We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmine Lorraine Mack a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jasmine Lorraine, thanks for joining us today. Can you share a story with us from back when you were an intern or apprentice? Maybe it’s a story that illustrates an important lesson you learned or maybe it’s a just a story that makes you laugh (or cry)?

I’ve done two different experiences that have helped me in multiple facets of design and learning how to be my own negotiator which can be hard. The first “internship” I ever got was a children’s book gig. Now, I put internship in quotes because it wasn’t really an internship; it was a freelance job that was set up by my school. In that situation, my learning experience unfortunately came with a lot of negative aspects. One being that I was doing more work than what was originally outlined and was being underpaid. When I tried to fight for myself and show how long it was taking me to work on some of the ridiculous requests of the client, they were very hostile and made working with them further from that point harder. I still finished out the job and completed a final children’s book, but it became a project I didn’t value because I felt like I was being taken advantage of. I don’t think my work was as good as it could’ve been as a result. My second apprenticeship was with New Era Caps as a creative designer. That was a more official role with a big company who works with licensed brands. Early on, I stood up for myself, my skill set, and what I know I can bring to the table. I fought for myself before the work started so I could get what I believed I was worth. And they trusted me. I was paid what I was worth, learned fast and pushed out efficient work quickly. I was put on a big project working on Super Bowl gear within a month because I was put in an environment to excel and thrive. It was fast paced and we did a lot of work in a short amount of time, but the team and the environment that I was in helped for creative push and generating ideas. I was the youngest person there too so I tried to make mentors out of everyone I encountered. In some cases, apprenticeships/internships are what you make it, but also what you get you will be able to give back a thousand percent. These experiences really fueled who I was not only as a designer, but also as a person in the work environment.

Jasmine Lorraine, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

This is funny to me because I’ve done a lot of thinking about this question recently. Starting at the basics as a a background, I’m a born and raised Florida girl. I try to live my life as the Black gold of the sun. I’ve always been creative. My background started in fine arts. I took a lot of drawing classes in high school. I always enjoyed it. I am a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design where I earned a BFA in Illustration with a minor in Animation and a Masters of Arts in Advertising. Through education, I was able to learn what I liked and didn’t like but I started very fine art/illustrated digital art based before my Masters. There’s a 3 year gap between my bachelor’s degree and my master’s degree where I did freelance work and my apprenticeship contract with New Era Cap. Once I went to get my master’s, I fell in love with design and advertising. Currently, I work in brand and marketing design for a real estate company while doing freelance work on the side for design or illustration. My goal is to shine a positive light on the brands and lives that I impact. I’m currently based out of Atlanta, GA, But as a I think about what sets me apart, I feel like SCAD helped a lot in that. I like to wear multiple hats and I consider myself to be multi-disciplined. As an Illustrator, I use imagination to tell stories through imagery. That’s something I can do through fine art mediums like water color, color pencils and paint, but I can also do that digital with digital paint as well. With design, I’m more safe, but also playful with creative brainstorming. Those skills enable me to tell stories for brands of the world through advertising. I work on campaigns, social media, print media, basically anything I can figure out. I’ve been working on simple animations as well, so I’m just putting my hands anywhere. I like to help brands advocate for what they value. I definitely believe in aligning my work with my values, because behind every brand are people. I want clients to be able to reach out, understand, and work for the clients they are marketing to. I also want my clients to be as passionate about their work as I am about working with them. It makes a real difference when you work with someone who cares about you and your vision.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

This story kinda falls back on some know your worth points that I touched on earlier because it’s always going to be a reoccurring thing with designers and freelancers specifically. So I’ve always been told growing up that being black I had to be 200% better than the best person in the room. But that was something embedded in me that ended up being a good and bad things in a lot of jobs I worked. I feel like with my first salary job I went above and beyond because I was gunning for a raise. But, that’s not a guarantee and jobs have programs and discretions with raises. So in this case, I had made it known I wanted one. I’m not a shy person with my money. But I felt like I had to show how bad I wanted it. I’m working slightly extra hours, taking on extra projects with skills that unfortunately no one else has on my team. Did I get the raise? No. Was it brought up to me like we know you wanted one, but blah blah insert some random excuse? Yes. At the end of the day, when I was working extra and doing more, I was burning myself out. Did my job know that? No. Did they ask? Not really. They just gave me more work because they felt I had shown I could handle it. Yes, I got a shoutout and recognized for what I was doing, but it didn’t result in what I wanted which was more money; so I felt like it was all for waste. I had to learn that if I’m going to do the extra work and extra things, I really need to do it for my betterment, my progression as a designer, and my own portfolio. I can’t let money be the controlling factor of how I work and how I am. That has been one of my biggest lessons to date.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I think my whole journey to where I am know shows resilience. And any artist, designer, musician, you know, any art discipline can tell you this. It really is a journey not a race. You might need to get your regular easy job til you hit what you’re really looking for. I was working 40 hours, sometimes overtime, as a host/server and eventually bartender for 3 years before I got my first big break with New Era after school. I had gotten some freelance gigs here and there but they weren’t even money for me to live on my own. I had to stay motivated to draw and keep learning. The first 1 -2 years after school, I didn’t get anything except rejection after rejection. You can’t let that make you think you’re not a good designer/artist or whatever your craft is. You just have to keep trying until you find someone who cares to see your potential to give you that shot. And even after that, when you get other opportunities, you have to see the wins with the loses. You can get your dream job and be unhappy. So even if you get something, that doesn’t feel like 100% you, make it worth it if you can and that’s all you have for the time being. I never saw myself doing what I am now, but every experience I learn from it and take steps in new directions along the way. I wouldn’t say that I’m where I can see myself being, just yet, but it doesn’t mean I won’t get there. It’s a marathon not a sprint.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jasminelorraine.com/
• Instagram: @jasminelorraine_art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasminelorraineart?mibextid=LQQJ4d
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasminelorraine

Image Credits
Jasmine Lorraine Mack