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Episode #13: Mexican-American Graphic Designer & Illustrator Marisol Ortega
Episode Summary:
In this episode, I speak with Mexican-American Graphic Designer and Illustrator Marisol Ortega. Marisol is based in Tacoma, Washington and has worked as a designer and illustrator for brands like Starbucks, Amazon, and Target. Listen to this episode to hear us talk all about generational trauma, how she found her passion for design through a foreign exchange program, and her perspective on freelancing and motherhood.
Episode Notes:
This week’s guest describes herself as “100% Mexican and 100% American.” In this episode, I chat with Mexican-American Graphic Designer and Illustrator Marisol Ortega. Marisol and I discuss everything from the trauma of being first-generation American, to getting a full scholarship to art school, to landing an in-house role at Amazon. Aside from her Mexican background and culture, we also get into how she found her way to design and illustration.
Marisol discovered her passion for art and design after living as a foreign exchange student in Italy for a year during high school. This experience shifted her entire perspective and opened her eyes to art as a career. Once arriving back in the States, she took this momentum and channeled it into finding scholarships to fund her dream of going to art school. With dedication, Marisol was awarded a Gates Millennium Scholarship and received a full ride for her art education.
In this inspiring episode, Marisol shares her perspective on freelancing and motherhood, how she’s putting a stop to generational trauma, and how she found her passion for design through a foreign exchange program.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Topics Covered:
Marisol’s experience being a first-generation Mexican-American
Motherhood and breaking generational trauma
The trade-offs between being an in-house designer and a freelance designer
How she found her passion for design through a foreign exchange program in Italy
Being the first in her family to attend college
Becoming a Gates Millennium Scholar and getting a full-ride scholarship to the Art Institute of Seattle
The struggles of being one of two minority students in art school
The intricacies of being a white Mexican and not feeling Mexican enough
Dealing with backlash in the workplace for speaking on politics as a Latina
Being the token Latina in the office
How she landed her graphic design role at Starbucks
Why Marisol has a passion for packaging design
Her process for collaborating with a brand designer
Her process for creating powerful color palettes
The difference between illustration and design
How to think more broadly about the application of illustrations
Why she was compelled to work with Linocuts and incorporate it into her design practice
Guest Info
Check out Marisols’s Instagram, Portfolio, and Shop!
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Episode Transcript (auto-generated):
00;00;10;03 - 00;00;38;02
Fabiola Lara
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Draws in Spanish. This is a podcast that showcases the creative journey of notable Latinx acts, visual artists and designers. I'm your host, Chilean American illustrator Fabiola Lara If you're interested in exploring topics around art, creativity, and the complexities of Latinidad, please consider hitting subscribe, because that's what I aim to discuss in every episode.
00;00;38;16 - 00;01;10;11
Fabiola Lara
All right. About today's show. I'm sitting down today with Mexican-American designer and illustrator Marisol Ortega. Marisol is based in Tacoma, Washington, and works with some dream worthy clients like Target, Starbucks, and even Coca-Cola. Her work is full of rich textures and colors, and I really can't believe I have a chance to talk to her today. Keep on listening to hear us discuss her experience as a first generation American, how she found her passion for design through a foreign exchange program, and why she loves working on packaging design projects.
00;01;10;19 - 00;01;23;16
Fabiola Lara
Now, let's get into the show Hello, Marisol. Welcome to Draws in Spanish. I'm so happy to be chatting with you today.
00;01;23;20 - 00;01;27;26
Marisol Ortega
Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited. Back to you. And I'm doing great.
00;01;28;02 - 00;01;41;18
Fabiola Lara
Yes. We're going to get into all of your background, your career. So impressive. Okay. So just for those listeners who maybe are familiar with your work yet, can you give us like a quick little intro as to who you are?
00;01;41;19 - 00;02;07;21
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, for sure. My name is Marisol. Ortega. I'm an illustrator designer from the West Coast. I have worked in a lot of in-house design teams, but recently started doing a lot of illustration for freelance. And my background is Mexican-American, and I love to say that I'm 100% Mexican and 100% American because I feel like that's kind of the best explanation of my identity crisis.
00;02;08;13 - 00;02;19;22
Fabiola Lara
I love that. I feel similarly. I mean, it's hard to embody it sometimes, but that's beautiful to kind of have the confidence to claim it, because I think that can be like intimidating in itself sometimes.
00;02;20;05 - 00;02;24;28
Marisol Ortega
Oh, yeah, for sure. And I feel like growing up, I don't know where I belong and neither can you. Yeah.
00;02;25;29 - 00;02;37;06
Fabiola Lara
I know. I feel you. So speaking of that, could you tell me a bit about where you are born and raised, what it was like growing up Mexican-American for you, what your experience was, all of that stuff?
00;02;37;09 - 00;03;01;25
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, sure. So I was born and raised in Southern California, in North Hollywood. I stayed there till that I was seven, and then my family moved to Oregon. And that's kind of where I grew up between California and Oregon. I am First-Generation Mexican, American. So my parents were born in Michoacan. I speak Spanish and English, and I was the family interpreter and all this child.
00;03;01;26 - 00;03;08;06
Marisol Ortega
So I feel like I did a lot of the financing and adulting growing up. That's hard.
00;03;08;15 - 00;03;28;21
Fabiola Lara
It is very hard. I was the youngest, but I still was like the only child in some ways because I had such a big gap with my sister. So I feel like once she was done, it all passed down to me. And yeah, it's really hard and I think it's something that's super impressive. About like first gen immigrants is like I mean, even though I hate paperwork, I feel like I can master paperwork.
00;03;28;21 - 00;03;29;27
Fabiola Lara
Do you feel similarly?
00;03;29;27 - 00;03;56;01
Marisol Ortega
Oh, yeah. My husband is not American or Mexican. He's English. So filling out his immigration paperwork was like a nightmare, but also kind of a blessing in disguise. I was like, I got this. I have an talent filling out paperwork and getting all the documentation ready so they wouldn't ask any questions and very organized that way. But it's definitely like, set me up for college and getting scholarships because we didn't have money.
