Hello! My Name is Kat King and I am a graphic designer and illustrator. Art has always been a big part of my life, especially growing up. As a child I had about 50 journals full of drawings and magazine clippings that I found aesthetically pleasing, I even covered one of the walls in my bedroom with magazine clippings of my favorite things. I would say that my art career started when I was 5 years old and I painted my Barbie Dream House blue with a jumbo tube of toothpaste.
In most of my pieces, I want to have some kind of handmade element, whether it's an ink drawing or a hand-carved stamp. I strive to incorporate illustration in my designs. I love to show duality in my work, such as a pink sparkly switchblade with hearts on the handle. I pull inspiration from the cartoons, games, and toys that I grew up with. The art styles I was most drawn to as a kid were cartoon characters with thick outlines and cute, small features with big eyes, so I wanted to replicate that in the characters that I create and in the other illustrations that I incorporate in my design work.
The primary intention I have when I create is to make something that brings joy to people in some way. In my opinion, the purpose of graphic design is to communicate a point to the observer as seamlessly as possible. I feel that using design as a tool to educate people about issues in the world could lead to more people getting involved in creating a better future for society as a whole. I want to make designs that are fun, creative, and share positive messages with the consumer.
There are many ways that graphic design can be used to educate people. Showing someone a visual representation of the information that you want to share will help the viewer retain that information more effectively than just reading or listening to it. I feel that when it comes to advertising and marketing, it is the designer's responsibility to educate the observer and to stray away from spreading misleading information.
When I started at LCAD, I didn’t have a clear direction; I wanted to be able to do it all. I still feel that way, but now I have developed my own style for creative problem-solving. I think the most influential experience was learning all the different styles and ways of creating, now I no longer confine myself to what I thought graphic design was supposed to look like.
Creating is my passion in life. I love working with my hands so whenever I have free time I am drawing in a sketchbook, painting on random scraps of cardboard, or creating miniature dioramas of places out of any scraps I have around me. I love video games. I play a lot of resource management and world-building games. My favorite games right now are Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Animal Crossing.
My free time is “Me Time” and when I have Me Time I spend it painting, drawing, and making crafts. I have done a lot of paintings for my friends and family, especially for birthdays and Christmas. I also have spent a lot of time making Pearler Bead art and gluing them to canvases.
Throughout my childhood, I would turn trash into little treasures. Plastic bottle caps would become barby plates and bowls, paperclips would be clothes hangers, and I would make cities out of empty cardboard boxes. Now, whenever I have a cardboard box, my mind is filled with craft ideas. I share some of my cardboard creations and the crafting process on YouTube. There is a link to my channel at the bottom of the page.
