We recently connected with Cat Dickerson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Cat thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

One of the most meaningful things I have ever worked on as a designer was creating from scratch an accordion book that tells the story of meeting my miracle cat, Manny. The year 2022 was full of hardships, and it’s the year where I was sick all the time with bacterial infections, colitis, UTI’s or the flu, and when my cat came to me for the first time, he made my healing process easier.

I took an Introduction to Book Arts class in SDSU, and in that class I created a few books and I’d write/illustrate my own stories. The one I wrote and illustrated about my cat is called “November 6th”, as that was the date when things changed for the better for me.

Unfortunately, my cat is now missing and I haven’t seen him for nearly 3 months, so my illustration book of Manny is very valuable to me because it reminds me of the good things in life and to not give up.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a Graphic Design who attended San Diego State University for 4 years. I studied at first Computer Science for a year and then switched to Graphic Design for the rest of my university experience. I’m flexible with what I do. I am a digital and traditional artist, a book-maker, UX/UI designer, and I have worked with ceramics.

The services I offer to my community are digital art commissions. I create guidelines of how I price my services so people can have an idea of what I work with or what to commission me. I also sell stickers of my designs.

Throughout the month of December 2024, I designed some Christmas/New Year’s cards (featuring my cat, Manny), and over 55 people bought them. Some were from Europe, South America, and mainly in the United States.

Whenever I receive art commissions, I discuss in careful details what the client’s expectations are, and I like to give my input and suggest a few things that would make the art piece stand out. I invest a lot of time on an artwork and put a lot of attention to detail so that my clients are satisfied.

I’m proud that I was able to offer my art services to my community more than ever recently. I mostly worked with fanart of popular cat, and the owners seemed to have been super happy that someone invested some time creating an artwork of them.

I want my clients, followers, friends and fans to know that if they ever need any support relating to art and where to begin, that they have the courage to ask for my help or advise. And I also want them to know that I’m very adaptable when it comes to designing.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I entered the realm of Instagram back in 2016. In there, I created an art account that has remained at 200+ followers, and I feared that it was taking me nowhere. It was then until 2022 that I created a new account of my cat. What started off as cute pictures of my cats also lead to the opportunity to show my community my art.

In that moment, I collaborated with popular cat accounts that many people adored, and would create fan art. This got some attention and I got more requests as well as commissions to draw owner’s cats.

My advice to artists who want to grow their account (even if it’s not an art account) is to open yourself to the community and do fanart/collaborations. Your engagement with people could introduce you to new opportunities and exciting experiences.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I was in San Diego State University, I had the privilege of working on Thanksgiving Cards after being recommended by one of my Packaging Design professors.

I was honored to have the opportunity to show my artwork to over 200 people and finally have the recognition for it, but unfortunately that’s not what happened.

I was given specific instructions on what to include in the card. I created a total of 5 sketches. Once approved to move forward, I finally designed the Thanksgiving cards. Until one instance, the person I was talking to about the cards told me to replace parts of my designs, which meant I had to take even more time to revise something that could have been mentioned since the beginning. It was an irritating process and I thought it would all be worth it in the end because people would know that I made the San Diego State Thanksgiving Cards.

Or so I thought. Despite all my efforts, I didn’t get the recognition, and I barely got a “thank you” or a “well done.”

I suppose the lesson for me was to not expect much when it comes to rewards (compliments, recognition, money, etc.), but something I’d like to unlearn from my art experience is about short-selling myself just to satisfy other people who don’t truly appreciate your work. When it comes to art, you have to be firm on what you want and make it clear.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cdickerson.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elgato.designs?igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/raccatsuko?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@elgato.dabloons?si=AJFZvZ875GwgNf4T

Image Credits

@elgato.designs or Cat Dickerson