00;03;56;01 - 00;04;07;16
Marisol Ortega
So there was no way that I was going to be going to school. So it was just kind of like set me up for all of that. And trying to figuring out and finding my way into like how I was going to get to school and everything and thereafter.
00;04;07;17 - 00;04;18;24
Fabiola Lara
So yeah, I feel similarly. I feel like it's a crash course being first and like it's a crash course on responsibilities and like, I guess like our parents couldn't shelter us from the, like, paperwork, you know?
00;04;18;24 - 00;04;20;14
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. Yeah, I know. Totally.
00;04;20;14 - 00;04;21;25
Fabiola Lara
It's kind of messed up, but.
00;04;21;25 - 00;04;48;20
Marisol Ortega
Like, yeah, actually over just pandemic. I've been trying to make an effort, so I'm a mom of two now, so I've been trying to kind of like, go back to, like, therapy and like work it out and generational trauma and just like dealing with exactly what happened because I felt like there was a disconnect between, like, not really feeling like I was American and not really feeling like I was Mexican and finding that balance of who I am growing up attached to so many other things.
00;04;48;20 - 00;05;07;06
Marisol Ortega
Right. I had no idea just how much of that is like trauma. In a sense. You don't really realize it until you're grown up. Your childhood just kind of went in a blink of an eye and you kind of realize that a lot of the times you were or at least my experience lived experiences that I felt like I wasn't really having a childhood.
00;05;07;06 - 00;05;18;03
Marisol Ortega
It was mostly like doing that growing up and so therefore doing all that work and therapy to talk about it and be okay with it and come to terms with it and how I can change that for my daughters on top of like everything else.
00;05;19;05 - 00;05;33;04
Fabiola Lara
It's so beautiful that you're like doing the work to unpack that and process that and analyze it to like help yourself and your daughters. It's so easy to just like, put it behind you and be like, it's fine. And like.
00;05;33;05 - 00;05;35;00
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, that was fine.
00;05;35;00 - 00;05;44;25
Fabiola Lara
I'm fine because technically, like, in many ways I can't speak for you, but like, I feel generally fine but then, like, if I really sit down, I'm like, wait, now so many things are really messed up.
00;05;44;27 - 00;06;13;05
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. And I think the big one for me is as my daughter has gone older, so like my oldest is nine now and so like discipline, I'm trying really hard not to go back to be like, well, when I was your age, I was watching my siblings and I was cooking for them. The expectation of like letting her be a child and curiosities and like trying to kind of nourish all of her curiosities, but also like making sure that she doesn't forget where she came from and like who she is and like our story.
00;06;13;05 - 00;06;20;13
Marisol Ortega
Because obviously my husband and I are very different. And so it's a lot to unpack and a lot to figure out. So like going to therapy has been super.
00;06;20;14 - 00;06;28;05
Fabiola Lara
Ooh, it has to be so hard to find that balance. If you compare it to your own childhood, you're like, grow up. But also that's like messed up.
00;06;28;10 - 00;06;33;19
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, I know. Or like, it's okay, like, pick yourself up again. Like, you could just keep doing it and going.
00;06;33;19 - 00;06;52;24
Fabiola Lara
But I don't know about you, but I filled out the immigration paperwork for me and my mom and that was just, like, so crazy. And also, my mom's just like, here, fill it out. And she's like, okay, I guess. No pressure. No pressure. These are just like, the most important documents no, I know. And I'll just fill them out, like, all my bunk bed.
00;06;53;02 - 00;06;53;15
Marisol Ortega
Yeah.
00;06;55;00 - 00;07;01;18
Fabiola Lara
And then kind of the parallel between that and doing it for your husband, how has that been? Has it been like triggering if you did it?
00;07;01;19 - 00;07;19;09
Marisol Ortega
So I didn't actually do it for my parents because they immigrated, I think, in the eighties. So, like, they worked out some sort of paperwork. I don't know exactly how it happened, but they were able to get permanent residency. And so they were permanent residents when they moved here. I think it took them a while, but somehow they figured it out.
00;07;19;09 - 00;07;21;29
Marisol Ortega
Something was going on in a government where they were allowing people to do that.
00;07;22;00 - 00;07;26;26
Fabiola Lara
Maybe like the I don't know what their jobs are, but sometimes like the migrant workers or I don't know.
00;07;26;27 - 00;07;31;15
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, yeah. I know that my dad was doing construction when we first moved here, so I.
00;07;31;24 - 00;07;32;18
Fabiola Lara
Could be related to that.
00;07;32;18 - 00;07;46;04
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. But it was triggering in many ways because my parents are divorced. And so I filled up with divorce papers and like her housing situation. So I feel like that was kind of a little bit like very triggering. Filling out.
00;07;46;05 - 00;07;47;03
Fabiola Lara
That's intense.
00;07;47;09 - 00;07;53;13
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. Paperwork for my husband. And I was like, Oh my God, this is like, am I making the right choice? Like, is this crazy? Yeah, like.
00;07;53;13 - 00;07;55;16
Fabiola Lara
The whole time. Yeah. Just like, what if I have to undo this?
00;07;56;20 - 00;08;01;15
Marisol Ortega
So I'm almost like, you know what, though? You got it. Like, you've already thought the worst thing is I was like, oh, my God, man.
00;08;01;23 - 00;08;22;04
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, like, thank you. I wish I had it. Moving on now. You're like the first mother I've had on the podcast, and I think that's really cool. And I feel like a lot of freelancers are creative Zoe still hesitant to start a family, like, feels like extra hard if you're freelancing. What's your perspective on that now that you're freelancing your mother?
00;08;22;10 - 00;08;24;06
Fabiola Lara
This is also just like advice for me.
00;08;24;17 - 00;08;48;20
Marisol Ortega
I know it's been super hard, so a little bit of backstory. So when my husband and I first got together, I was traveling and living abroad in Australia and that's where I met him. And so when I came back, I was pregnant. And so I was trying to figure out like coming back to be a designer doing contract work and also being the only person who had a kid in their immediate family group, it was super hard.
