Ten years ago, I wanted to become an artist.

Ten years ago, I wanted to become an artist. Today, I work across digital products, design systems, experiences, and design strategy. Looking back, I often wonder how that shift happened.

In 2016, I entered art school with a fascination for making. Art gave me the freedom to explore, experiment, and express without always needing an answer. It taught me to observe, look closely, and trust my instincts.

But four years later, my thinking changed at design school. Here, I learned to begin with the question, “Why?” Understanding people, culture, context, systems, and constraints became as important as the outcome. Research, prototyping, and iteration taught me that good ideas need to work beyond the designer’s imagination.

Today, I see art and design as two parts of the same journey. One shaped how I see; the other shaped how I respond. My work has grown from visuals into products, systems, and strategies, but the curiosity to create remains.

Perhaps that is what the last ten years have taught me: “Creativity gives an idea its character, while design gives it a reason to exist.”