Today we’d like to introduce you to KaJay Rooke.
Hi KaJay, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I’d love to tell you some fabulous fairytale about how I have always dreamt of being a designer/artist and how I have looked up to big-name, influential artists and been inspired to take on the creative industry by the horns as they did but it’s been a bit more of a winding, serendipitous path for me thus far. Let’s look at a few key moments through my journey.
My mum might argue that I’ve always been artistic, doodling on restaurant place mats when I was young and illustrating a bouquet I had never seen before but did fact, closely resemble actual flowers; But I’d say I wasn’t looking to be a designer until Sophomore or Junior year in high school. To be honest, I had always wanted to be a veterinarian growing up, so I was in all sorts of cool science classes with some drawing and pottery electives to fill my creative side. When it came time to switch classes once again mid-way through the year, I had a time slot that was filled with an “Intro to Photoshop” class or something along those lines, and little did I know but that (along with a hard reality check about what being a great Veterinarian meant) would spur my first memorable “a-ha’ moment.
When college came around, Graphic Design was now on my mind, and figuring out how I could apply that to my affinity for snowboarding/that industry. I went through all the gen. ed. classes such as any English/Math/Science credits I needed to fill then filled my schedule every semester with as many art classes as I could – turns out I really enjoyed (and still enjoy) learning new creative things. I was fortunate to help out a few professors in the Mountain Recreation department on various design projects and was hoping that when it came time to find an internship, it would be working as a designer for some wicked awesome outdoor brand like Burton or Patagonia.
Well – Spoiler – but that didn’t happen haha through a recommendation in my favor, I ended up finding a small-ish & local event brand that I worked at doing Production Design work for fabrication (a.k.a. almost nothing I went to school for). Turns out, this was one of the coolest industries that I had no idea even existed – the Experiential design field. For the duration of my internship, and after graduation, from this company, I was able to grow into a few different roles and learn the ins and outs of print production, pre-press design, fabrication, production design, graphic design, and even some managerial duties. I had also started to do some small amounts of freelance design on the side at this time.
After about 2 years at this company, I wanted to stretch my wings and grow into a larger company, so I started the job search and landed at George P. Johnson, a huge experiential firm out of Boston, as a production artist. Taking what I was now familiar with and applying it to a very large scale and extremely fast-paced environment, I was thrilled to be working on projects that had client names like Jaguar, Land Rover, Google, IBM and so many more. I was still freelancing on the side during all of this which at times completely consumed me and my free time but I was so scared to take the plunge and leave to comfy (and exciting) 9-5 in exchange for the ‘feast or famine’ that we always hear about when it comes to contract work. After all, for obvious reasons, the scariest leap to take for full-time freelancers is to leave that steady and reliable income.
Fortunately for me, that decision was made for me! The less fortunate part is when, after about 2.5 years in Boston, the Covid-19 pandemic happened leaving hundreds of people in our company either laid off or furloughed (another spoiler: I was one of the furloughed employees). While the world was on pause, I was taking a bit of a recharge in the woods for a couple of weeks. Then when those weeks started feeling less hopeful for a return to work, the panic set in at first and I started running around in circles in my head of ‘where will I apply to next”, “Do I even have enough experience for ___”, “nowhere is hiring full time right now because of this whole Covid situation”, “I need a Reeses, stat!”
Everything will always have a bit of a silver lining though. In this case, the blessing in disguise was I was too afraid to leave a 9-5 and pursue what I wanted, which was to be a full-time freelance graphic designer. I wanted the flexibility of not being locked in an office on slow days where I could be outside or productive on passion projects instead. Or I could fill my portfolio with all sorts of clients in the industries I wanted instead of what just came across my desk as a delegation. So, after a few days of some mental turmoil and too many sweets, I decided to do what I do best: Figure out how to make it happen.
I hit the ground running and revamped my website and personal branding, registered my business name, and all the other legalities that come along with making tax season somewhat more bearable for a freelancer. I reached out to all sorts of cool companies because as it turns out, I was right – companies weren’t hiring many full-time designers right now; however, companies across the board WERE hiring heaps of freelancers.
With all that said, it’s now been about 4.5 years that I have been freelancing full time and I have learned so much more than I ever could have learned sticking to the grind of a 9-5. I’ve met hundreds of incredible people, whether that’s via a design client of mine, places I have traveled to connect with new work or my time as a sponsored mountain biker. Sure, the “feast or famine” saying does seem to hold for some years, but part of freelancing has been letting me experience life in those slower times.
Going to travel or ride my bike in some of the most remote & beautiful parts of the country or just working on cool passion projects I don’t have time for during my busy times. A perfect example of a passion project that has come to life – and debatably, one of the projects I am most proud of – is the all-women’s mountain bike event that I created & hosted annually called Thunderstruck.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Smooth may be a broad term but it all depends on how you look at it. Honestly, looking at everything that has happened to me thus far, I can genuinely say that I’m not sure where I’d be if ___ didn’t happen. Struggles and bumps in the road usually are critical learning moments even if they don’t always seem it, which in turn lead to the most fruitful moments. Sure, I think there have been struggles along the way but a fair amount of those have been mental battles and trusting my skills enough to just try and go after what I want.
For me, a prime example of the shitty times leading to the best of times is when I had broken my back because of a crash during a slopestyle bike event I was in. I fell about 15 or so feet out of the air, virtually straight to my neck/back then spent 3-4 days in a hospital. I narrowly avoided surgery by being put in a full torse back brace & neck collar for 3 months and going to get x-rays every 2 weeks. I couldn’t move my head at all, it was near impossible to draw or read a book or even scroll Instagram, to be honest; I had just lost 2 family members, couldn’t drive (duh), couldn’t work on my computer (thank you to all of the wildly understanding clients I had at the time) and then, on top of it all I had my bank account hacked and hundreds of dollars flooded out of my account… Sounds like a pretty big bump in a designer’s road to glowing success, right?
Well, things got better and one of the best things that blossomed from not being able to do pretty much anything but think and maybe send a few emails was Thunderstruck. This was an event that I had loosely thought of before my injury but was “too busy” to take any sort of action on. In the end, I was able to create all of the graphic design for the event, reach out to dozens of sponsors who supported my concept, and teach myself how to run an event from start to finish. Today, Thunderstruck has now successfully run, and grown, for 2 years and has brought female bikers from around the world together for a fun weekend in the North East.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have found the most joy in print design, packaging, brand & identity, and event design over the past few years and I’d say because these are what most of my clients come to me for.
There are the acceptions of some digital designs such as paid web ads and such but I enjoy the tangible aspects of design, where you can go and pick up the thing you make or go visit an in-person event to see it all come to life.
Without pulling a super cliché card, I’d say what makes me different could be a few things: perhaps my sense of humor and honesty or my tenacious attitude toward my goals.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you.
A huge role – whether it’s good or bad luck, I have grown as a person, designer, and business owner exponentially.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kajaydesigns.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kajay.designs/
Image Credits
Thunderstruck Awards: Woodworking by Golden Hour Woodworking, Welding & steel work by Derek Hines, Design by KaJay Designs LLC, Photo by Mackenzie Hennessey Moose graphic: KaJay Designs LLC for REI Portrait: Hannah Sourbeer Bike jumping Jeep: Hannah Sourbeer Thunderstruck group photo: Hannah Sourbeer GOS lockup: KaJay Designs LLC for Teton Gravity Research Dino print, and Snake Tee & Doughnut Pin: KaJay Designs LLC