00;08;48;20 - 00;09;10;21
Marisol Ortega
So I was like 26 when I had my oldest daughter. And so I feel like that was trying to figure out how to do contract work and have a kid at the same time. And so when Ellie was born, I was doing contract work and then I got hired on full time with benefits and that. And so I think the majority of my career moves have been based on like, is this job going to provide benefits?
00;09;10;21 - 00;09;29;19
Marisol Ortega
Like what are the pros and cons for like flexible still? And to be honest, I left one of my jobs, actually two of them, I think, because the flexibility just wasn't there. And so I feel like people don't talk to you about those things, especially in design, like being a mom. I didn't know that. But they're like life choices that you sort of have to make, right?
00;09;29;20 - 00;09;39;02
Marisol Ortega
Like your family comes first and you have to think about insurance or do I have enough paid time off just in case, like when my kids are sick and things pop up all the time.
00;09;39;02 - 00;09;49;10
Fabiola Lara
So so there's like a benefit to being in-house, but also the flip side of being freelance where you have a little bit more autonomy, but more risk is like a tradeoff.
00;09;49;10 - 00;10;06;26
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, for sure. I did a lot of moving around. So one of the last times where I came back because my mom lives in Kansas or used to live in Kansas, and so we moved back to the West Coast and I ended up getting a job at Amazon for that same reason because they had like benefits and it was just more time off and the flexibility was there.
00;10;07;04 - 00;10;25;07
Marisol Ortega
But at one point it was just like getting to be too much because I always wanted to do freelance but I knew that I could never fully do it because I had a family. And so trying to do like the freelance hustles, that's just another thing that we can talk about for forever. Like Side Hustle culture, right? Like I was doing a lot of that.
00;10;25;07 - 00;10;43;11
Marisol Ortega
Like once I was putting my daughter to bed, I was like, do a thing until like three or four in the morning doing a bunch of freelance work and then like getting up to like go do my day job. And so it was really stressful. And so I was like, it's not sustainable. Like, I can't be the best version of myself and like, no one is taking care of me and I can't take care of others if I'm not taking care of myself.
00;10;43;22 - 00;11;04;04
Marisol Ortega
And so I ended up I think of us like two years where I saved up a bunch of money with my husband to kind of have that buffer and then I made the jump to do freelance full time. And so I've been doing it for three years. But this last go round, I just had Sophie in July but I decided to go back to Amazon.
00;11;04;04 - 00;11;09;06
Marisol Ortega
And so now I'm kind of doing both freelancing full time and doing the day job thing again.
00;11;09;12 - 00;11;25;22
Fabiola Lara
I love that you're being so honest about like how you have to just adjust what you're up to. And I think that's a critical thing that I think sometimes is kept out of. The conversation is like, you can be freelance right now. And then go back and house and then go back to freelance. It can shift depending on your needs.
00;11;25;27 - 00;11;41;24
Fabiola Lara
If you had Liam and you were like, I need to make an adjustment, go back to Amazon, then that's okay. Like that's the reality of the situation. And I think sometimes it feels like once you go freelance, like you should never go back in house or something. You know, there's like this mentality of like now that you've made it.
00;11;42;11 - 00;11;46;14
Marisol Ortega
No, in a way. And I always say like, it's okay to take a couple of steps back to like.
00;11;46;14 - 00;11;57;21
Fabiola Lara
It's not necessarily a step back if it frees up other aspects of your life or like makes other parts of your life simpler, like insurance, like paid time off health care, so many other things that freelancers don't have.
00;11;57;21 - 00;12;12;25
Marisol Ortega
So yeah, no, for sure. And so I feel like I've been slowing down on some freelance stuff to like pay attention to my nine to five job. But I know that at the end of the day, I can, like, shut that off and then, you know, dedicate my time to my family so it's a balance and it goes up and down.
00;12;12;27 - 00;12;30;22
Marisol Ortega
I remember when Ellie was in kindergarten where she started going to school. Then I had more free time, right? So and then I was able to like make those decisions about ask myself what was bringing me joy and being able to do something for myself. But I think as a mom to we sacrifice a lot and adjust accordingly as your family needs and as one needs.
00;12;30;22 - 00;12;45;05
Marisol Ortega
I wish that somebody would have sat down and talked to me. I'm like, hey, this is what's going to happen if start having kids and want to have your career or like want to do something and freelance because I was one of the first in my family to go to college alone. So there's nobody that I could even talk to within my family.
00;12;45;05 - 00;12;50;06
Marisol Ortega
My mom was just always that's how we did it. You doing it? Yes. Okay.
00;12;50;06 - 00;13;01;10
Fabiola Lara
So I know we like jumped right to that because I felt like we were talking about it. But I want to go back to the beginning of your career, so. Yeah. Tell me about your time going to college, what that was like for you.
00;13;01;13 - 00;13;17;21
Marisol Ortega
I think it started with like my parents splitting up when I was in middle school. So then there was kind of the realization that I probably wasn't going to be able to go to college or have any funding for that. And so I was working and I was going to school at the same time to help my mom out.
00;13;17;21 - 00;13;32;29
Marisol Ortega
And then we had like a bunch of exchange students in our high school. And I was like, Man, I would love to do something like that. And I remember, like, talking to him, all right? And she's like, You're crazy. Why would you want to do something like that? You know, obviously, she's like, it's going to cost a fortune and we don't have that kind of money.
00;13;32;29 - 00;13;47;27
Marisol Ortega
And like, I need you because my mom at that time, she didn't speak English at all. They're like, forget about writing. And so I think a lot of it, too, was like her feeling some sort of anxiety that she was going to be left alone to, like, do these things and, you know, like, who was going to be doing these things?
00;13;47;27 - 00;14;05;07
Marisol Ortega
For her? But I spoke to my uncle, one of my uncles that I'm super close with, and he's like, yeah, let's figure out a way for you to do it. That would be amazing. And so I was super fortunate to my high school junior year, I think. Yeah. Ended up going to Italy as an exchange student. That's amazing.
