Today we’d like to introduce you to Quashandra Daniel.
Quashandra, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Well, I started my art journey back in high school. I had taken a web design class in my junior year and an art class my senior year of high school. I went to two high schools, Banneker High School for the first two years and Union Grove for the last two years .I remember being one of those “smart” students. Always made good grades and never really strayed away from my studies. I guess you could say I was a geek or nerd although I was never picked on about it at that particular school (Union Grove). My senior year came really fast. I didn’t really know who I was going to be. My grades and test scores were good but they weren’t spectacular. Every single subject was either an “A” or “B”. What drew me into graphic design was being able to experiment with art and computers together. At the time, I didn’t really know much about the field. As I went off to college, I began to develop a deeper understanding of the art world and all its forms. I started to get into my craft more and more. Even though I had a focus on Graphic Design, I learned other forms of art as part of the foundation. I drew, I painted, and I sculpted pieces. Towards the end of my college years, I was lucky enough to work under a Marketing Director. How I came across the job? The career website for Georgia State. I just applied to this position without a finished portfolio and at the interview, I brought in all the pieces I was proud of. I admit that I brought in a lot of material but my old boss was impressed. I ended up working at Georgia State Recreational Services for a year and a half. During my time with them, I learned how to adhere to the need of a client. There were different programs at the Student Recreation Center and different leaders in charge of them. Working there taught me how to be creative enough to impress but also precise enough to get the promotions done. My portfolio began to change and become much larger than expected. This lead me to develop an entire website of my work. Now that I’ve graduated from college, I am searching for the right start into my field that will get me the opportunity to shine.
Has it been a smooth road?
I realize that this isn’t an easy task with Graphic Design being the most competitive forms of art. This is an art form that is constantly changing and the development of technology plays a huge part of it. Even though I am not in my field at the moment, I still have the same passion and love for it as I do when I started back in high school. I look forward to my life as a graphic designer and I’ll never give up my dream to be an Art Director one day.
Has there been people or an institution that has played a pivotal role in your career?
Well, my mom has helped me out with most of my career from supporting to providing me different programs to practice in. She’s an IT and a computer programmer. She’s actually one of the many reasons that I spend most of my time on a computer today.
What kind of work do you look forward to most?
My favorite type of project to work on would fall into the promotional/advertising category. A project that involves a lot of thoughtful marketing.
What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were just starting out?
I probably would have tried to get more experience in my field before graduating college or maybe invested in networking groups.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://qdaniel1.wixsite.com/design
- Email: qpdaniel1@gmail.com
