Five Questions with Graphic Designer and Painter Yanique DaCosta
This week we would like you to meet Graphic Designer and Painter Yanique DaCosta.
What was the inspiration behind becoming a Graphic Designer and Painter?
I was always an artistic individual. As a child, my grandmother would complain about her sheets having ink marks and scissor cuts, and her walls having crayon drawings. Thankfully, with all that, she never stopped me from expressing myself creatively. My family would shower me with arts and crafts-like gifts. I went to college, got a few degrees and put my talents toward the medium that could offer me a “9-5 ” lifestyle.
Graphic/Commercial arts worked really well for a while. It helped me make more money than the average 20-something year-old, but I felt like I was missing something. Graphic design is a solutions-driven medium. My art was all about someone else’s perspective and solving someone else’s problem. I needed something else to express my thoughts and feelings without outside influences. Just like that, in 2014, I started painting again for the first time since I was an undergrad, and I have not stopped since. So I’m a Graphic Designer by day, Fine Art painter by night.
What do you enjoy most about the creative process?
With graphic design, the most exciting part is being able to come up with visual solutions that bring a smile to my clients’ faces and money to their pockets. When it comes to painting, it is less about the final product or its impact on society and all about the emotional release.
Can you take us through your process, and elaborate on how long it lasts?
The design process can almost seem like a hifalutin one to non-creatives. Research, drafts, first-second-third round iterations and then the final product. It is not an off the top of the dome process. Some designs may require 40 work hours because they need a lot of research and development or because there is a lot of content to work with. Other designs may take two hours because I am more familiar with a brand and its overall aesthetic.
Painting is another story entirely. It is primarily about my vibe, one day, one week, one month … Unless it is commissioned work, I cannot say there is any designated timeline, drafts or sketches created.
What is the biggest misconception about your line of work?
Not all artists or creatives are “starving. ” Many of us are working professionals, full-time employees, profitable business owners and multiple income stream creators.
What is your best piece of advice for fellow creators in your field about copyright and how to protect themselves?
Learn how to correctly copyright your work. If you have no idea what to do or where to start, pages 23-28 of the Graphic Artists Guild Handbook – Pricing & Ethical Guidelines (15th Edition) can help you with that. As creatives, our intellectual property is what differentiates us from everyone else, it is our identity. If you do not protect your identity, who do you become if it is stolen?
In recognition of the 2018 World IP Day theme established by WIPO – Powering Change: Women in Innovation and Creativity – we are honored to feature and support female creators during the month of April.
Are you one of our Individual Creator Members? Participate in our Creator Spotlight series! Please email us at cawebsite@copyrightalliance.org. And if you aren’t already a member of the Alliance, you can join today by completing our Individual Creator Members membership form!