Today we’d like to introduce you to Danelle Michaud.
Hi Danelle, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hi! I’m Danelle Michaud, a professional Graphic Designer/Photographer and Digital Artist.
From the age of 10, I started to become interested in graphic design and art. It was about some time in 5th grade or so when I got into this site called Neopets that allowed you to fully customize your profile page, and after seeing what other people were creating, I wanted to learn how to do it myself. I taught myself how to code basic HTML and started to learn how to edit and design using Corel Paintshop Pro.
Eventually I started taking requests and providing the HTML for these custom layouts I was making for free to anyone who was interested all through middle school.
Fast forward to my college days, I started to get into Tumblr and saw there was a huge digital art & design scene that was creating either original pieces or making fan designs for popular shows & movies. At that point, I hadn’t done any sort of design since middle school but decided to get Photoshop and dive headfirst into creating fan designs for some of my favorite shows, and I fell in love with art & design all over again.
At the time, I was doing Psychology for my A.A., but after getting so much positive feedback from Tumblr about my work, I decided psychology wasn’t the right path for me and switched over to Graphic Design & Digital Communication for my B.A.S.
Since graduating with my B.A.S. I have worked for a few different companies doing graphic design and presently have a fully remote graphic design position. Along with creating digital art pieces, I also have a side business for photography and social media, my main clientele are local bands or local businesses.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Definitely not a smooth road, there’s no sugar-coating it, but the job market can be very rough if you don’t have many connections. Even with an incredible portfolio, there’s just so much competition and so many people applying at once it’s hard to get noticed. It can be very discouraging and you start to question if you’re even skilled enough for the jobs you’re applying to.
When I was in between jobs, it took anywhere between 5-8 months before I landed a new position. And when you’re living on your own and have a minimal source of income from side business, it can be very scary not knowing if you’ll land another job for the profession you want.
Thankfully, the local businesses and bands I was doing social media & photography for kept me afloat during the times I was unemployed and were incredibly supportive. If it wasn’t for them offering opportunities for side gigs or putting my name out there, I’m not sure where I’d be.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I have been a full-time graphic designer for a variety of companies since 2017, and that is my main source of income. For design, I mainly specialize in layout design for books/brochures/etc. and for my past few jobs, I’ve been specializing in creating static or animated content for social media like Instagram/TikTok/FB.
For my side business, I’m mainly known for my band photography and social media management. Now and then, I’ll do a photo shoot for bands, but I mostly love going out to shows and capturing in-the-moment genuine, candid shots.
The work I’m most proud of, however, is my digital art, even though I really don’t have much time to work on them these days. Those pieces are deeply personal for me and are a completely different style from my design work and are a way for me to communicate my emotions through texture and colors.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
One shift I’m already noticing is companies (big & small) using Canva or AI to create designs for their business promotions. And a lot of stuff is starting to look very similar or amateur and often doesn’t showcase these companies in a professional light. Canva can be a useful tool if you’re under a strict deadline for posts, the problem is most people using it aren’t modifying the layouts or making changes to the designs that make it more unique.
And AI, unfortunately, has captured the attention of local bands since it’s mostly free. They’ll often create posters or other promo materials using AI “art.” I think it’s doing a grave disservice to local artists & designers, and it feels pretty unfair for these bands to ask us to support them through buying merch or going to shows when they won’t support us. There are so many skilled artists & designers making unique work that could actually set a band apart from someone else, it’s unfortunate, but something I hope will improve in the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.danellemichaud.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealchemical/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlchemicalPhoto
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danellemichaud/
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/alchemicalphoto/
