We are so pleased to welcome Kelsie Ryon, Designer, to the team. Her quick but quiet wit can make any meeting even more fun.
Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?
I am from Akron, Ohio, but I moved six times in the past 5 years. I’ll tell you more about that later!
Where did you go to school?
University of Akron where I studied Graphic Design and earned my BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts)
How did you get into design? What areas of design do you like to focus on?
I originally took a web class in high school back before web development was a really big thing. Everything at that time was done in programs such as PhotoShop and Fireworks. You couldn’t really get a degree in web design and development. So I focused on design and studied graphic design. I really like to study how website visitors engage with technology and how that then pertains to and impacts my work as a designer. I often refer to myself as a “Swiss army knife” kind of designer since I got my start as a traditional designer and have picked up more skills on my journey leading into digital design. And I love every job I have had as I have learned from each of them. I don’t really have a primary focus as I like to think of myself as a complete package when it comes to design skills.
What is your favorite font and color pallet? Why?
I am still in love with the Archer font from nearly 10 years ago. It is such a classic new age font, clean and super versatile. I keep coming back to that font for inspiration. As for colors, I tend to use minimal ones like greys and blues, but I like throwing in a hint of color with it like chartreuse! I like things to be memorable and that engage people because that particular color or mix of colors is not seen very often.
Do you have a code of ethics or a mantra that you live by when doing design work?
I always live by the “less is more” mentality. All of my teachers in college taught me that if you need to make something bigger, you probably need to make it smaller. Also, complete doesn’t really apply to design as we are constantly going back to see what can be improved.
How do our core values (collaboration, initiative, ingenuity) align with your own?
Collaboration has been my favorite part of being a designer. It’s easy to become set in your ways and miss something that could be glaringly obvious to someone else. Collaboration is a building block of design and a huge element of being able to design effectively. It helps me generate ideas.
For initiative, I am a big question asker. You have to ask a lot of questions to start a project. I ask a lot of questions to get the one answer that dictates the whole design.
With ingenuity, I believe there are an infinite number of solutions in the design world. There is always something different. It’s how we use those differences to make a solution. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to fall into the category of ingenuity.
What do you want to learn in the next 12 months as a designer or about the web development industry?
I really want to grow my skills in user engagement and experience. How do people engage with technology? This is an area that is changing daily. And I want to learn more about the melting pot of businesses in the Columbus area. The Columbus market is very interesting to me because there are a lot of companies that have franchisees and use Columbus to test out new products. And it is a melting pot for small businesses. I want to get involved in this.
What is your favorite food?
This is a loaded question! Do doughnuts count as a food group? I would be okay with that. Also, I like a chicken and rice dish called Nong’s khao man gai. I discovered it while in Portland and haven’t yet found it in Columbus. But I have made it at home. It is amazing, and it’s great comfort food. It’s right up there with avocado toast for me!
What is the one thing most people don’t know about you?
Here is where I get to continue my story of my six moves in 5 years. I have lived in all four corners of the U.S. I moved from Akron, to Portland, to San Diego, then back to Ohio, then to Tampa, back to Portland and finally ended up back in Ohio to be closer to family since we are expecting! In this final move, we have discovered boxes that haven’t been unpacked since we lived in San Diego.
