moment I was hooked. He lent me an old g film camera and I practiced and asked a million questions of my photos friends.
Unfortunately in the midst of of my journey I was diagnosed with keratoconus and declared almost legally blind. Thankfully after two cornea transplants I picked up where I left off. I combined all my loves into one and became a one stop shop ad agency.
Although educated in design and marketing I learned to remove limitations of what I thought I needed to try. Knowledge comes in many forms and from a host of sources. I unlearned that it could only come from a book. I then began to own my talents. Once again the thread of “how you see” had raised me up.
Now I am designing jewelry and learning the marketing tools of social media. The platform is ever changing but with an open mind and research I hope to find my rhythm.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mamieandbecky?igsh=OXczcTYzN3FxNWp4&utm_source=qr
- Other: https://www.vogue.com/photovogue/photographers/103217
Image Credits
All Photos & Artwork by Natalie McCray-Krauz