ABOUT

Hi Everyone! My name is Melanie, but everyone calls me Mel. I have been a creative for as long as I can remember and my passion for art has only grown as I have gotten older. Growing up in the suburbs of NYC, I was always surrounded by inspiration in the form of nature, museums, and urban life. It was my dream to be an artist when I grew up, and now, many years later, here I am!

I graduated from Syracuse University in 2019 with a BFA in Illustration and a minor in biology. In addition to loving art, I also have a science brain. I am currently listening to the amazing podcast Completely Arbortrary quite religiously to learn more about every tree I can. Shout out to Casey Clapp and Alex Crowson for being incredible human beings! Anything biology or anatomy or really any science material will peak my interest these days and I devour as much knowledge as I can. I ask a bunch of questions too, so if you want to talk about something cool, come find me. Now, back to how I got here.

At Syracuse University, I began to hone my craft and focus on what I wanted to pursue. In high school, all I knew was I wanted to be an illustrator, but not what kind. I have always liked doing a lot of different things and when it comes to art, that still rings true. Once I reached my senior year I came to the conclusion that I wanted to pursue product design. I loved creating art, but knowing that someone could use it in their everyday life made it so much better. My mom has always wanted me to be an engineer too, so now I would just be a lazy engineer :)

After graduation I set out to find a job and was delighted to be accepted as a full time Product Designer at Pavilion Gift Company in Bergen, NY. At Pavilion, I was able to learn from my peers and develop skills in both designing physical products and marketing design. From mocking up products in Photoshop/Illustrator, to formatting Catalog pages, and building email campaigns, the experiences I had there were invaluable. After 2 years, I set my sites on pursuing my interests in graphic design and found myself at Acquco, a start up that focuses on e-commerce. I worked my way up to Senior Graphic Designer working on branding, packaging, and online graphics for brands selling on Amazon and beyond. I was able to grow in my leadership skills heading our Culture Committee and leading fun virtual events for our fully remote staff. This is also when I made my move to South Bend, IN and fell in love with the cities midwest charm.

Coming full circle, this past spring of 2023 I wanted to make a move again. I missed doing more product design and wanted to work on products more aligned with my scientific interests. I just so happened to come across a story posted by Hank Green, that his merch company DFTBA was looking to hire a Coordinator. After reading the job description, I knew it was going to be the right fit. I did not get the job that Spring, but in the Fall of 2023 I got the offer to start as a Creator Coordinator. I am now working at DFTBA and enjoying every second of it as I help online creators make a living selling meaningful merch they can share with their audience.

I still am doing my own illustrations, though I have taken a break recently, but am excited to get back into drawing and have a few projects planned. Visit my Etsy shop or Society6 account to buy any of my personal art that ranges from stickers, cards, prints or my art on products!

When I am not illustrating or designing, my friends will tell you I love to talk, and when I am not talking, I tend to do a lot of singing and cracking bad dad jokes. There is always a song in my head and there is usually some convoluted reason for why it’s there. I also love spending time outdoors hiking or on the beach. Making friends and meeting new people is one of my favorite pastimes as a proud extrovert. For the past year and a half I have also recommitted myself to yoga and joined a local studio that I attend three to five times a week. Despite my extroverted ways, I still love to spend time at home with my cats, Cheddar & Rhaenyra, who my partner and I lovingly refer to as ‘the children’. Finally, since you have made it this far, here is a fun fact: I played Quadball (formerly known as Quidditch) for three years in college and ended up having three knee surgeries from it. So please don’t invite me to go skiing.

Feel free to shoot me an email about any freelancing inquiries you may have!

Enjoy this colorful art I have created :)