Meet Maria Aprea

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

Maria, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?

Creativity is the basis of all my projects: everything starts from there, which I then combine with my professional technical skills. Creativity is at the heart of all my communication, I express myself through it and for this reason I try to nurture it and keep it as sharp as possible. I love music and the world of entertainment: they are my primary source of inspiration and are sectors in which I aspire to work sooner or later, realizing my art. Listening to music feeds my creativity, I get carried away and my mind begins to create connections and projects that are initially abstract, but which I then transform into reality through my communication and graphic design skills. In addition to music and the world of entertainment, I keep my creativity alive through a lot of research; I keep up to date with trends, what’s going viral online and the latest news. The world of graphics and design is just like that: when something catches our attention, inspiration comes and makes us create! Creativity must be cultivated, you must never stop, especially when it comes to researching and learning new things. Discover, don’t stay in your comfort zone, gain experience and enjoy every moment. Only in this way will you nurture your creativity, you can only do this by living.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Hi everyone, I’m Maria Aprea, a 22-year-old Italian girl, a graphic designer by profession and a student about to graduate in advertising and marketing. My story begins with a passion for music and the world of entertainment, which came together with the world of graphic design and communication through my studies. I have always been passionate about everything I liked, a true fangirl who, over time, learned to express this passion. I studied graphic design and communication in high school, specializing in visual graphic design. After finishing high school and getting my diploma, I decided to continue my studies at the faculty of communication, specializing in advertising and marketing. I’m currently close to graduating, with very little left to go before this journey comes to an end. My studies have been and still are fundamental influences on what I do today: I put everything I have learned, every notion and every tool, into practice. Back in 2016, I discovered the world of Instagram by pure chance and created a fan page, which is still active today, for my favorite singer, Ariana Grande. On this profile, called @arigrande.idol, I support the artist by creating various content, including news posts, updates and various edits. Once I started studying graphic design, I began applying what I learned in class to these posts, and since I started, I haven’t stopped. Over time, in addition to informative posts and edits, I began creating concepts for possible merchandise. I loved that world so much that I decided to create a dedicated profile, called @intovsmary, where I shared only that format. I started posting concepts for Ariana Grande and then moved on to other singers. I let myself be carried away by the music, because for every song I liked, I created a branded item. It was really fun and creative. Over time, however, I felt as if something was missing. I felt as if the items were limiting my creativity, so I decided to open a blank canvas and unleash my full potential. The result? Posters. So I started making posters about music and the entertainment world in general. I fell completely in love with this work and haven’t stopped since. My ideas come to life with posters, and thanks to my skills, I’m able to turn my passion into reality. I currently use Instagram as a showcase for my projects, sharing my work as if it were a digital studio. Using social media has allowed me to create a community, connect with other artists, collaborate with some of them, and above all, reach the recipients of my work, such as singers and actors. In short, it’s a source of endless opportunities and satisfaction.

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

My journey consists of three key elements: passion, willpower and determination. Passion is the foundation of everything: it encompasses not only my love for music and the world of entertainment, but also everything that it leads me to do, such as continuous research and study, as if I could never get enough. If I had stopped at just listening to music, I would not be who I am today. From a simple pleasure, it has become a real passion, that I now aspire to turn into my next job. From a strong interest, I then moved on to creativity and the desire to give shape to my ideas and make them concrete. I have put into practice and continue to do so today, the theoretical knowledge and practical skills I learned during my years of study, thus turning my passion into a real job. Technique is important, but if you don’t have it initially, the desire to learn it will drive you. Determination also plays an important and fundamental role throughout the process, spurring us on to create and leading us to believe in ourselves. One piece of advice I would give to those who are just starting out is to never give up. Everything is achievable; nothing is impossible. The mind is capable of conceiving extraordinary things and everything we need to make them a reality is around us. An artist is precisely that: someone who manages to give shape to a simple thought, and I do this through my posters. Once I open a blank canvas on my computer, I find a way to bring that flash of genius to life. It really is a magical process.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?

I have a dream: to work in the music and entertainment industry in the field of graphic design and communication. My ideal client comes from this world, and the idea of being able to create comprehensive communication with accompanying marketing strategies and graphic design is a dream come true for me. I have studied for years and every day I perfect my knowledge and skills through continuous study and by applying this knowledge to my projects. With my profiles @intovsmary and @arigrande.idol, in addition to creating fan-made posters, I have created successful fan projects that have reached and been appreciated by their target audience. Among these, I cannot forget the project “Wicked in the world” that I conceived and created, in collaboration with two other fans, on the occasion of the release of “Wicked: Part One,” which was a real success, earning the appreciation of Ariana Grande herself. This was a dream come true, my heart was filled with joy and gratitude surpassed everything else. This world makes me proud, it gratifies me immensely, and above all it entertains me. In view of the remarkable success achieved, I decided to revive the project, but with a different look: “Wicked in the world: for good,” just in time for the release of the second part of the film “Wicked: For Good.” All this is a way for me to test myself, to make myself known, and above all, to improve myself more and more. I hope that one day all this can become my full-time job, at which point I will feel truly fulfilled.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: intovsmary
• Linkedin: mariaprea
• Other: Behance: intovsmary

Image Credits

Ariana Grande – Addison Rae – Cynthia Erivo – Sabrina Carpenter – Dua Lipa – Olivia Rodrigo – The Weeknd – Charli XCX – Wicked – Universal Pictures – Katia Temkin – Christian Breslauer – Ed Butera – Apple – Instagram