We were lucky to catch up with Emily Lopez recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Emily, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I took the risk of being more open about my design style to become a better Art Director overseas and work as a Freelancer. This thought started when I used to work in ad agencies, although I appreciate all the experiences and I’m grateful for them, I began to think that I wanted more. So one day, I decided to be impulsive, so I sold everything and moved to New York. I’ll start my creative way from another angle, the angle that I’ve been imagining for a long time. So I did it, but unfortunately, a few months later, the pandemic arrived. it had a positive side because I could study more and try new opportunities based on the circumstances, so I started to post on Social media very often with every skill I learned until one day, I woke up and a big page of design share one of my projects, so after that great and talented people and opportunities arrived, and until today I keep having fun and growth with amazing projects and experiences, so one of the big lessons that I learned is that it worth it to be you, show people how you truly are, how you work, how you identify, what are your values and taste as a person and as a working person, what do you like, but also, my other big lesson is that, don’t stop showing your projects and personal work, update them and update your skills if they will help you growing and giving you those experiences because you don’t know who’s watching, and who will appreciate what you are and what you do,

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

Since I was very young, I wanted to be or get involved with graphic design, but due to different circumstances, I ended up studying Fashion and Marketing Design. But after that, as the stubborn person I am, of course, I decided to study by myself in hand with the amazing tools of tutorials, books, and small practice projects. Thanks to that, I had my first junior Graphic Designer job in a place where you needed the main career diploma, but my boss at that time gave me a shot without it, so it was my first job as a creative, after a couple of years and big new experiences on the advertising field, I change to big leagues, and I had a job in my first big agency, thanks to an old friend, whom already worked as a Creative. My first experience was based on a professional and emotional rollercoaster because I learned that I had a background where art was more subjective (Fashion), and even you had to learn also about business, for me it was a. big experience to be more based on guidelines, focus on understanding more a client (big clients), and put the guard down on learning the hard way that not everything has to be on your own all the time. I spent a lot of years in the advertising field, every time learning more about it, but on the way, I felt that I didn’t feel that “creative” in a way, so I began to feel like maybe that field wasn’t my thing, but thank another amazing boss and friend, who made me understand that advertising it wasn’t my field, that my field it was more about design and other creative skills, I jump to a more editorial land, but guess what, I still felt like it wasn’t enough. In my high school yearbook, I wrote I wanted to become an International Artist, so based on that, I had to reset myself and go with my intuition, so I came to New York for real and started to create projects with a different style, feeling more me, So I mixed my main skills with graphic, motion, music, color, and fun to be true to myself and my work and that people can see it even through a screen. What I think sets my job, and my character is that I keep it real. I do what I think will identify me, and not what people want or request just for the moment, and I need to be true to that, so anytime (hopefully) people identify my work, even if it is far away or is on their devices, I just imagine when people say like “that’s so Emily” ajajaja <3 What I learned starting as a Freelancer was that because I came from an old school where I didn't push my conceptualization or my first ideas by myself, it was a challenge and a satisfying goal to learn and improve the way I solve a project, because starting my own, I was my boss and my everything, which was challenging, but now I love to have a project from zero and see how a project ends because it's been helping me to build the whole journey. I've been really happy to work with fun projects where clients let me be, but that trust was built with the work and the process you show. So, thanks to the line style I've been creating, it's amazing when clients just say to me like, do that on this brief, of course, there will always be feedback and thinking on the process, but that's a must! Because you learn of it and improve, and also it shows you and shows them how good and nice you can work and resolve (I love resolving and logistics, so I love that). Thanks to this long jaunt, I earned great goals and achievements. And the first one was that as soon as I arrived, I was chosen to work with Tous Jewelry, and it was because they appreciated my work, so it was amazing to physically see my project in the New York store. After that, more awe-inspiring and remarkable clients and people came and are still coming today, so I can keep having amazing opportunities. Based on that, I'll want to be seen or be chosen to work on projects that let me grow and show my skills in graphics, art direction, edition, motion, and, of course, storytelling; I want to be able to tell or create stories or experiences based on what I know that people enjoy visually and emotionally. I want to be capable of divulging and communicating my ideas in a human, creative, and remarkable way. Every day, I study, I walk, I feed my brain with an infinity of ways to keep my creative ways alive, and I show people what I enjoy and what I do and show them that my surroundings are part of my daily work, everything feeds my work, and I love and learn on how to analyze that and explore, so I hope that the new people can be able to enjoy what I do, and feel the same fun and surreal things I try to show and create to be me.

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

I think my biggest one was that you don’t have the true or right answer to everything. As I told you before, I started a career where creative art and design were very broad, so when I started to see creativity more as a business. So, of course, at the beginning, you came with ego and thinking you know everything, but when you are growing… Boom! There was a reality check, which was amazing because it was the way to reset myself and get a new path, It made me feel more true to what I am and how I wanted and want people to see me. I learned that with time, you will continue changing and learning, and disruptions will continue emerging, so You will always need to grow and thrive in the world’s current environment, you will need to have the ability to ask questions and find the answers, in different ways, so you don’t settle, so learn to unlearn and evolve based on those answers are an important skill on your personal and professional projects. Because of that, I learned to make mistakes and find solutions, to have plan A to the Z, to learn new skills, to learn how to have new opportunities, and also how to preserve your humanity and your feet on the ground.

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I decided to start posting on Social media, it was a back-and-forth. Of course, when you want to start something, the auto sabotage comes, and I start posting and then deleting because of it. Course the comparison, the competition, the “why I did like that, then the this and that appears, etc… But suddenly I thought that it was just a scroll, and I made a mistake, I’ll be better at the next one, I started to forget the likes and attention because then I learned that maybe what I do is not for everybody, because of course, when you start you want. Everybody loves you, but then you know that it’s impossible and that there is no fun if someone gives you feedback or constructive criticism, or simply they just don’t like your work, so you just don’t take it personally. I think that when you start posting and showing your work, you need to leave all of that behind because if not, you’re not going to advance. So my advice is that if you want to be remembered, post what is true to you, even if it’s just a daily picture. Everything is a language of your essence, so I think that should be the main intention: be real, do what you want, and trust me, you’re gonna start to build your community and your character. Even if you evolve or change the mediums, the colors, anything, trust me that if you keep it real, even if you one day post a video or just post a random image, you will maintain yourself there! Don’t be afraid to show what you work hard, as I told you, my journey started with one shared post, so you never know who is or who will be watching you! Have fun, even if it’s a serious project, enjoy the journey, and show what you have, forgetting bad comments! Of course, receive any feedback and advice because you can’t see it all, but also trust your intuition and build your dream story without shame!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.behance.net/emmiliana
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emmiliana/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilylopez01/