It all started when I was a kid (around 10-11), and I would experiment with video editing programs like Windows Movie Maker, and basic photo editing programs like PicMonkey. I would be inspired by the editing style of everyone else’s, and try to emulate the [Facebook] editing trends into mine… I felt like it didn’t come out as great.
I then stepped into the world of fandoms, and Tumblr edits were the place I got fascinated by people’s editing skills (Photoshop era). They’d do photo sets, icons/profile pics, twitter backgrounds, gifs, YouTube backgrounds, regular graphics as well. On YouTube, using Sony Vegas for video editing was a trend as well and I’d hop on that bandwagon.
I noticed on Instagram as a teenager in high school, that there were pages for Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, and Lady Gaga, and they’d do uniquely filtered photo collages which were great quality, and I’d do those as well (using apps like VSCO, and polarr).
I also tapped into doing lyric videos for the show “Empire”, for the record my channel is EMPIRELYRICS if you’d like to see them. This is the stage where I started using After Effects. Before I go any further, I’d like to mention I did lyric videos before using After Effects, and I used Sony Vegas. Those videos can be found on my other old YouTube channel BabydollOMGFan.
Now to go further, the New Edition Story came out… at the time I was stanning Algee Smith. I made edits/graphics for him using the apps: CuteCut, SuperImpose, Phonto, Polarr, VSCO, probably some other apps I can’t remember (to look at the graphics, check out my IG page editsbymvni). I have a lyric video channel dedicated to him too called Algee Army [which is still up].
As I got real serious with my craft, I did some experimenting with After Effects editing on different types of videos… that are available on my TikTok editsbymvni. I did promo videos, audio videos, fact posts, lyric videos, etc for a boy band I used to be a promo page for.
In 2017 when I entered the college world and chose a major, I figured I’d do something related to this stuff I’ve done throughout the years and chose Communications Design. From there, I noticed another world of graphic design featuring black women who looked like me.
I noticed they did business related graphics such as logos, business cards, flyers, websites, y’know the basics of investing in your brand? And I would experiment with different tools, whether they’d be Photoshop, or Illustrator. I became inspired by other designers, to the point I would try to mimic their work into mine.
I experimented with different design resources I’ve purchased on Etsy. This area was a little different for me, considering that I’m used to doing out-of-the-box graphics. But with graphic designing for businesses, it’s more so about alignment, legibility, consistency, and simplicity. So nothing crazy like glitter and 10 different clip arts. Nothing extra detailed. No extra effect done to text.
It’s fair to say that I’m born naturally artistic, and my journey of doing creative things is what led me in this current position.