00;14;05;07 - 00;14;15;07
Marisol Ortega
I know. It was super insane. I feel like that was like my gateway to like figuring out that there is a world outside of my own and that it didn't necessarily have to be this way.
00;14;15;12 - 00;14;21;23
Fabiola Lara
Just shifted your perspective entirely. Right? You're like, Okay, there's more to my life than like, what's happening with the people I know.
00;14;21;25 - 00;14;45;15
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, for sure. And different cultures, obviously, because like, living in Europe is totally different than living in America. And then growing up Mexican. So it was super cool. And I actually was super fortunate to live with a family with a single mom who was Mexican, and it was like Gosh, what? I know my mind was like completely blown because it's all about like representation and like seeing yourself in these situations.
00;14;45;15 - 00;15;10;04
Marisol Ortega
And so I was like, Man, how lucky was I like? That was super cool and told Kismet that like she was there. And so she had married an Italian in the seventies or something, and then she had kids and she lived there and then her daughter, who was like in Australia. And so we did the exchange and so I was in her house and so the language barrier was like obviously not there because she spoke Spanish, but she really pushed me to speak Italian and like learn it.
00;15;10;04 - 00;15;29;06
Marisol Ortega
And so it was really great. So I was there for a year and because my parents, everyone's parents was always like going to visit them, but my mom couldn't go visit because we didn't have any money for that. So I was there for a year and then I attended an art high school and that was also like, I like to draw I mean, I was always like that creepy kid in like parties like it.
00;15;29;06 - 00;15;49;17
Marisol Ortega
I was like in the corner, like drawing or like with her little box of like crayons. I swear, every single, like, family gathering that we ever had. There's like photos, you know, like, oh, no, LA Marina. And then everyone's dancing, and then there's, like, creepy little kid by the table. Hello. That was me. They just coloring coloring with their little box of crayons and, like, coloring books and everything.
00;15;49;17 - 00;15;50;17
Marisol Ortega
Escaping.
00;15;50;17 - 00;15;51;21
Fabiola Lara
That's what you were doing?
00;15;51;21 - 00;15;52;11
Marisol Ortega
Yeah.
00;15;52;11 - 00;16;07;20
Fabiola Lara
I'm, like, so happy that you got that experience, because I feel like it really expands your mind. So, like, what's possible if you don't see it, and especially to see, like, another Mexican woman, like, living abroad, like doing her own thing just like, shifts everything that, you know, in your head, you know?
00;16;07;20 - 00;16;29;24
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, yeah. Like, my mind was completely blown. And then she was, like, introducing me to art museums, and I was in Italy, and, like, she knew a friend who was, like, had a son who was a painter, and she would, like, organize all these things around me. She's like, what do you want to do with your life? And I think that was the first time I ever had, like, an adult that was it my parents or somebody who was asking me these questions and like, I don't know.
00;16;29;24 - 00;16;49;26
Marisol Ortega
I didn't even know this was even possible. Like, to be here and to be this, you know, I'm doing what I'm doing. And so it was really nice, and I owe a lot to her for doing that, like taking me under her wing and like showing me and doing all those things. And so when I went to the art school, it was like also mind blowing because I had no idea that I could do art for a living.
00;16;49;26 - 00;16;51;01
Marisol Ortega
And I was like, Oh, my God.
00;16;51;03 - 00;16;57;19
Fabiola Lara
Yeah. And you learned that, like, early? Pretty early, because I feel like you know, a lot of people learn that pretty late that you can actually make a living from art.
00;16;58;21 - 00;17;16;23
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, I know for sure. I did. And so like that last year when I came back from my study abroad, I was like panicking because I was like, Man, I want to go to art school. I want to do something. I don't want to be like living here. I don't want to stay in a small town. So like, I had these, like, all really big ambitious plans and wanted to see something else for myself.
00;17;16;23 - 00;17;25;03
Marisol Ortega
But my mom was like the voice of reason was like, we don't have that money, Marisol. Like, how are we going to do this? You know? And so that's when I started, like, I was like, It's okay, I'll figure it out, right?
00;17;25;16 - 00;17;39;02
Fabiola Lara
Yeah. Your hunger just drove you forward. I did it similarly was like searching for scholarships and just being, like, all over it because the lack of money, but the wanting to go. So tell me about how you ended up going to school. What you went to school for, all that kind of stuff. Yeah.
00;17;39;02 - 00;17;59;05
Marisol Ortega
So I ended up getting a scholarship at the Gates Millennium Foundation there was like if you were a U.S. citizen, I think they were doing like 1000 students for getting a full ride scholarship. And then depending on like if you were like in STEM. So like math, science, or education, they would pay for your graduate school master's program, basically an entire full ride.
00;17;59;17 - 00;18;20;08
Marisol Ortega
And so I like flipped the fuck out. I received a letter that was like, you have you won the award? And like, I was the, I think the third recipient from my high school to receive the full ride scholarship. So I ended up going to I went to art school and my mom was like super crying. And then I come home and I was like this and though and I was like, I was super excited that we had won.
00;18;20;08 - 00;18;37;01
Marisol Ortega
And she was like crying. And it was very emotional. But I ended up going to the Art Institute of Seattle in Seattle. So we were living in Oregon at the time. So it was like 3 hours far away to be like obviously away from home, but close enough that I could come home like on a bus or train if I needed to.
00;18;37;07 - 00;18;54;07
Fabiola Lara
Amazing. I'm so glad to hear that. I feel like hopefully that encourages people who are listening in are having that same frustration of like, I want to go to art school, but I don't know how to afford it. Like there are scholarships out there. I mean, you got like the craziest one that's like huge but there's even smaller ones.
00;18;54;07 - 00;18;59;08
Fabiola Lara
If you're listening and you want smaller, you should still apply to all the scholarships. But there's plenty out there.
00;18;59;09 - 00;19;17;02
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, yeah. And that was like one of like, I'm serious, like, probably like 30 applications I had done. And it was the Women's Association, it was like $200. But like, honestly, a little bit goes a long way, like even if it's to buy books or whatever it is that you need for like it was exciting and definitely can apply for those.
