Let me introduce to you guys to this amazing artist and graphic designer. Her work is crazy good and eye-catching. A real down to earth and fun chick who has worked with some top honchos in the local area.
What’s your name and what do you do?
My name is Lydia Mathis & I run Lydia Mathis Art & Design LLC, doing freelance & personal graphic design and art/illustration projects
Tell me about yourself.
I worked as an in-house and agency graphic designer and illustrator for 10 years before starting my freelance business in the beginning of 2016. I’m constantly trying to better myself as an artist, and enjoy pushing myself to constantly improve my skill. When I’m not working on an art or design project, I enjoy spending time relaxing with my husband and our fur babies (three cats and a dog). I also love Jesus, playing board games, fantasy/sci-fi books & movies, and spending time in nature.
What’s your favorite TV show?
Doctor Who – especially the 10th Doctor (David Tennant) season
Why did you decide to become (your profession/skill)? How did you get started in your craft?
Like most artists, I always enjoyed dabbling in art since I was young. However, it was when I was in High School that I realized I had any skills for art and design. I got promoted from my intro art class straight to their most advanced art class they offered (skipping over several other foundational art classes), and I also got hired over the summer before my senior year to work as my school’s webmaster for their intranet site for the staff (and did that several years during the school year as the student aide for the webmaster teacher there). The funny thing was when I was in high school, I thought I really wanted to be a vet (I even raised goats in their Ag program), but when they asked me to give my goat a shot… I realized that I have a phobia of needles and I should probably stick with things I’m actually good at. I still love animals though!
What kind of works have you done and which ones were your favorite and why?
As far as design, I have done everything from page layout to branding (and all sorts of things in-between) for a number of different clients both big and small. When it comes to design work, I get really excited when I actually see anything I worked on “in the wild,” as I like to call it. Like when I did design work that went on a Papa Johns box topper and a SeaWorld mailer or seeing a logo I created on any sort of signage.
As far as my artwork, I’m much more experimental and playful when it comes to this. While I have taken on the occasional commissioned job, I really enjoy just doing art for the love of it. One of my favorite pieces was one that I entered into a gallery show at Black Moon Print for their Tim Burton themed show (it was a watercolor painting of Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas).
Interlude: I have seen it and I just love it it’s freaking awesome. If you’re into Tim burton check out her creation out here. Okay, shhh enough fangirling back to the interview.
My artwork tends to lead itself to a more illustrative style although I have also been working towards refining a more traditional artistic approach to my art as well, and I enjoy using digital as well as traditional media (primarily watercolor, ink, and alcohol markers).
What or whom is the inspiration/remodel of your work? Who do you look up to that’s in your industry and why?
I have a lot of inspiration for different elements of my work. I’m inspired a lot by gig posters, album artwork, movie posters, book illustrations, book cover design, concept art for movies and video games, and board game design (even though I don’t really do much in these fields, I’m working to be able to shift gears that direction).
As far as people I look up to in my industry, some of my favorite artists include Losih (for her whimsical style), Brom (for his more gothic feel), & Dave McKean (for just how bizarre his style is).
What are your goals for your business? 1-year plan? 5-year plan?
For the 1 year plan, I’m hoping to shift gears from my more corporate client design work to more artistic based projects. I’ve got some personal projects in the works as well that I’m looking forward to working on more. Ideally, the 5-year plan would be to focus primarily on personal projects and be able to be much more selective on what sort of client work I take on.
Where do you normally do business? Websites, storefront, etc.
You can find me at www.lydiamathis.com (and links to my online store and social media profiles can all be found there)
What future projects or products do you have going on that you would like to promote?
I’m not quite ready to really promote it yet, but my husband and I have some plans in the works to start making our own board games that I’m pretty excited about! I also have plans to start designing some other artwork to go on various merchandise (prints, shirts, mugs, notepads, etc), although I’m still working on trying to squeeze this in around all of my client design work at the moment.
Oh, man that’s exciting. How cool would that be to have your own board game, I mean come on. And prints are right up my home decor alley. I hope you guys enjoyed getting to meet Lydia as much as I did. If your curious about her work make sure to check out her site down below and swing by her socials to show some love.
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