Be sure to scroll down and enter to win one of 4 Dari Design Studio mini-journals!
Tell us a bit about yourself: Did you go to school for art? Are you self taught?
Well yes, both!
Dariela: If there is one thing I’ve never doubted in my life that will be the fact that I wanted to be a designer. Actually I was already designing anything I could think of by the age of 9. I would draw, paint, make stationery sets and make name stickers for people to keep. By the time I was ready for college Graphic Design was a relatively new career in Venezuela. I never felt I belonged more than how I felt in those classes. It was as if the curriculum was made for me.
Dariana: Everything I know about design I owe it to my mom and my sister. My mom for exposing me to it, and emulating it to me. My sister for patiently teaching me and answering all of my questions for years. That being said I am a self-taught designer. I never went to design school. I hold a BA in Marketing and Advertising. Yet, I am a confirmed eternal student. Addicted to all sort of courses, classes, summits, conferences there could be for creative entrepreneurs.
Do you work in just one medium? Several?
We work in several mediums including both traditional paper and also digital. Our surface pattern designs are a blend of hand-drawn and digital motifs.
Dariana has a special love for illustrating with watercolor and watercolor pens.
Dariela is a photographer as well as a designer and illustrator artist. We both use Adobe Photoshop, a lot, and
Dariela uses Illustrator too.
What inspires you / where do you get inspiration from?
We get our ideas and inspiration from a variety of sources.
Dariana: In general I'm inspired by nature, especially animals and flowers. I love to be inspired by patterns and bright compositions. The mix of vintage and modern and all sorts of eye candy gets me really high into creative skies. I got used to working with an inspiration board where I mix some or all current trends I like.
Dariela: I am inspired by design, art and photography and by everyday life's moments. Sometimes I see a design draw itself in my mind just by watching my kids play or after admiring how the light comes in and shines on some objects, on some flowers or on people. Sometimes a delicious treat I'm eating inspires me to appreciate the moment so much I feel like designing with that treat as a subject.
What are you working on now?
That’s a great question! We are finally back to making art. For the last couple of months we’ve been focusing on the launch of our new website and all the associated marketing activities. That’s a big achievement for us and we were happy to celebrate it, but it’s also exhausting and we are both ready to create new work for licensing!
Also, we are putting the wraps on a new guide for artists to celebrate the empowering effect of kindness in the creative process. It’s called "Standout! – An illustrated and actionable Digital Guide for Artists.” We asked several industry experts to collaborate by providing tips and we are creating beautiful illustrations and actionable steps to accompany their tips. The guide will be available from our licensing website (
www.artlicensingdesign.com) later this month. To get all the news about this project and receive this guide and more collaboration projects you can sign up for our mailing list
here.
Any great advice for our readers?
This might not be a piece of advice but more a perspective of life that we think is worth sharing. Practicing mindfulness and awareness into our creative journey has brought pleasant results to our quality of life. Because when we manage to be aware of what’s happening, we are the observer and not the judge (that judges others or ourselves). We noticed something special happens when we are able to judge less and instead notice or stay curious more by embracing the observer role. Our creative juices and ideas stay handy. The creative process flows better. The passage through the “unknown dark phase” inherent to the creative process suddenly doesn't feel so uncomfortable.
Mindfulness can be practiced in many ways. I started by just searching for the word and finding plenty of information and exercises to include in my daily practice.
Anything else you would like to share with us?
Dariana: I would love to be your friend on Periscope and on Snapchat. I’m looking to connect (my word for 2016 is connect) with more creative entrepreneurs, artists and all kinds of caring and loving people this year. If you would like to get in touch with me just to say hi or to share something fun send me an email at
dariana@daridesignstudio.com
Dariela: I also have a blog MamiTalks where I love to share my family life in English and Spanish. This is something that started when I had my first born (I have 2 kids now, the oldest is 9 y/o). I love to keep it, through the years it has brought me friendships, new experiences and even new challenges in design and photography.
MamiTalks is like my other casa in the world wide web!
Are you an early riser? or night owl?
Dariana: I am an early riser, but I used to be a night owl until 2 or 3 years ago.
Dariela: I am a night owl but I like to rise early too, LOL! I like to wake up early but not super early. Usually before all my family is up!
What is your favorite food?
Dariana: My favorite food is a good vibrant salad. I also love the traditional food from Venezuela.
Dariela: I love breakfast food! A good omelet with lots of veggies, toast with peanut butter.
You can find Dari Design Studio:
You can reach us through our new licensing website at
www.artlicensingdesign.com, or via email at
info@daridesignstudio.com. We are on lots of social media channels, check out our About page for links to those, we’d love to connect with your readers! Also sign-up for our mailing list
here for our design studio news and here for our licensing news!
New Year Giveaway! Starts Friday January 22. Ends Friday January 29th 2016. Tell your friends!
You can enter once a day, I will post the winners after they have been verified. Must be 18 years or older and United States resident. See terms below.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
January 29th, 2016. Winners have been notified. Several didn't respond. Faye M & Jenn N. won! Thanks to all of you who entered :-D
I REALLY appreciate all of you that help spread the word about my blog.!
Make my day and follow this blog :-D Don't want to miss the good stuff? Sign up for my
newsletter ;-)
Terms and Conditions: Giveaway ends January 29thth, 2016 at 12:00
a.m. CDT. Open to Residents of the US only. Prizes cannot be shipped to
PO Boxes. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by
email. Winner has 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected.
Please note that AnnieTroe.com and Ann Troe is not responsible for
sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each
sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prize and in a
timely manner. I will contact the sponsor regarding your prize(s). The
sponsors, in most cases, are shipping their items to you directly. I
will make every effort to assist you obtaining your prize. If there is
an issue with a sponsor, please notify the blog you won a prize from
within 30 days for assistance, after that we may be unable to assist
you. The product provided for the review was free of charge from the
company. The product offered for the giveaway is free of charge, no
purchase necessary. My opinions are my own and were not influenced by
any form of compensation. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin,
Blogger, Instagram and Google+ or any other site are in no way associated with this giveaway. By
providing your information in this form, you are providing your
information to me and me alone. I do not share or sell information and
will use any information only for the purpose of contacting the winner.
