We were lucky to catch up with Karissa DeDecker recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Karissa, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Before I declared my major I had taken a summer course in Adobe Illustrator. Lucky for me, I was the only one who signed up! I had the instructors full attention, and he structured my learning experience around what I wanted to create. I learned how to play with typography, create logo designs, and illustrative posters. I fell in love with Illustrator, truly. Learning all the technical programs, the history, and elements of design within a college atmosphere was absolutely amazing. As I continued at San Francisco State University, I couldn’t believe my final exams revolved around creating book covers, producing posters for campus events, logos and package design. If I was enjoying my homework I knew I would enjoy getting out and working in this field. But looking back, when do you actually get to spend a couple years just creating designs that you make up? It really was a time of self discovery, development, and creative exploration.

I would have loved to create more digital art earlier in my life. I am not a pen and paper kind of artist and I had a lot of self doubt early on because I didn’t have the tools digital artists have now. I love the capacity to overlay and blend elements, experiment and undo, and drastically change designs with the click of a mouse. I wonder what my art would reflect now if I had digital drawing programs like Procreate in high school and college. I have only been digitally drawing within the last 4 or 5 years.

Karissa, 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’d love to introduce myself! My name is Karissa DeDecker, the owner and designer of Issa Designs based in Moab, Utah. I am obsessed with art that blends mental health, feminism, and connecting to beautiful landscapes. I specialize in creative branding and web design for outdoor recreation, healthy lifestyle, & retail based brands. A California native, I have a degree in marketing and visual communication design from San Francisco State University. Back in 2017, I traveled out to the desert to camp, hike, and paddle the Colorado River. Moab and I fell in love, and I began designing for outdoor recreation retail companies that wanted the beauty of the landscape reflected in their branding. I really enjoy projects with clients that are promoting natural wellness, environmental advocacy, mental health, personal empowerment, and outdoor adventure tourism. A lot of my work has southwest desert vibes but I like to say I am a bit of a versatile chameleon designer. I design an aesthetic authentic to my client and am not stuck to one specific style, clientele, or project. I like to have variety in my work, especially when I can support small businesses with big goals! Branding, websites, illustrations, apparel – let’s do it!

If you have multiple revenue streams in your business, would you mind opening up about what those streams are and how they fit together?

Primarily I create branding and web designs but within the last couple years I have started to license apparel designs and wholesale products on Faire. Working on my own designs is a way for me to hold creative authenticity and still feel a sense of expansive freedom within my career. Most of my designs revolve around feminine empowerment in confluence with the natural world. As a child, nature was my way of connecting to myself and I think that really shows through the magic within my designs. These designs are for people who love goddess vibes, embracing their own majesty, and absolutely love being outside. When I’m working on my own artwork there is a peace present that reminds me why I do what I do. It brings me so much joy when I can box that up for someone to share in their shops. The passive income helps grow my business every year and I hope to expand with more designs, more product variation, and more inventory as my business grows.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As a slight introvert, sharing my work is a type of communication. I feel heard and seen through the lens of my projects and the designs that go out into the world. If someone is drawn to a particular design, we share a connection in the reflection within it. In a life that feels impermanent, my designs create a sense of existence for me. I feel so much unexpressed potential if I have no outlet for my creative energy. I think this work gives me an ability to function in reality (get paid) while also inhabiting inspiration or dreamscapes and share that with my clients and customers. I am constantly grateful that I can do this all within my own home, within my own time, and within my own capacity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.issa-designs.com
• Instagram: @issa.designs
• Other: www.faire.com/direct/issadesigns