We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kinsey Hotchkiss a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kinsey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

I’ve been so fortunate to create a life of adventuring and exploring, and I truly hope that my artwork, which is a reflection of the places I’ve been and love so much, I truly hope that my artwork and designs can encourage people to get out and explore more! There is soo much to see, and so many wonderful people in the world, I really believe everyone can benefit so much by seeing new places and meeting new faces. Moto of Kinsey H. Designs, get out and explore more :)

Kinsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kinsey Hotchkiss, and I am the Illustrator and Graphic Designer behind Kinsey H. Designs. I specialize in logos & branding, custom designs & illustrations, and label & package design, along with a few other fun things like tattoo and custom van designs.

I began Kinsey H. Designs back in 2017 when I was living in Southern California working as an Art and English teacher at an international school. Leading up to that back in 2014, I had just graduated from University of Vermont with a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Language and Culture. Which then took me to living in Shenzhen, China for 2 years, solo backpacking through a good majority of Asia. After that I moved to Australia for a year where I worked, beach hopped, drove from the east coast to the west coast in a van, and got to see a ton of amazing places while meeting the most rad people. Then leading into 2017 I moved back to the states, drove from New England to California and explored the west coast to land in San Diego, where my design career began. I went back to school at University of California, San Diego and began learning, drawing, and working every second I had. I worked free for local surf photographers, coffee shops and friends. It wasn’t until about 2019 when Kinsey H. Designs really took off and I began working full time as a freelance Illustrator and Graphic Designer. My work and style is really a reflection of the traveling I’ve been so fortunate to do, the places I’ve called home, and the inspiring desert and coasts of the U.S. and Australia.

I feel like one of the luckiest people in the world to call this my job, and I hope that my surfing skeletons and Westfalia vans driving through the desert inspire other people to get out and explore more! You can check out my work on Instagram @kinsey.h.designs or on my website www.kinseyhdesigns.com. Feel free to reach out to inquire for any design needs you may have or just to say hey :)

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There are a lot of rewarding aspects, number one, being able to do what I love everyday and making a living from it.

The second would be bringing an idea and business to life for people. I’ve had so many clients not know what they want, but they just want it to look rad, and make people go damn I want to be a part of what they’ve got. Being able to do that and be a part of their journey is a great reward.

Mostly, and the biggest aspect that has made me think, wow this is all worth it, is the effect on other people to say ‘hey, I can do that too and make a life like that.’ For example, when I was back living in San Diego, I was working freelance and still teaching Art. I had one of my students from France come up to me at the end of the semester when she was going to head back home and go to law school. She pulled me aside and began to tear up. I asked her what was wrong and she said ‘nothing, I am so happy.’ She told me that since taking my art class and seeing the freelance career and business I had started, she had built up the courage to tell her parents that her passion was not in law and law school, but rather she had a lifelong dream of becoming an artist. She had made the decision to not go to law school and instead applied and was accepted into an amazing art school in France. She was going to start her first year that next semester. As I then began to tear up, I told her how happy I was for her and how much that means to me. We celebrated, I wished her the best of luck and how proud I was of her, and just like that I knew that this was all worth it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Yes, this is a big one and one that changed my entire career as a creative!

Way back when, I was struggling to find the best way to be an Illustrator and Graphic Designer. I was trying this style and that style, making mock-ups left and right and overall not doing very well and getting no new clients. I then heard an interview with a very successful artist and designer, he said –

Anyone can make a car ad, anyone can make a brochure, anyone can make a logo. But where you will thrive is by what makes you different. The places you’ve been and life you live is different than anyone else, and in turn your art and style is different than anyone else. If you work hard to find that style that makes you stand out, there are 8 billion people in the world, someone is going to want to pay you for it.

And just like that I worked day and night, hour after hour to draw, learn, try new things, and eventually found my style. Now there’s people all over the world that come to me for work because of my style that they cannot find anywhere else. It seems so obvious but it never occurred to me, and since I’ve found my style my whole life has changed. That would be my number one recommendation for sure!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kinseyhdesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kinsey.h.designs/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KinseyHDesigns
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kinseyhotchkiss/

Image Credits
All good!