Meet Danielle Ochoa | Graphic Designer/ Visual Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danielle Ochoa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danielle, do you have a favorite quote or affirmation?
I recently came across an affirmation that says something along the lines that “you are exactly where you are meant to be right now.” I love this affirmation because it reminds me that everyone’s path looks different and it also means that everyone has a different definition of success. In a world that has become engrossed in social media, it’s so easy to compare yourself to others and wish that your success looked like theirs. I am definitely guilty of feeling that way because sometimes I don’t feel that I’m where I want to be or where I “should” be because I look at the work of so many creatives and I’m amazed by their work and level of growth, meanwhile I’m just only starting to emerge in my career. The affirmation reminds me that eventually I’ll arrive at the place I want to be if I keep working hard and trust my own process.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets me apart is that I love to explore techniques across various mediums, I’m always learning and trying new things. While my background is in graphic design, I love working in other art disciplines like motion media, textiles, and illustration. I like to think of myself more as a visual artist because I have learned that graphic design is visual communication and you can communicate through various mediums and each one will have a different impact to what you want to say. That’s why I try not to completely limit myself to just working print or just digital. I like to build from my foundation in graphic design and see where a project goes.

It has taken a lot of work to grow as a professional designer. I am still learning the ropes as I go along, but any challenge that I come across I overcome through research and learning. As one of my mentors would say, you have to be big eyes and big ears, just take in everything around you and learn from it. If you don’t know something that’s totally okay and normal, there are so many resources accessible to everyone so take advantage and use them to do research and then apply what you learned because that’s the only way you’re going to be able to move forward. Even after I apply what I learned it almost never comes out right the first few tries and that’s the point. You experiment, figure out where things went wrong, and try again because it eventually comes out even better than you imagined. I want my brand to be known for exploration and discovery, for trying new things and taking projects into new directions.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Currently I live in Long Island, about an hour outside of New York City, but my creative spirit belongs to the city so I’m always out there exploring. If I had someone visiting we would definitely be traveling into the city often to go to museums, eat and get a little lost. The first place I would take them would definitely be The Met, it is by far my favorite museum in the entire world, the exhibitions are always stunning and well put together, we could honestly end up going a few time during the week because the museum is massive and there’s so much to see. Eventually we would also visit the Neue Galerie which is right along the Museum Mile near the Met, The New Museum, The Morgan Library and Museum, and The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn— just to name a few of the many museums I love taking inspiration from in the city. We would also take a walk along the Highline, sit and people watch in Washington Square Park, walk around DUMBO Brooklyn, and window shop in SoHo and around West 34 St because their window displays are always so cool and the shops sell new and weird fusions of things that you would never think existed. Overall just walking aimlessly and taking the subway is a unique and authentic New York experience on its own. I love to have experiences with friends because I later get inspiration from them. Food would be one of my favorite parts of our adventures because it’s always exciting trying new things. First thing’s first, you can’t leave New York without a slice of our famous pizza and my favorite place is Prince St. Pizza. Food markets are really fun because there’s so many options and there’s something there for everyone, my favorite markets are Chelsea Market and Time Out. Korean BBQ in KoreaTown is a fun experience and the food is amazing, so we would definitely make our way there. After long exciting walks around the city we would hang out in Long Island mainly for a peaceful visit to The Parrish Art Museum and The Long House Reserve because I loved going to those places for inspiration growing up. That would conclude our trip.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All my support starts at home with my parents. They supported me with a lot of love and encouragement when I told them I wanted to be an artist. Even when I felt insecure about my abilities or my future they would always reassure me that if I kept working at it with my whole heart, things would turn out well even better than I could imagine.

Aside from my family, I got a lot of great support from my university professors. Especially from my Graphic Design professors Jane Zash and Mary Ann Casem and my Foundations professor John Rise. They are all amazing professionals that I frequently got to learn from and work with during my studies and they always helped push my limits further and further each time I created something new. They always saw potential in me and taught me to think way beyond the box. I will forever be grateful for their teachings and guidance.

I also can’t forget my incredibly talented friends. They are my support and they help guide me when I feel lost in my work. It’s always great to get an outside perspective, and having friends from other art disciplines is very helpful because they think differently and will see something you don’t. I am especially thankful to my friends Jessica Estrada— graphic designer and creator of Unica Frutas, and fine artist Bethani Blake. We always help each other with critiques, promote each other’s work, or just moral support, I am so lucky to have people like them be part of my journey.

Website: https://www.daniochoadesigns.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dani8adesigns/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-ochoa-119099162/