00;19;17;02 - 00;19;37;11
Marisol Ortega
I think the scholarship is still happening now. I think they just like change the rules or whatever on that. But I definitely felt like out of place because after you win the award, you meet up with the rest of the people who won the award nationwide and it was like everybody was in math or like, you know, I want to be a doctor or I want to be, you know, something and business.
00;19;37;11 - 00;19;49;21
Marisol Ortega
And there was like only two of us that were like in art and communication. And I was like, somebody, I think the other girls like something for marketing. And I was the only person was actually doing art. And I was like, man, I felt kind of like out of place because.
00;19;49;21 - 00;20;01;28
Fabiola Lara
There's a pressure to like okay, I have this incredible scholarship. Like, I'm supposed to pursue something like, yeah, worthy. How did you feel when you were in college being Mexican-American? How was your experience in Seattle?
00;20;02;00 - 00;20;23;08
Marisol Ortega
Seattle's pretty wide. I never saw another Mexican in art school. Honestly, the only connection that I felt at home with is because I lived in the student dorms. Right. But the student learning apartments and the only person that I got along with was my roommate at the time, and she is native American. So it was just us. Right.
00;20;23;08 - 00;20;24;19
Fabiola Lara
And so like Minority Clan.
00;20;24;20 - 00;20;37;18
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, but like everybody else is just like. Right, right. Like you need to have this, you need to have that. And so, like, it just felt like things were already stacked against us, even though, like, we were like, you know, had made it or whatever. We were the two that were on scholarship.
00;20;37;19 - 00;20;38;11
Fabiola Lara
Those were the.
00;20;38;11 - 00;20;56;28
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, it was crazy. But like growing up, I always had this complex to where I'm like, and I hate using this. And this is part of something that I'm trying to unpack where I'm like, it's not that I'm passing white is that I'm very LIGHT-SKINNED So yeah, like I'm a white Mexican. So then it just seems people confuse me a lot for like not being Mexican or I've heard that a lot.
00;20;56;28 - 00;20;58;25
Marisol Ortega
Like you're not really Mexican. Like, I.
00;20;58;25 - 00;21;20;18
Fabiola Lara
Felt that too I mean, I'm very white, obviously. Like, the way I think of it is like, it's kind of like my lived experience is like I do pass as white and people perceive me as white until they get to know me and they realize like culturally I'm not white, like an American gringo or white. And I think that in the Latin American community, it's confusing.
00;21;20;18 - 00;21;40;09
Fabiola Lara
And race is like so strange because it's not talked about, but it's still like impacts everyone that yeah, I see it as like an experience so I also, like, pass as white. If you don't talk to me and I don't tell you my name, you know, like if you see me picking up takeout or pizza or something like you just think I'm like a white girl.
00;21;40;14 - 00;21;51;01
Fabiola Lara
Maybe you think like I'm from Italy or something, you know, like that kind of thing because maybe I do have ancestry, like, who knows how many generations back I just try to accept it now. But it is confusing.
00;21;51;17 - 00;22;16;08
Marisol Ortega
It's weird in my in how some of my in-house jobs proved that tokenism in those situations can be really high depending on the company. And like, I definitely have had like several bad experiences like that and realizing that I was the token and feeling very uncomfortable with like being that person. And then like also like Slash, it's your job, but also like it's also your job to speak up and be like, this is crazy.
00;22;16;09 - 00;22;43;00
Marisol Ortega
Like you shouldn't be a treating me like a token and you should really be giving credit. In this particular case, when I was working in house and it just happened recently with like Trump being elected, that was a crazy time. And basically I had voiced my own opinion about like, Hey, I don't agree with this. And I was frustrated and I was like posting it on my feed and I got taken into a room and was like, hey, you know, our consumers are like conservative and white.
00;22;43;00 - 00;23;01;03
Marisol Ortega
They, like, stumble upon your feed and like, see something like this, it might put our company in a bad light. And so, like, either can take it down or you own it, but we can't credit you or say that any of the work was you, that you made it because you are speaking out. Right. And I was like, Man, that is backwards.
00;23;01;11 - 00;23;23;08
Marisol Ortega
It's disgusting. And that was like one instance in the same company. But another time it was like we had this like huge other partnership who is coming in to see how we work and our creative team and things like that. And they have a person representing the team. And so this specific line of products was geared towards Latinos, right?
00;23;23;08 - 00;23;27;21
Marisol Ortega
And so it was like you, you're the token person.
00;23;27;28 - 00;23;29;06
Fabiola Lara
You're going to be the face.
00;23;29;06 - 00;23;53;09
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. You're going to be painting over this year. But I'm like, but I'm not the one who actually works on this team. Why can't you ask somebody who represents the team? Right. And like, I'm not even joking here. If I go like like the team is literally made up of like so many diverse backgrounds and like, people. Why don't you ask some of them to actually speak on the work that they work and like, let them have a voice, like, why should I do it?
00;23;53;09 - 00;24;13;17
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, but they were just like, you fit the campaign in their eyes as opposed to being, like, ethically aligned with what's actually happening. Oh, that's so frustrating and gross. And I feel like people don't realize that this is actually like happening constantly in the workforce. Like, it's not as blatant as it maybe used to be, but it's still, like, prevalent.
00;24;14;01 - 00;24;29;10
Fabiola Lara
All right, so I notice that you've done a lot of work for Starbucks, so can you tell us how you got started working with Starbucks? I want to, like, move more into talking about your actual design career now that we impact how crazy it is to be like from two cultures.
00;24;29;13 - 00;24;47;27
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, yeah. I decided to take a three month contract job when my daughter was probably less than one. I was a breadwinner and my husband was not working at the time. So I feel like it was a pretty ballsy move. But I knew that it was like something that I couldn't say no to, that it would be like a missed opportunity.
00;24;48;06 - 00;25;13;00
Marisol Ortega
So I left my full time job. I was working at the chocolate to work for a contract job at Starbucks for three months. And then they renewed my contract there. And then I think after the six months I got hired on as a full time designer, I think I worked there for like three years. And that was the first time that I had ever encountered another Mexican person who was a designer and an illustrator, Victor Melendez.
