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

Hi Isabella, thanks for joining us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?

Going to an infamously strict and conservative private Christian school has proven to be one of the biggest uphill battles I’ve chosen as an art student. Attending Brigham Young University has taught me so much about myself as well as the importance of pushback, resiliency, finding my own motivation, and learning to trust my intuition. Feeling constantly monitored and censored terribly cramps artistic endeavors and true exploration. I’ve learned how to toe the line just enough and how to do it smartly. I’m an interdisciplinary artist studying graphic design and photography and I love creating loud, colorful, edgy, and intriguing-yet-vaguely-disturbing work. I think the juxtaposition of the macabre with the coquettishness of it all cultivates visual interest. Themes that are important in my work include open critiques of Mormonism, anti-capitalism, activism for minority groups, and anarcha-feminism. In school and in my program, I have learned that no matter what anyone thinks of my work or what I deserve, to keep pushing. And I’m already finally seeing fruits of my labor.

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’m a 22 year old artist raised outside of Seattle. I’m now completing my 5th year in school as a design student at BYU. I have always been an entrepreneur; peddling duct tape wallets on the playground in 4th grade or finding golf balls in the bushes separating my yard from a golf course and selling the balls (+snacks) to golfers out on the range. I started my first real business designing, creating, and selling jewelry and would have booths at all the local craft fairs and host my own trade shows at my house as a 13 year old. I remember being so excited receiving my first business cards in the mail. I studied business throughout high school, competing in DECA advertising campaigns, placing in state and national competitions. This was where I first realized graphic design was a real career and blended what I loved about art and design with business. I moved to Utah to attend BYU and declared my major as pre-graphic design within the first week of school, and it never changed to this day. I knew what I wanted to do and I knew how hard I had to work to make it happen. COVID cut my freshman year short, but not before I could paint my then-unknowingly famous Cat Self Portrait that would be the basis of my personal and online branding. What began as a dappy painting turned experimental-guerilla-sticker-campaign has somehow morphed into my most prolific piece to date. Boredom during the pandemic and my interest in experimental branding pushed me to turn my Cat Self Portrait into stickers, covering any surface I could get my hands on south of BYU campus. The glaringly anonymous cat staring back from street poles caught several peoples’ attention. Using the Cat as my profile picture, people would rack their brain as to where they had seen the garish, kitschy cat before approaching me in public asking if I “was the Cat girl?”. I started distributing the stickers for free and soon after I was getting photos of the Cat on any surface you could imagine from friends, mutuals, acquaintances, and strangers alike. This crowd of my near and dear friends and supporters began creating iterations of the Cat, in homage to the original. I adapted the painting into a flat logo and began using it in my work; sneaking it into projects as a signature easter egg. I was creating and maintaining a thriving and colorful personal brand on the side while I worked towards creating and perfecting my portfolio to apply to my dream design program. I ended up being rejected 2 years in a row, leaving me feeling hopeless as I needed to change my educational track and future goals. Goals that I felt like I was well on my way to achieving. The rejection didn’t make sense to me as other peers and applicants were also confused and angry on my behalf. I went so far as to contest the rejection with the head of the program and the head of the department. I spiraled for a few months while I had to figure out how I was still going to pursue design. I ended up applying and being accepted into the secondary design program where you could choose 2 niches. I picked back up photography as my “just for fun” outlet. After a year of doing absolutely killer projects in school and weaseling my way into the “protected” BFA classes, I was invited to go on the graphic design BFA trip to NYC to tour agencies and potentially secure a summer internship in the city. Throughout the process, I was told by my mentors in the program to omit my Cat Self Portrait project and other community work that was important to me like co-founding Prodigal Press Provo. I was admittedly crushed by this but assumed they knew what was best from their experience in NYC. The faculty did not want to send my portfolio to the agency I desperately wanted to work for, so I had to really fight (network) to secure my own interview. The night before that interview, I listened to my own intuition and re-included many assets to my portfolio I had previously omitted. I interviewed against 4 of my classmates and I found out the next day I got the most highly-favored design internship. I asked why they wanted to hire me it was specifically BECAUSE of my personal cat branding and Prodigal Press community work that intrigued them. This felt like such a culminating moment for me. It cemented my trust in my intuition and ultimately knowing what’s best for myself and what’s most advantageous for my style and career. I have also learned spite is a huge motivator for me, reluctantly, but has helped me find the drive and ambition to stick it right back to those who said I couldn’t or didn’t deserve what I earned; with class, just by succeeding on my own.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is (in the ideal) being spiritually fulfilled by your career. It’s a blessing to love what you have to do for a living. Does that mean everything is rainbows and kittens? No. Sometimes I wish I could be creative just for fun or just for me instead of having my hobbies and talents capitalized off of but c’est la vie. Figuring out your drivers in life– what makes you tick, what motivates you is the most important thing in figuring out a career that will mentally sustain you and figuring out how to do it well and corner your niche is the key to being financially fulfilled. Leading and working with a volunteer team of 25 to write, design, and plan events for Prodigal Press Provo is one of the most fulfilling things I’ve ever done in my life. The conversations created because of the content we publish within the niche post-mormon community in Utah is real on-the-ground, sustainable activism. Carving out a platform out of a flatbed valley of censorship has provided so many people the voice to tell their story, dually giving people the opportunity to find someone like them. Things aren’t always as they seem in this strange little Happy Valley and Prodigal Press has something to say about it.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Word of mouth and networking are the two most important things for any career– but especially for freelance creatives. NEVER burn a bridge, even if you want to. I have picked up so much freelance work on the side just by being involved in my local DIY music scene. I’ve been able to work on so many posters, album covers, merch, and more awesome projects with complete creative freedom because of my reputation and personal design style. Just getting to know people and being able to cast a wide net for the folks you talk to is such an important soft skill that I see many of my peers and classmates lacking. Being a shy creative will hardly get you anywhere. You need to be the first person in line to verbally advocate for yourself and your work; in a cool, humble way of course.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://isabellaolson.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabella.olson/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabella-olson/
• Other: Prodigal Press: https://www.prodigalpress.org/ https://www.instagram.com/prodigalpressprovo/

Image Credits
photographs by moi… Isabella Olson