Mady Samsel

What do you wish you’d known now when you started your design course?

I wish I would have learned to not compare my work to my classmates’ work, or even the inspiration I was looking at. I love seeing all sorts of design, and I love finding inspiration, but it is really easy to get sucked into it and wonder if you are as good as what you are looking at. Everything I was looking at was filled with talent and special in its own way. I spent too much time being really hard on myself which did lead to end results I was happy with but also, the process there was sometimes hard. Not everything is going to be instantly perfect and that’s okay. In fact, that’s the exact reason to be in school. To learn and grow and get feedback and get better.

What originally led you into design, and how has that changed - what do you want to do/are doing now?

I didn’t go into school thinking I was going to be doing graphic design. In fact, I changed my major twice before deciding to major in graphic design. I went from one design major (interior design) to a more business/management major and literally realized I was horrible at economics and knew that wasn’t the route for me. I basically was like “I don’t want to sit around doing math and looking at numbers” and honestly, kind of changed to graphic design on a whim. Luckily for me, it worked out. I am currently not even a full year out of college and working my first job in my field at a custom t-shirt company in Philadelphia. It wasn’t was I was expecting but I’m enjoying it quite a lot. I’m doing a lot of in house design work as it is a fairly new company. I really enjoy the people I work with. I work with people who have an artistic background, like printmakers, and then I also work with people who have no background in the arts/design and it's really interesting seeing the difference of how our minds all work but how we work together. I would love to eventually get into something related to publication, but I’ve got my whole design life ahead of me!

Any hot tips for getting ahead at uni?

Hmmmm, experiment!! Don’t follow all the rules….but like, within reason. Whatever you do, make it a design choice. Explain why you did it so when you are breaking some rules, you can explain you did it on purpose and not because you didn’t know the rules to begin with. I don’t know, is ‘breaking the rules’ good advice? If you don’t want to get too crazy and break rules, just make sure you have fun with your design! Not everything has to be clean and perfect and pretty to look at.

What do you love about the design scene in your city and what companies are on your dream list to work or collaborate with?

Philly is a cool place filled with local artists, designers, and musicians. There is a crazy amount of community within Philly which is awesome. Philadelphia as a whole can sometimes be a little rough around the edges, but living here for going on 6 years, I am absolutely a more well-rounded person. The art/design scene in Philly consists of artists/designers supporting one another. I’ve been to, essentially, parties of local businesses/studios/galleries, open to the public, where you are literally handed a beer when you get there. There’s really a lot of hospitality with it and no pressure situations filled with super nice people. It makes me really proud to be apart of the community of Philadelphia and also, really glad to be apart of the design/art community particularly. There’s a publication design company I came across from one of those little gallery/studio parties and I fell in love with what they were doing. They are called Sometimes Publishing and they do a magazine that highlights a lot of what Philly has to offer, whether its local music or local artists. As far as I know, the magazine is printed locally (an example of the art scene supporting one another) and it is very experimental but beautiful, and very zine-esque. Which, personally, is right up my alley. It is some of the coolest work I’ve ever seen!