00;25;13;00 - 00;25;30;29
Marisol Ortega
And he's such a good friend of mine now, I would say, and we've collaborated on a lot of different projects like say things that we've done. But that was the first time that I had ever I saw myself and the different setting in a workplace, and I was like, Man, I wish that it was more like this because I feel like I felt like at home and I felt comfortable.
00;25;30;29 - 00;25;49;03
Marisol Ortega
And so that was something that I definitely had not experienced before. But yeah, working on Starbucks, that was fun. It was also really like I expanded a lot of my illustration where I kind of left. I mean, I was still obviously designing, but I worked for the Gift Cards team, and so there was a lot of room for exploration and different styles.
00;25;49;03 - 00;26;05;04
Marisol Ortega
And so I was able to be able to kind of explore and push boundaries where I felt comfortable. And then I kind of ran back and learned a lot from other team members on different teams that were doing different things like packaging and in-store promotions. And things like that. But it was really fun.
00;26;05;05 - 00;26;21;28
Fabiola Lara
I feel like you got to touch a lot of stuff while you were there and expand all your illustration work. So now what kind of projects are your favorite projects to take on now? I feel like you've worked on so many different kinds of projects, so that's why I'm like, You're the perfect person to to ask this dude because you worked on a lot of different stuff.
00;26;22;00 - 00;26;47;21
Marisol Ortega
I had like the illustration work, but I think that my favorite so far has been like being able to like collaborate with designers, working in packaging or like better ideas to like flesh out like a brand or anything like that. So like collaborative work usually is my favorite and like getting to update some of the brand standards with like illustration and how we can like bring a brand to life with like visuals.
00;26;47;21 - 00;27;02;25
Marisol Ortega
So like illustration is super fun. So like a lot of the works that I get now that I do is hey, we've already done the packaging or like, what do you think about this and talking about color and like how do you see pattern playing into this? Or like where can we expand? And so that's a lot of fun.
00;27;03;01 - 00;27;18;24
Fabiola Lara
That's so cool. I feel like when you get to work as an illustrator with a designer, it's like such a nice kind of way to play with each other. And compliment each other. What's that process like when you work collaboratively with someone? Like if you can get a little bit more specific about.
00;27;18;24 - 00;27;37;03
Marisol Ortega
It, usually like if something kicks off when it comes to like freelance work, I usually get briefed on like, Hey, we're doing this or we have this like limited edition thing or packaging how to use it. So I usually have like a kickoff meeting. We talk about it, what our ideas are, what we see, like our vision for this project.
00;27;37;13 - 00;27;53;10
Marisol Ortega
And then usually comes we end up doing like sharing sketches or having like a chit chat about like how do you see this coming to life? Oftentimes right there is where I like play with color or like different styles to kind of start giving things some sort of like.
00;27;53;15 - 00;28;10;22
Fabiola Lara
Yeah, you have really bold colors, but it's like a pretty tight color palette. Like I see you use like remix the same color palette like with a different dominant color. And I love that because I feel like plays towards your style, you know, in terms of your color palette. But it's also like still shows how much range it has.
00;28;11;14 - 00;28;28;29
Marisol Ortega
It's my favorite to work with like three to five different colors that they're like there's only like three prominent colors. And then I end up doing different hues or like neutrals. And so yeah, like color theory really. I really get excited about color and color theory and how it could either be super sophisticated or playful and things like that.
00;28;29;00 - 00;28;33;03
Marisol Ortega
So playing into tapping into the emotional side of design and illustration.
00;28;33;19 - 00;28;49;25
Fabiola Lara
How do you usually explore that for a client? Is it that they give you the color palette or how do you like come up with new color palettes or play with it or get into that? For me, it's something that I find really hard to nail, like the mood for a color palette. So I'm curious because you dominated so well.
00;28;50;09 - 00;29;17;08
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, yeah. So I usually look at like photography and for the longest time I would like tap into some of my pictures, like personal photos that I had from like my grandma does, like House in Mexico or like things that bring me joy. So like if I'm, I think about like, okay, if I'm feeling happy, I think about my grandma I think about my wallet that I think about her house and the different warm tones it had with like pops of like pink colors or like how it kind of made me feel.
00;29;17;08 - 00;29;33;09
Marisol Ortega
And so a lot of times it's based off of like emotion and like how if I wanted to be cool, if I wanted to be warm and honestly, like, I look at those photos and I start like either color picking them or start making like little color palettes, like in groups. I know that that was something that I did for a while.
00;29;33;09 - 00;30;01;21
Marisol Ortega
I was like my daughter because she loves to draw and paint. And so when I was she was really little and I was like freelancing or working, like I'd have her on my lap and we would be like, you know, hangout time with Mommy. But like, Mommy was working yeah. So like, I would like really pay attention to how like just as children, like we are so free to like explore and like I just wanted to pick that color because I wanted to there was no random reason, right?
00;30;01;21 - 00;30;22;08
Marisol Ortega
So like, they have more I feel like children have more freedom to explore different color palettes and unexpected things and just because. Right. And so I took a lot of photos of my daughter playing with different colors like that was like Legos or even when there's a wow there that she was like collecting dandelions or like flowers, like picking them off in a walks.
00;30;22;08 - 00;30;36;17
Marisol Ortega
And so it was always like the bouquet of flowers or whatever she picked was like super cool. Or the rocks like. So tapping into some of those memories and like looking back at some of those photos and how playful they are is really something that I keep to them.
00;30;36;17 - 00;30;56;25
Fabiola Lara
That's so refreshing because I feel like sometimes, especially you as a designer, you can get so like in your head about it and kind of go and look at pre-made color palettes and just get really like overwhelmed with options and choices. And I think going back to kind of like your own world and where you find joy or different moods, right?
00;30;56;25 - 00;31;16;10
Fabiola Lara
Does it have to be joy and pulling from that directly create something way more unique to you? And that's what you can tell in your work. So that's enlightening. And I'm like, Oh yeah, I have photos that I can reference and I take pictures when I'm happy and I take pictures of I'm sad too. And I like a that as opposed to going on like Pinterest right?
