Meet Brittany Barnwell

We recently connected with Brittany Barnwell and have shared our conversation below.

Brittany, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.

There are so many talented people in the world – how could I ever compete? When I began my creative journey, I felt defeated and hopeless as an undergraduate learning the ins-and-outs of 3D animation and new media. Then I landed my first job at a web design and marketing agency. “Finally, I’m in!”, I thought to myself. “I have what it takes”. Wanting to prove myself and learn as much as I could from the seniors above me, I took on assignments and volunteered for any extra work I could get. I constantly doubted myself realizing that I didn’t have the experience that my seniors did, but on occasion I would impress them with a creative design. Imposter syndrome permeated and festered in my thoughts which caused constant doubt – “I’m no good. Nothing I create is good enough. I’ll never stand out.” I realized many years later after working at a few different jobs where I learned many different skills from photography, marketing, communications, management, branding, and more. Yet even though I doubted myself, I was actually building my skills up the entire time. Finally, when I felt comfortable facing the looming imposter figuratively standing before me I realized that all those years led up to what I’m able to accomplish today. I, like many others, compared myself to the talents and strengths of people who weren’t me. I am capable of things no one else is. I can read, study, learn and practice and acquire skills that differentiate me. With that confidence, which took years for me to build, I am able to stand up to the imposter and tell them, “I know what I am capable of.” For me, overcoming imposter syndrome means to look inward to recognize my passions and strengths and stay focused on what makes me happy when I’m being creative. Then everything else seems to fade away and the imposter shrinks and gets smaller over time.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

My name is Brittany! I grew up in a small town in the countryside of western North Carolina. From a young age, I loved to dream and imagine worlds that only I could see. My mom encouraged me to draw and I found myself doodling all the time at school. I would sit for hours at the dining room table with giant pieces of paper and a pencil and draw the worlds I imagined in my head, with characters and stories for each of them. I always found myself in art class and never really realized how attuned to art and creativity I was. Symmetry, contrast, texture, emphasis, harmony – all of these are principles of design that seemed to come naturally to me whenever I created something. Intertwined with my artistic passion, I also loved video games. The stories, puzzles and interactive challenges captivated me for hours. That’s when I realized I loved art and technology. My love for video games evolved to more ‘complex’ gaming on the computer, which I decided to pursue further and eventually graduated from college with a Bachelor of Arts in 3D animation and New Media. Having spent the first half of my life drawing, studying light, painting, sculpting, collaging, photographing, all led up to something new and exciting – generative artificial intelligence. GenAI became accessible to the public in 2022 and I became obsessed. I felt amazed that now literally anyone can dream up anything they want and a complex neural network would make it a reality in seconds. “Man, I wish I had this technology when I was in school,” I kept thinking to myself. Now my newest passion is learning as much as I can about GenAI, how it works, the impacts and the changes it will have on the world. I’ve used GenAI and my passion for photography to generate my own “AI world” where I can create an entire story with characters and conceptual scenery to create in new and novel ways. My latest project I am working on combines GenAI with concept art and generative AI video to bring viewers into the future and eventually merge it with virtual reality to create a unique interactive experience. I want to use new media, story telling, and GenAI to bring viewers on an interactive journey from the physical world, to the digital world, and the virtual world in a seamless experience. It’s a large project to tackle, and I’m still in the early stages but I’m excited to see the world I create and the viewers that join me along the way. If your into futurism, cyberpunk, sci-fi, space, androids, video games, and anime make sure you follow me on Instagram at @cbb_ai

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

The 3 most impactful qualities that I found helpful in my artistic journey are taking a chance on yourself, following your passions, and being resilient. You will be turned down – A LOT. You will fail – A LOT. You won’t feel good enough – ALL THE TIME. But you bring something different to this world that no one else can. You have unique ideas. Follow styles you admire. Look at other designers and find inspiration from their work. Learn new techniques. Ask questions. Always stay curious. And even if you think your work is trash, weird, or “not good enough” – put it out in the world anyway. It doesn’t matter if it’s perfect. You never know who will appreciate it. You are the only person that can make it happen, so do it. Your story deserves to be told to the world. Don’t give it up just because you think someone else can do it better.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

I’m looking to connect to the creative community with overlap in fashion, tech, VR/AR/XR, artificial intelligence and art. An entire new creative community is emerging with the advent of GenAI and I’m hoping to connect with other creatives who are as fascinated by this new tech as I am, and those who are curious to stretch the limits of their creativity.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Credit to self. I’m my own photographer 🙂

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