We were lucky to catch up with Marcel Glenn recently and have shared our conversation below.
Marcel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with 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 think it’s very important to take risks when you’re a creative. Sometimes you might miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime if you doubt yourself or question yourself. We all have feelings of self-doubt, however, you have to overcome those types of insecurities when you’re in the realm of being a creative, graphic designer or artist.
Recently, I was laid off from my role and it was not for my performance or anything of that nature. It was simply because a teammate did not get along with me and seemed jealous of my design skills. Honestly, I could have curled up in a ball and given up. That’s not me at all. As a Black graphic designer and an artist, doors have been shut or even remain close for me based off my race, but as the saying goes, “as one door closes, another door opens.” You have to retain thick skin in the creative industry because you’ll be told no a lot and sometimes the no’s are not based on your experience or qualifications. When I was laid off, I applied to every creative role, even roles that are out of my skillset range.
Currently, I’m graphic designing for a library, a design studio, creating artwork to be exhibited in future art exhibitions and working with a phenomenal creative recruiter, Brooke Goupil. None of these opportunities would have been possible if I did not take risks and apply to every role I came across. When applying for roles, there’s always the potential of being rejected and I’ve been rejected repeatedly. Some of my friends have even been rejected as well. Rejection is a part of life. Take the negative energy and channel it into creating new opportunities for yourself and keep going harder and people will eventually recognize your greatness.
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.
My name Is Marcel and I graduated from The Ohio State University with a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Arts and a minor in Media Writing. I’ve always adored comics books, like X-Men and video games like, Final Fantasy VII. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been interested in visuals, animation and art. That passion led me to an internship at a magazine and eventually breaking into the creative industry. I started as a production artist for Who’s Who’s Publishing in Columbus, OH and then became a graphic designer/media designer for brands, such as, The Limited, Alliance Data, McGraw Hill, Flocksy.com, WritersAccess.com and more. Subsequently, after working for some of those grandiose brands, I started my own freelance company, Celmation Design LLC. My experience at these corporate brands helped me in developing my skills in business and providing services involving graphic design, social media design, web design and even animation. You can habitually find me helping a brand with their visual identity, making a graphic design from a creative brief, illustrating art for a non-profit or developing a businesses’ brand identity. Due to my design experience, I recently worked as a digital producer for an ad agency, where I managed different banner ad campaigns and also produced banner animations using Adobe Animate. One of the biggest campaigns I was able to animate for was Rock Nation and American Greetings SmashUp ads, which included Christina Aguilera and Alicia Keys.
While I am noted as a graphic designer and an animator, I really enjoy making my own artwork. A lot of people started to like my art I was posting on Instagram and I entered a call for artist with Cle4Equity and I won a certification for being one of their top 10 artists in Cleveland. My digital artwork is really important because it’s a culmination of what I have learned over the years in the creative industry and it’s also a way to depict people of color. My experience designing for a lot of corporations has shown that it’s a monolithic way, in which Black people are portrayed and sometimes a lot of designs are extremely Eurocentric. My culture means a lot to me. My Dad is Black American and mixed, and my Mom is from Jamaica and it’s important to show visuals of people like us. Growing up with my parents, there were always portraits of beautiful Black women or Bob Marley. My Dad is also an incredible artist and would illustrate animals and create his own characters. This type of upbringing is what makes me different and I incorporate so much of my heritage, background, imagination within the digital portraits or artwork I make. Whether it’s an artwork of SZA or a woman with ‘locks on an island or an iconic hero, like Miles Morales. I make visuals that are colorful, vibrant, which emphasize Black/Brown skin, Black hair, people of every race, superpowers and that are exhilarating so people will remember ‘Cel created phenomenal pieces of artwork.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Earlier in my career, I wish I would have paid attention to how many resources were truly available for artists. One of the best conferences I attended was AfroAnimation. AfroAnimation is a conference sponsored by Warner Bros., DreamWorks, Sony, Disney and others. It’s a conference dedicated to inclusion and they have different artists, developers and animators speak about their upcoming projects and their own experiences. It was amazing to hear from Black design professionals. One animator explained how sometimes being the only one in a production team can be exhausting and I related to her speech so much and so many other creatives also related to what she was saying. It’s empowering to hear others’ journeys because you see that we’re not so different and we share similar experiences. You also get to talk directly with several creatives in the industry and it’s great to have that transparency and empower each other directly. I also had the chance to be in a virtual room with the product team of Star Wars: The Bad Batch. It was truly incredible to hear about their tactics in rigging characters and character design. Design Observer is another website, which is super helpful. They interview different designers all over the world and several of their podcasts have kept me going. Designers and artists talk about their journeys very candidly. For example, some stories have been about overcoming racism and ageism in the industry. The Adobe Conference is another one of my favorite conferences and resources because they inform you of the incoming software updates and viewers get the opportunity to see how artists all over the world are reaching their full potential with Adobe Creative Suite.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For a long time, I think I did not truly understand what type of artist I wanted to be and somethings transpired in my life that had a greater impact on my work. My mother passed away in 2020. She was one of my biggest supporters in art. Both of my parents, would wear shirts with my art on them. After that happened though, I knew I could no longer waste time in art. I started to watch my favorite artists and learn from them and I worked extremely hard to develop my own style, when it came to my artwork. Graphic design and animation are easier now because I have been working with programs, such as Adobe Photoshop and Cinema 4D for a a very long time. The biggest reward has been being at exhibitions, where my artwork is shown, and seeing all the different people of different cultures looking at the artwork for so long and genuinely appreciating every brush stroke and every color. I’ve literally walked up to people in awe and surprised them by telling them , “That’s my piece.” Nothing is more gratifying than seeing people authentically enjoy your artwork. It’s also rewarding to see corporations trust my judgement and display layouts, animations, banners or designs I’ve worked on. Receiving art awards, acknowledgement from the Mayor of Cleveland at Juneteenth, being in a national art exhibit–all of it has been truly rewarding. Honestly, being creative is an honor itself. One quote always sticks with me. Steve Jobs said, “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes … the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. … You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. … They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.” 
Contact Info:
- Website:www.celmationdesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/celmation
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/glennmarcel
- Twitter: @celmationart
Image Credits
Falls & Co.