We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Roobens Richard. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Roobens below.

Roobens, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

The biggest thing for me is practice! Nonstop practice! To me Graphic Design is an industry that is constantly evolving, just now we are seeing the rise of A.I and how those software could help us in the industry. Keeping up with industry trends.

I wish that in my freshman year of high school, I would spend more time learning about the business of design. As a creative, I always believed that creating things was all I needed to do to succeed, but understanding how to manage the business aspect would have helped me grow a lot faster.

The most essential skill for a Designer and this is gonna be surprising for some people, is communication. In the field, it is all about how to sell an idea. No matter how great my designs are, if I cannot explain why it is useful for the client then the project is a failure. Knowing how to properly communicate why this design will serve the client can make or break everything.

The number one obstacle that was in my way was self-doubt. Growing up where I was, the creative field was not something that was encouraged. I would often keep my dreams a secret and that made it very difficult to ask for help or grow.

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

I’m a Haitian-American who has a real passion for all things creative. I’m a curious guy who loves discovering new things just for the fun of it. I grew up in Haiti and made my way to the U.S. when I was about 9 or 10 years old. I started drawing around that time, but it wasn’t until high school that I fell in love with graphic design.

Now I get to work as a visual identity designer. That means I get to create the whole look of a business, including its logo, colors, and patterns. One of my favorite parts of the job is putting colors together. It might sound a little quirky, but there’s nothing quite like the feeling I get when I’m hunting for the perfect color combinations that send the right message. Seriously, if I’m working on a black and white logo and I start playing with colors, I could lose track of time and spend the entire day on it!

As I dove deeper into brand identity design, I realized I wanted to do more than just work with big companies. I also wanted to help up-and-coming and small businesses, especially in the black community. I noticed that many folks looking to launch their owned businesses didn’t fully grasp why graphic design was so important beyond just having a logo. Many thought a logo alone would do the trick! So, I decided to not just be a designer but also a kind of mentor to my clients. I want to help them understand that design and branding can really make or break their business. My goal is to help people achieve their dreams through design, whether that’s making their business stand out or giving it an exciting new look.

So far, I’m super proud of the clients I’ve worked with and how I’ve helped them see the impact of design on their growth. It’s still a long journey ahead, and I’m genuinely excited for what’s coming! I want future clients to know that I’m the designer you reach out to when you want to grab your audience’s attention fast. Just like in writing classes, where they teach you to create a hook to catch your readers, I take that idea and apply it to my designs. I want to ensure that anyone looking for you will find you—and even if they’re not actively searching, they’ll still notice you!

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

In my line of work, presentation is everything, I mean everything. So when I discovered a website called DesignCuts it was heaven-sent. They had everything I could need, from mock-ups to showcase logos, to them selling fonts if I needed some for a particular project.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I want to get people to have more respect in the creative field.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://roobensrdesigns.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roobensrdesigns/

Image Credits

Kirstin “Joi” Edwards