Meet Jasmine Dowling- illustrator, graphic designer, typographer, innovator, creator of jasminedowling.com and all that comes with it. She’s amazing, so get around her.
You so clearly have both creative flair and business edge, your choice to brand a creative medium is genius. But for those who don’t know, can you tell me about your job?
My job I think is a little bit of everything. I do a lot of freelance design and typography work, I run my own little online store selling some of my print and home ware collections and I also have a design / style blog. So my days normally consist of a lot of emailing, a lot of coffee, a trip down to the shops to make my daily run of post as well as picking up flowers. Then I spend the rest of the day between painting and hand lettering, and working on the computer and brainstorming new creative projects.
Let’s talk social media, you are clearly socially savvy- do you think people underestimate the power of ‘social platforms’ as a business tool?
I think they definitely do, there is no way I would be able to do what I am doing without it. I don’t think I would have even got the opportunity. Especially being in my last year of study and already ticked off working with some really great brands and publications.
What is your favourite online tool?
What is better than Instagram? I love it because I am personally not a big writer, which seems sort of funny because I love words & typography. I think the main reason I love it so much is that it brings together like-minded creative people without even knowing it.
A day in the life of a creative, tell me about the times that aint great?
Yeah there are definitely those times. Firstly you are never expected to have time off, weekends and late at night are not seen as time of rest so if you want that time you really need to put your foot down. Secondly, you always have clients that drive you insane.
And finally it is never a steady work load or paying schedule so you really have to get used to the irregularity.
What did you study, and where?
I have studied a Bachelor of Multimedia Design at the University of Queensland and after two years of that I transferred to the College of Art to study a Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) which I am studying my final year in at the moment.
If not graphic design and blogging, what would you be?
Oh that is a scary thought. I wouldn’t mind being a fashion buyer or a florist.
In relation to your study and career choices, is there anything that you ‘wish you had of known’?
Definitely, I wasted my first two years out of high school in a degree that didn’t really teach me anything that I wanted to know. I don’t think there should be as much pressure on high school students to go straight to University or stay with a degree they don’t enjoy. I would have looked more into the classes that I would be taking and made sure I would have left that degree with the skills I wanted and needed rather than a piece of nice paper.