Kara
La

What do you geek out about?

Kara: Oh gosh, I’ll have to narrow it down to skincare, Final Fantasy XIV, and glaciers. Quite the range, I think! The amount of skincare products that I have and want to use; the emotional investment and game research I have put into FFXIV; and glaciers – I just think they’re neat, to the point that I researched them in middle school for Science Olympiad excessively so that I actually placed 5th at state without a partner. OK, maybe I’m bragging a little there and haven’t really ever let it go, but who would’ve thought giant chunks of ice would be interesting?! I will visit Mt. Hood’s glaciers at some point and when I do, I will immediately find my way to face-plant into it. Conflicting note: I don’t like the cold.

What would your alter ego do, if not design/illustration?

Kara: I would probably be a composer, or a fashion designer, Though if I had to stray entirely from the general idea of creative stuff, I think I’d be doing something like glaciology or biochem or some sort of applied physics. Really, I’d want to learn and do a bit of everything if I could.

What do you collect?

Kara: I like collecting various boxes, jars, and storage containers that come my way; I have a lot of boxes inside other various boxes just for the sake of having those boxes. If it’s an interesting or pretty container and I can keep it clean, I will keep it.

How does design/illustration relate to other creative work that you do?

Kara: It just happens to be the main method that I have chosen to create and express with, as I’m very much into music, fashion, storytelling, the visuals of dance (as I don’t think I’d ever be quite as agile as the dancers that I admire are), am willing to pick up into coding/programming/do the technical aspect of such creative things and larger projects, so on and so forth. Alas, I only have so much time! Perhaps as time passes I can learn these things and solo some projects at a snail’s pace, but otherwise I would love a collaborative environment to incorporate it all together at a comparatively faster rate, which is where my interest in entertainment media comes from.

Why do you do what you do?

Kara: That’s a question people ask about me in general for a variety of reasons! The answer always comes around to “because it’s fun and I’m not hurting anyone with it, so why not.” I have this weird dichotomy in how I present myself. I’m told often I look so put together and serious, to the point that people say their initial impression of me is intimidating, very administrative-like...so they assume everything I do is very calculated with some massive philosophy behind it. Sure I can answer these types of questions but also my personality is very much fun and chill. I’m not a scary person! I just like to enjoy things for what they are, and if I’m able to make what I believe is success with what I do, that’s what matters in the end.