Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabrielle Shreve. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gabrielle, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I would have to say my piece I created for my favorite musician. He goes by Madeon — I’ve been absolutely addicted to his music since I was about 13 years old. A few years back he created a radio show on Apple Music called Good Faith Radio, and for the debut episode he asked for fan-made remixes, songs, and art that reflected his upcoming album at the time. I decided that I was going to illustrate something but ultimately decided to use one of my previous graphite drawings of my own hands; I gradient mapped it in Photoshop to match the album’s colors and added the logo to it. To my surprise, he picked it for the show! I remember hearing my name over the radio show and just crying. To have someone you’ve looked up to for nearly a decade recognize you as a fellow creative…it’s absolutely breathtaking. I don’t believe that I’ve ever felt more proud of myself in that moment and fulfilled as a designer.

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

I am a graphic designer, artist, brand specialist, and lover of all things cyber and tech themed. I provide creative strategies for businesses while also fulfilling my own personal needs as a designer on my own time. I have a degree in Visualization — I studied interactive media (any kind of design that requires human interaction) and focused mainly in technological applications like VR and motion graphics. I’m really a fan of anything that requires a bit of a challenge.
I’m proud of my tenacity. What a lot of people don’t realize is that you have to be motivated to create. Sure, you have all of these ideas and themes swirling in your brain all the time, but putting them into real and polished work takes so much out of you sometimes. Yet somehow, I manage to get it done and I’m always proud of myself in that sense.
In my career, I currently work as a brand specialist. My role is essentially to ensure that everything my company puts out into the world matches the standard of design and functionality it should. One thing that I’m really enjoying with this position is the possibility to explore new areas — I’m learning HTML and touching up my other coding language skills from years ago. I work in the Aerospace industry now and it’s amazing how much you can learn when thrown blind into an unknown area.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Finding who I am. Art and design is such a strange yet unforgiving outlet. Sometimes I find myself blown away by something I create, and then the next project I take on has me wondering if I’m even in the right profession. I need to spend more time refining MY view of design rather than just taking on ideas that come from others — I believe that when I really start doing that I’ll truly start to see myself for what I am rather than just a person with a specific skillset.

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

References are NOT cheating! So many artists online (especially when I was just starting) like to tell you that tracing a posed picture of yourself or using a very specific reference is not ‘real’ skill. This literally couldn’t be further from the truth — we all inspire each other. Where the issue comes from is tracing someone else’s art and claiming it as your own. But tracing a picture of a shoe because you don’t feel like drawing a shoe on your own? Go for it! I guarantee you that your favorite traditional and digital artists have done it in the past or are even still doing it.

Contact Info:

• Website: gabbyshreve.com
• Instagram: gabbyshreve
• Twitter: gabbyshreve