From Artist to Designer
My story
29 June 2023
Written by Natalie Bloom
I was not the kid who always knew what she wanted to be growing up, nor was I that kid at 18. After spending my childhood in sports, I learned that talent alone is not a sustainable reason to pursue a goal, passion is necessary to keep the spirit alive and well. I always did well in school, but it took me 12 winding years to discover the web design and development field, after exploring possibilities within psychology and art first. It was my time as a small business owner/ artist that sparked my passion for helping other small businesses through web design.
Psychology was alluring, I was obsessed with learning about the factors that influence human behavior, and as someone in their early 20s at the time, this education taught me a lot about myself as well. Including that I shouldn’t be a therapist. While I earned my associate’s degree I spent a few years in the service industry, teaching pre-k, and nannying.
When I became a mother, things changed, I no longer felt I had the luxury of rampant self-discovery and buckled down every nap time to paint, developing my own personal style of acrylic painting through the discipline of daily practice. I painted over 200 commissions and personal pieces in the 3 years that followed using social media and word-of-mouth marketing. Over time I opened an Etsy shop to sell custom “neon sign” paintings, a trend during the pandemic, these were my bread and butter for a while.
When I became pregnant with my daughter, I felt a different kind of fire ignite under my butt… the need to have a consistent income. When the entire world went into pandemic panic mode, the last thing they needed was a custom painting, and my commission list certainly reflected the economy in a way my anxiety couldn’t take. I Googled, “creative career, good income” and was inundated with targeted ads for coding boot camps for weeks.
The most valuable takeaway from my time as a creative small business owner was the discovery that I need to be creative in my work- I love (almost) nothing more than making. I figured that if I loved making paintings for people, I could learn to love making websites for people as well. Plus, I could help other small business owners develop an online presence so they could focus more on producing the work they are passionate about.
I chose to pursue a Bachelor’s degree from Champlain College
At the time, Champlain was one of the few colleges offering a degree in both web design and development and I have always been intrinsically driven to understand entire processes for making anything. Champlain takes a holistic approach to teaching web design and development, not only did I learn several front and back-end coding languages and gain experience with over 10 different types of software, but I also had to become intimately familiar with the architecture of my laptop and the network of the web, worked with different operating systems beyond my Mac, took multiple classes on usability and accessibility, e-commerce, database and project management, and ethical hacking. While I studied as a full stack developer, it is really problem-solving with front-end languages and design software to solve a visual puzzle that gives me the same dopamine dump painting does. So here I am, trying to get my foot in the door of a new industry at 30.
Writing code or using design software to render a visual is a challenge I can see engaging me happily for years to come. And yes, you may assume those years will be cut short by the inevitable take-over of AI, but if I have proven anything to myself, I have proven that I can read a room and pivot successfully when needed. Luckily, I also value aspects of the field that require a human touch- like collaborating with clients, UX/UI, and original thinking.
I plan to take on the integration of AI in stride. Yes, it absolutely needs to be regulated, but that topic is for a different post. My views on late-stage capitalism tell me that if I resist incorporating AI into my workflow I won’t find work, the power players are racing to innovate first and profit in turn which adds a layer of eat or be eaten to my view. However, I don’t believe in actively replacing people with AI, the human touch is palpable and would be sorely missed.
I am also particularly interested in the world of website accessibility.
The idea that the Internet is younger than many of its codependent users and not yet totally designed to age with us is alarming. What would happen if something beyond your control rendered you helpless to use the applications you have depended on for years? The industry needs to focus on adapting the Internet to work for users of all ages and abilities. 20% of individuals are currently living with a disability which makes standard Internet applications more challenging to use effectively. The Internet and those that build it should strive to provide equal access to information to everyone, because information is power, and only making it accessible to some people is discrimination.
So, welcome to my blog. It exists not only for SEO, but to rant in 1st person in a tone less suitable for the rest of my portfolio. I’ll write about tech, art, and their overlap.
Please reach out if you are in the tech field, interested in the tech field, need a website, or a painting, are hiring someone like me, or just want to chat- I’m friendly!