00;31;16;11 - 00;31;35;14
Marisol Ortega
And like even with like your outfits, I feel like. Right, like even if you take a photo. So I've been trying to like capture a little moments of that, like what attracts me to certain things and like why again, like, I get super nerdy about color palette, but I like have a bucket of like photographs and things that I try to tap into because man, I don't know about you, but I've been getting my step out.
00;31;35;14 - 00;31;40;01
Marisol Ortega
I'm just so familiar with like Instagram or like obviously Pinterest and things.
00;31;40;01 - 00;31;42;02
Fabiola Lara
That it's hard to find inspiration there.
00;31;42;02 - 00;31;47;13
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. Because then I just end up comparing myself right? Or like, I'm not putting out the work and.
00;31;47;14 - 00;32;05;29
Fabiola Lara
I like social media as like I see it as like a medium to connect my work with an audience. If back in the day you used to take your portfolio to the editor, I feel like me posting on Instagram is me taking the portfolio to the editor and just like consistently showing up to like connect with an audience.
00;32;05;29 - 00;32;25;11
Fabiola Lara
It's definitely draining and I don't find that much inspiration there. Okay, so you do a lot of packaging early. We were saying, so what advice do you have for someone who's looking to get into packaging design? Because I feel like that's like a kind of a tricky space. I feel like illustrators tend to jump over to editorial illustrations kind of like an easy place to start.
00;32;25;17 - 00;32;30;04
Fabiola Lara
Packaging seems ambitious. So what do you recommend for someone trying to get into packaging?
00;32;30;25 - 00;32;47;25
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, okay. I was thinking about this just recently because I'm like, What brings me joy? Why is it always like this? So when I do collaborations with other designers and I think that that's why it works out so well is because I can see the vision from like a designer and also an illustrator. So there's a bridge to be hard, right?
00;32;47;28 - 00;33;05;08
Marisol Ortega
But I think as a designer it's super cool to play with things that are tactile. So like I think that the packaging serves that sort of like in between a you're trying to think about things that are tactile, like the experience that you have, like when you are holding something.
00;33;05;08 - 00;33;08;10
Fabiola Lara
And so that's why it's fun to make.
00;33;08;23 - 00;33;33;18
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, but I don't know, like how to break into that besides like what I had done previously, like working in house, right? Because I think I'm like, Oh, I'd like to try my hand at that. Or Hey, we have a new product that we're trying to see. What do you think about that? So but when I get those briefs, I a it seems daunting, but also be I take it as like, this is a good time to experiment on, like how can I open up this box and like how I bring someone else?
00;33;33;18 - 00;33;51;21
Marisol Ortega
Joy, there is an experience to be had when you open something, when you look at something in the aisle and like, I find all of that interesting and I think it's just like my nerd brand trying to figure out like why people gravitate towards certain things and why they don't. And I honestly think it's because of like the feeling, right?
00;33;51;21 - 00;33;52;20
Marisol Ortega
Like the fillers, you're.
00;33;52;20 - 00;34;01;09
Fabiola Lara
Like 100%. And like when you get a new iPad and you're like opening that box. Yeah, like, so nice. You know, it's much better than opening up some other random tablet.
00;34;01;12 - 00;34;16;14
Marisol Ortega
I know. Or like, color, right? And like, when I was shopping for coffee or whatever, like color, like things that are esthetically pleasing. So I am like super into experimenting on that. I don't know how to break into that besides, like, just, I don't know, thinking outside, it sounds boring, but like.
00;34;16;17 - 00;34;24;14
Fabiola Lara
I feel like if you're an illustrator trying to break into that, maybe it's just doing some mock ups of your work on the right package packaging.
00;34;24;15 - 00;34;45;03
Marisol Ortega
Yeah. And thinking about like where your illustration could look, you know what I mean? Like, oh, I drew this like pretty landscape, like oh, I can see this in a wine label. And I think that often when I do like, portfolio review is like, that's the one thing where I feel the most connection from illustration I like people who are really into illustration, and they'd make wanting to be a designer.
00;34;45;03 - 00;34;51;12
Marisol Ortega
I'm like, Okay, but like, where else? Like, you have to think about, like, where your illustration can live and the world.
00;34;51;12 - 00;35;06;10
Fabiola Lara
So I know you went to school for design, so I feel like you're, you know, you have that so tuned in and that's not necessarily like you're saying, true for illustrators. Can you tell us what the difference is between being a designer and being an illustrator and maybe like how you can complement each other?
00;35;06;20 - 00;35;26;01
Marisol Ortega
So I think that the difference between being an illustrator and a designer oftentimes comes down to like scalability. Let's say you do this a picture of like pretty flowers, but a designer could then take it and then see it come to life in a bigger scale. It can be blown out too. Like I'm just saying, like business cards and identity.
00;35;26;01 - 00;35;48;28
Marisol Ortega
Like, are there sign? Is this an experimental environmental design? Like is this a wayfinding or do we have form and function? Like so I believe that would be like the main difference. And for me, illustration didn't come till after the fact. And so I think it was when I understood that like you kind of had to learn to like scale things, especially if you're working commercial or like in-house or anything like that, or even for yourself.
00;35;48;28 - 00;36;01;03
Marisol Ortega
Right, where you have to be able to have that vision as like, how can I use this in a bigger way, give it a second life, right? So it's not just the illustration it's like, how else can I live?
00;36;01;04 - 00;36;21;24
Fabiola Lara
Right? The application of the illustration I feel like does that's like the coolest thing when there's a designer who who gets into illustration is that they have like that power to know exactly how to apply it to a million different designs like packaging or a poster or like you said, a billboard. And finding the type that goes with it and all that kind of stuff that maybe an illustrator on their own can't do.
00;36;22;01 - 00;36;33;15
Fabiola Lara
And as mostly an illustrator, I feel like if I work with a designer, it's the best because they like solve all those issues for me in a way that my brain, like, would take just so much longer to get to.
