Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Caitlyn Becerra. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Caitlyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
- I have been fortunate enough to be able to say I have had a couple of meaningful projects I’ve worked on but the one that has my heart right now are the pieces I’ve started doing of bugs. Growing up, I really loved science and learning about animals, bugs, the ocean, plants and space. Video games like Animal Crossing had a huge impact on me because in the game you get to catch and collect bugs, fish and fossils for your town’s museum, and in the process learn all about what you discovered. When it came time for college and starting a full time job, I became so focused on that, that I feel like I lost a bit of my childhood interests. During quarantine, I started listening to a science podcast called Ologies and there are a couple of episodes on bugs that absolutely reignited my childhood fascination with them. Last year I started experimenting with clay and made my first pair of earrings; Atlas beetles. They are clunky and messy but I love them and hope to make more bug earrings soon. Recently, I wanted to intersect bugs with another interest of mine: video games. I thought about doing a series of 8 bit/pixel art bugs and being able to educate people on the importance of bugs in the process. I started with the mighty Atlas Beetle and debuted him on Earth Day, explaining how the Atlas Beetle is a major environmental asset by eating decaying matter and being a seed disperser! For the second piece, I wanted to highlight critters closer to home, so I drew the beautiful and iridescent Miami Tiger Beetle, which can only be found in the Pine Rocklands in Miami Dade County. Last year, Zoo Miami wanted to demolish the Pine Rocklands and build a waterpark, effectively wiping out the Miami Tiger Beetle and many other creatures that call the rocklands their home. I joined Rewild Miami in protesting the zoo and writing to the mayor’s office, who luckily listened to their constituents and canceled the project. I believe educating people on the importance, and beautiful wonders, of our wildlife around us is imperative to the preservation of our environment and our fight against climate change. I am currently working on a moth from South Florida and cannot wait to share it.
Caitlyn, 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?
I am a graphic designer and illustrator, born and raised here in Miami, Florida to Cuban and Venezuelan parents. I was always drawing growing up and my father was a graphic designer so I just organically fell into it. I was taking AP art in high school and knew I wanted to pursue art as a career. I graduated from The Art Institute in 2017 and then briefly had a dog treat company for about a year and a half in which I created the logo design, branding and package design, and handled baking and selling before landing a full time graphic design position in 2018. I have worked in academia, media services, luxury hospitality and currently for an award winning advertising agency. My portfolio focuses a lot on illustration, logo and icon design, package design, and branding. I am proud of work that my personality and interests shine through whether that is the content/topic of the work, playful illustrations or funky colors. A lot of my personal work involves my passions which include food, geeky things like video games and Dungeons & Dragons character art, or topics I feel strongly about like the environment, science, and social issues.
How do you keep your team’s morale high?
Currently I manage a small team of three junior designers. I won the lottery because they are incredible and I honestly don’t need to stay on top of them or anything like that, they are rockstars. That being said, I feel like based on my experiences with bosses I loved, and managing these three, the most important thing you have to have is a sense of humor. Humor is going to relieve tension, it’s going to de-escalate issues, and it’s going to make the team dynamic a pleasant one. I’m not saying make jokes out of everything or never be serious, there are few things more annoying than someone who cannot take a single thing seriously. But advertising can be a high stress environment, with demanding directors, tight deadlines and pushy clients constantly looming over you, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and at the end of your rope. Having a team that you can duck into a conference room with really quick to vent and laugh with and crack jokes is a great way to let off steam and be able to shake the stress off. I tell my team (and others) that this is advertising, not an emergency room. No one is dying. Having a boss and coworkers we can crack jokes with and “laugh so we don’t cry” as we like to joke, makes a world of difference.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
While I do not claim to be an expert in tech or on things like NFTs, I do know that they are horrendous for the environment. NFTs are powered by blockchains which consume an insane amount of energy and have a significant carbon footprint. Additionally, NFTs are not fair to artists as they have a huge plagiarism problem, as many artist’s work were sold without authorization. So with all that said, I am not a fan of NFTs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://caitlynebecerra.wixsite.com/mysite
- Instagram: @DesignLagartija