Meet Brigitta Blair | UX Designer, Game Artist, & Comic Author

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

Hi Brigitta, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Making art was one of the things in life that felt consistent when the world felt out of control. Whenever I had a bad day or just needed to vent, a pencil (which later became a stylus) was waiting to greet me at my desk.

In elementary school, I became consumed by this online virtual pet website called Neopets. Neopets had something unlike anything I had experienced before: a thriving art community. People would code pet webpages and make digital art while writing stories about their pet’s lore. When Circuit City was going out of business, I spent all of my saved allowances on a drawing tablet that was half off. With my new tablet, a world of possibilities opened. Now, I didn’t have to draw with a mouse; I could draw freely with a tablet.

When trying to decide what to pursue for a job, I remembered back to those joyous Neopets years and tried to figure out how I could morph that passion into real money. For a while, I tried doing graphic design and illustration full-time, but quickly discovered I would be too creatively drained by the end of the day to work on my own projects. That’s when I stumbled into web/video game development and UX design. It was the perfect hybrid of technical coding and design while allowing me the creative energy to work on my personal projects after work. When I started developing medical issues and experienced firsthand how accessible design could improve lives, that’s when I realized my designs and stories could do so much more than satisfy a creative itch: it could help people.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
For my day job, I’m a UX/UI technical artist at a video game company and at night, I write and illustrate graphic novels/comic books. I’ve noticed that a lot of what I’ve learned from my day job has seeped into creating comics. Everything from using software like Miro to outline projects, to making reusable custom-made assets, to making sure my comics are accessible. When I can’t find a tool that I think could improve people’s processes…I make one (like the Scrivener Standard Comic Script template).

Having the flexibility to design tools and stories that can better people’s lives drives what I do. I’ve suffered with chronic pain over the years, which has given me insight into how bettering processes and having stories you can see yourself in can make a world of a difference. I’m hoping the graphic novel I’ve been writing about my family’s experience with scoliosis will reach the bookshelves one day, and hopefully land into the lap of someone it can help.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m a huge nerd and have a soft side for themed places, so I would have to suggest Universal Studios. Now that Super Nintendo World is opening up in February, who can say no to real-life Mario Kart? As Mario would say, “Letsago!”

Currently, I’m located remotely in the Washington DC area. DC is known for their free museums and brunch, so make sure you bring a rumbling belly and head to Founding Farmers, Medium Rare, and Busboys and Poets (for my bibliophiles). I’m a sucker for libraries and bookstores, so you can’t go wrong with the Library of Congress or my favorite boostore of all time: Politics and Prose.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have to give a huge shoutout to my literary agent, Chelsea Eberly. She has been instrumental in my development as an author-illustrator and I am grateful for her believing in me and my stories.

Website: https://brigittablair.com/

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

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigittablair/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrigittaBlair

Image Credits
Alvin M. Borlaza