Meeting the Team 06: Bridget

Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised in Fairport, NY a small town outside of Rochester. I am one of the designers concepting and creating the packages designs that come from Interact. I was brought on as an intern about a year ago and these crazy people actually hired me full-time three months later!

Why did you want to work in advertising / packaging design? When did you know it was what you wanted to do?

I fell in love with packaging design my senior year of college while working on an assignment to package gumballs in a unique way. I love creating things that not only have to communicate clearly and quickly, but also have to stand out next to its competitors. Grocery design in particular has a special place in my heart because it has to do all of this and impacts EVERYONE whether they like it or not. Except those people that grow everything they eat themselves — good for them though!

What was your first job coming out of college?

This was. :) I’d say I’m pretty lucky for that. I genuinely could not have asked for a better post college experience.

Have you always been a creative person?

I wouldn’t know how to answer this if my first grade teacher didn’t ask me 11 years later if I was an artist yet. So yeah I would say so. In kindergarten I was commissioned to draw Blue from Blue’s Clues A LOT.

How did you get interested in design?

My junior year of high school I took an “advertising design” class on a whim and learned that graphic design was a thing you could get paid doing, and I was like “sign me up!”

If you could re-design any packaging what brand would it be?

It would probably be something I buy a lot, like Delizza Patisserie’s Mini Cream Puffs. I mean as thoughtless as that packaging is, I’m still going to eat those things, but it’d be nice if they told a better story than “we’re delicious.”

What is the best part of your job?

This is tough, there are so many things I love, but at the end of the day it’s probably spending 40+ hours a week with some of the funniest, weirdest, most talented people I’ve ever met.

Do you have a favorite place to design? Where is it?

MY BED with all of my animals surrounding me, hands down.

What is the biggest misconception about your job?

That it’s easy and anyone can do it if they learn the Adobe Suite. I think you either have it or you don’t. I’m not entirely sure you can learn how to lay information out in the most aesthetically pleasing way.

What is a compliment you would give yourself in design?

Good job not being fired!

What is your favorite part of the design process?

I love fixing things, trying to get them as close to perfection as possible.

What sparks your inspiration?

Usually it’s the emotional reaction I get from a product. Sitting in on brand workshops really helps me understand why the product was created in the first place. With the smaller brands we work with there is almost always an emotional reason the brand was started.

How would you describe your design style?

I always tend to lean towards quirky but clean style, but always adapt to whatever is best for the product.

We’re incredibly proud of our team members here at Interact, and are thrilled to get to share with you some little snippets into who we are beyond the work we do. Stay tuned for next month’s edition!