Meet The Designer: Lea Dahms

It’s a beautiful day to talk about a beautiful soul!

It’s week two of our Meet The Designer series and today we want to shine the light on Lea! 

Tell us a little about yourself (where you’re from, college, etc).

I was born in Minnesota but have spent most of my life in Florida, so I’d say I’m a true Floridian at heart. I went to the University of Tampa and initially started with an advertising and public relations degree, but after taking some design classes I fell in love and changed my major to a Design degree. Before I even graduated my good friend connected me to Nicole who saw my potential as a designer, and the rest is history 🙂 

How did you get started in design and why did you decide to make it your career?

I’ve been creative since I was able to pick up a pencil and get my ideas on paper. When I reached middle school I was playing around with photoshop to create my own gifs and Facebook banners. I refined my artistic skills throughout high school, and after taking some graphic design classes in college I found my niche in the design world and fell in love with creating.

How would you define your personal design style?

My personal design style has always been a hard one to put a finger on since I really love exploring different styles but never sticking to one specifically. I would say it’s a mix between retro, bold, colorful, and modern.

If you were a mood board, what would it look like? 

What is your current favorite font or font pairing? 

As much as I love some bold, geometric fonts, I’ve been gravitating towards script fonts more these days, especially for a personal touch on websites. I’ve been loving Almonde and Basic Sans together for a boho, modern look.

What design tool is your go-to?

I’ve been playing around with the Distort and Transform effects in Illustrator a lot to turn basic geometric shapes into fun unique objects that are perfect for brand elements!

What existing brand do you love and why?

I really love Aerie, not only in terms of their brand design but also for what they represent. Their logo is all lowercase, script, and feels handwritten making it more personal and not too serious. They give fun, playful energy and their clothes are a great reflection of that too. 

How do you get in “the zone”?

For me to get in the “zone” it’s very simple: a strong cup of coffee (or earl grey tea if I need a good change) and some jazz music. I also like to start my mornings off with at least a 10-minute stretch to help get the body moving and blood flowing before I start my creative process!

What is your favorite part of the design process?

I think creating the mood board is one of my favorite parts. You get to find various ideas and inspiration from all sorts of photos or architecture. Compiling it all to give a brand its essence and “vibe” is so fun and gets me more excited to start the actual design process!

What do you enjoy most about being a designer?

The best part of being a designer is being able to see the world differently, everywhere. After learning about typography, color theory, balance, and structure you see design everywhere, and nit-pick all the details that most would overlook. I think that finding ways to improve the way we communicate through design is what is going to keep us generating new, inventive ideas for the future.