Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Oleaga
Maria, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been drawn to the arts, always doodling, painting, or playing with clay. I continued to nurture this passion through art classes and electives. When the time came to choose a career, I hit a wall, but I knew it had to involve creativity in some way. That’s when I discovered Industrial Design – the perfect blend of creative expression and logical problem-solving that I was looking for. To pursue this, I left my hometown of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and moved to Savannah, Georgia, to attend SCAD.
My time at SCAD was extremely influential to who I am today as a person and as an artist, I was surrounded by inspiring creatives and being pushed out of my comfort zone constantly. During this time, I discovered User Experience (UX) Design. I was immediately drawn to its emphasis on the human and psychological aspects of design and the opportunity to design digital experiences, I ended up leaning more towards UX Design than Industrial design at this point.
After graduating, I moved to Miami and took some freelance gigs in both UX Design and Illustration before becoming a remote contractor for Ditch, an Atlanta-based FinTech Startup. Shortly after, I was offered an Experience Design Internship at VML and moved back to Georgia for the summer of 2023. This internship evolved into the full-time UX Designer role I hold today. During the time I’ve been at VML, I’ve learned and grown immensely, working with clients like Coca-Cola, First Horizon Bank, BASF, amongst many others. I’ve even gotten the opportunity to flex my illustration skills for storyboarding and continue developing my 3D design abilities as well.
These days, I like to stay in touch with my creativity through illustration, junk journaling, watching movies and curating playlists. My goal is to always continue learning and growing as a designer and artist, both professionally and personally, and to use my skills to create meaningful experiences.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Like everything in life, the journey has had some bumps along the way. I struggled with not knowing what I wanted out of my professional career initially, as well as doubting whether I’m on the right path and deciding to pivot into another field the last years of my studies. Then after graduating facing a tough job market with the additional challenge of being an international student. Eventually I landed a full time job in my field a year after graduating, but found myself dealing with impostor syndrome in this new environment. In the personal aspect too I started questioning my identity as an artist & feeling a slight disconnect from my creativity during a long-term art block. All of these have been hurdles I’ve had to overcome to get to where I am now, and it still is never 100% smooth sailing all the time, but keeping myself grounded and confident in my abilities has helped me overcome every challenge that has come my way along the years.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m currently an Associate Experience Designer at VML. I am considered a hybrid, meaning I do both UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) Design depending on the project. Additionally, I also have skills in Illustration and 3D Design that I get to use depending on any specific needs. I’m known for being a quick learner and having multi-disciplinary skills, my colleagues describe me as a “design unicorn” for my versatility and ability to adapt to any project I get assigned on. I’m definitely most proud of my eye for design & aesthetics as well as my problem solving mentality, I feel like these 2 traits are big part of why I have been able to get to this point in my career so far. My ability to pick up new skills quickly and attention to detail are also qualities that have set me apart from others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mariaioleaga.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariaioleaga/
