Meet Alexandra Smith

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

Hi Alexandra, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.

My optimism comes from my grandmother Elizabeth Smith. She was a k-12 school teacher at York Country Day School for many years and knew how to encourage children. She always reminded me to stay persistent and do what you love in life even at a young age. Always providing me with crayons and supplies to nurture my craft. Whenever I would fail she would tell me to try again and know my worth within. And with hard work and preserving anything is possible. Even to this day when I feel low she reminds me that good things take time and to know what abilities you have within you. When you don’t give up wonderful things can happen.
I also have a plaque in my studio space at home that an artist on instagram by the handle fuzzdream.art made that reads “Bad days come and go.” To me this is a reminder bad days are not meant to be forever. There are also good opportunities and things around the corner that we just don’t see yet.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

For me Illustration is a way to catch someone’s attention and make their day brighter. Whether to tell a story or to simply reel in the audience, Illustration makes you have a gut reaction. Professionally I am focused on making art that brings a sense of joy and excitement to my audience through my use of colors and characters. I create work that can feel like you are having a joke with an old friend or feels like a warm smile. Through my own personal work that I sell at conventions or working with a brand I aim to make someone stop and pay attention. Primarily I do advertisements and product illustrations for brands. But I also have my own online shop where I expand on the use of my characters. I try to use my characters that I create within my personal work as much as I can within my client work to create a cohesive balance within my branding.
To me what I find most exciting when working on a client project is how I can put my voice into a project while still staying relevant to the clients needs. I feel it’s important to stay relevant and true to how you work and the kind of work you want to put out there. But just as important you have to listen to what the client is looking for. I think it’s essential to have a healthy balance of both.
Currently I am in my final year of my masters at the School of Visual Arts in the program Illustration as Visual Essay. Some of my future goals through this is to teach at college level so I can inspire others to create their own voices and unique brands within their portfolio. I also am playing with furthering my narrative skills so I can create children books down the line and tell deeper meaningful stories through my images.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

For me it comes down to networking, branding, and flexibility. Networking has been a huge factor in how I have carved out my path within the field. I will give out business cards and postcards to people I meet that feel relevant or companies I go to that I feel my work would be a good fit. Attending conventions has also been a great way to make a living, but also to talk to like minds within the field and stay up to date with what is happening in the illustration world. As much as art can be a sedative way of working, it’s essential to make friends, connect and make yourself known within the world you are working in.
Branding to me is an identifier to who you are and your body of work is. Finding key elements to string across your portfolio of work is only part of it. You have to find elements within your work to use across promotional material that makes you stand out from a sea of other Illustrators. Flexibility is also a key ingredient to being successful. Both with deadlines and with trying new things within your work. If a client asks to move something to a closer date and it’s not going to overload your schedule, try and take on the challenge. It makes you desirable as a person to work with, half of why you get rehired is for your art. The other is how smooth it is to work with you. Same goes to letting go of control and trying that idea that might seem wild to your taste, but seems like a good choice in your clients eyes. You might surprise yourself and find something new you can add to your tool box.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Yes, as of right now I’m looking for an agent to represent me for advertising work. I would love representation that could help me find higher cliental that on my own is a bit harder to connect to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alexsmithillustration.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kewlpotatokid/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-smith-828bb3162/