00;36;33;25 - 00;37;01;11
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, yeah. And I have definitely had that, especially just depending on the waves of like obviously last like two years, three years I've been heavily doing illustration work, but I always try to put on my designer hat to have like with my files especially, I'm like, I have to organize them like this or they have to be vectors or they have to be like really high in case like it needs to be like this or this or like I build in like a bleed or you know, or I build in like PMS colors in the Photoshop files.
00;37;01;21 - 00;37;19;22
Marisol Ortega
And I know that like some of my clients have been like, thanks for sending us like amazing files because they're all layer organized like, and it makes it easier for a designer to like then take the illustration files to like Illustrator files, then do their work. So and that's something I did go on to when I was working at Starbucks.
00;37;19;22 - 00;37;26;11
Marisol Ortega
I love the process of like production work and like seeing how things work with like guidelines and organizing things like that.
00;37;26;11 - 00;37;40;01
Fabiola Lara
So it's like, yeah, that's so cool because working at a company like that where they're doing so much physical product, so much tactile design, it's like you can still experience all of that. And I feel like sometimes that's missing depending on where you work, like you don't get that exposure.
00;37;40;12 - 00;37;56;11
Marisol Ortega
Yeah, and I've noticed too, sometimes where like we had interns, they really didn't know what colors were or they didn't know, like what leads where or like how to make mechanicals or like dye lines and like, but you don't have to. But I think it's just like coming at it with an open mind. It's like, I want to learn how to do this stuff.
00;37;56;11 - 00;37;59;01
Marisol Ortega
Or how knowing how it works.
00;37;59;06 - 00;38;18;04
Fabiola Lara
Yeah. The only reason I know some of that stuff is because I actually, like, worked at my student newspaper doing like the design for the student newspaper in college. So and I didn't go into a graphic design program or anything like that. I was in advertising, but by getting that job, I was like taught all of the ways to go into print because we were going into print every night.
00;38;18;13 - 00;38;30;05
Fabiola Lara
So that was kind of cool. Okay. I saw that earlier on. You used to work a lot with, you know, cuts and leaner cut print. And so I was wondering how you see that influence your work today and why you're so enamored with it?
00;38;30;12 - 00;38;49;12
Marisol Ortega
I think it goes back to like what I have been trying to do is from the get go where I like because I was painting and drawing and then all of a sudden wanting to do graphic design for college and being like, I don't know how to do any of the stuff. So it was the perfect way for me to figure out art, go from like analog my handwork to then go on the computer.
00;38;49;12 - 00;39;06;08
Marisol Ortega
And because it was black and white meant that it was or just at least one color like that, I could it look more graphic. Right? And so and for me, it's like I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to like doing back to work. And so when I do the lineup cuts, I'm like, okay, I generally know what shape I need to do.
00;39;06;08 - 00;39;28;00
Marisol Ortega
But when you start like rolling that ink and doing the print, like every single print is going to be different and there are going to be times where like happy accidents happen. And I'm happy that you can't control. And so things are out of your control and they show up if they show up and sometimes they don't. And so I feel like there's some relief and like.
00;39;28;03 - 00;39;28;24
Fabiola Lara
Relief.
00;39;28;25 - 00;39;46;15
Marisol Ortega
Knowing that. Yeah, yeah. And knowing that and doing that. And so when I try to do that, like, I remember the first time I did it for a Starbucks, it was a lino cut of a siren and I was like, Oh my God, I don't know how to draw people I'm freaking out right now. And I'm like, Okay, big mouth.
00;39;46;16 - 00;39;59;15
Marisol Ortega
I like, what is the one thing that you could do if you could just like, let go? And whatever happens, just like, that's how it looks and you can't touch it. And I was like, I have to do it. Like, okay. So I try to, like, make it seem like, you know, not full on or like anything like super hard.
00;39;59;15 - 00;40;04;05
Marisol Ortega
It was like a profile her like the double tail and I was like, this is it. Yeah.
00;40;04;05 - 00;40;23;03
Fabiola Lara
I think it's cool when you're working with physical materials, but you can't undo like you have to commit. And that adds like a level of charm that then once you bring it into the computer, you can make adjustments. But like you have like this starting point that already has something like Charming and your hand and much more, I don't know, human to it.
00;40;23;03 - 00;40;39;05
Fabiola Lara
I can totally still see the influence in a lot of your work. Thank you so much. Money for your time, for your energy, for sharing about your life and your upbringing and your career with me. One last question. So how can listeners support your work?
00;40;39;09 - 00;40;53;00
Marisol Ortega
I post things on my Instagram. I used to like do it a lot but I don't know, at some point I'll revive my shop where I have prints and things like that. But I think for the most part is just tuning into my Instagram and that's it. That's really all relevant.
00;40;53;05 - 00;41;07;14
Fabiola Lara
I can't wait to see your next project. I feel like you always have amazing projects like that you're working on, so I'm excited to see and I really recommend if you're listening to go check out Madison's Instagram. She posts her work and it's always mind blowing, so go there.
00;41;08;09 - 00;41;09;03
Marisol Ortega
Thank you.
00;41;13;12 - 00;41;43;18
Fabiola Lara
Okay, everyone, thanks for joining me once again for that conversation with a Mexican American designer and illustrator. Marisol Ortega. Please check out her work at Marisol Ortega dot com. I'll leave her links in the show notes so you can follow her on Instagram and check out her work I know I've said this a million times, but if you want more content for me, I share videos on my YouTube channel every other week between podcast episodes, so you can find my channel linked below or search for at favorite the drawers in the YouTube app.
00;41;44;02 - 00;42;08;02
Fabiola Lara
Finally, like always, if there's a Latin next visual artist, that means a designer, a photographer 3D artist, any visual medium based in the U.S. that you think I should speak to on the show, go ahead and nominate them by going to draws in Spanish e-comm again. Nominate if you enjoyed this episode once again, make my day and hit subscribe so you don't miss the next episode of Draws in Spanish.
00;42;08;14 - 00;42;10;25
Fabiola Lara
Thank you. Y Hasta la Proxima, chaooo