Meet Rae Crawford | Illustrator & Book Designer

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

Hi Rae, what do you attribute your success to?
Success can mean different things to people, especially artists. Art and design are career paths filled with people who strive for greatness. I am no exception. However, I struggle to see myself as successful on a grand scale. I’m proud of my accomplishments, but there is still so much I want to do, comics to draw, books to create, images to breathe life into. Then I scroll through social media to see all of the wonderful, incredible talent around the world and all I can think is how can I see myself as successful if this is my competition. What works for me in these moments is to focus on my own goals and to not constantly compare myself to others. It’s one of the hardest lessons I’m still learning, but when I take the time to soak in my own journey, I see how far I’ve come and it motivates me to go further, work smarter, and think bolder. There is also an opportunity to befriend and learn from other artists who inspire you. It has made the world of difference to reach out to the people I want to be and to hear I inspire them too.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I was born an artist. Since I could hold a marker, I was drawing. The desire and passion to create has existed in me ever since. My art is a reflection of all facets of myself and the world that surrounds me. The images and ideas come from me organically. Art was the only thing I ever saw myself doing.

However, there was a long period of time I didn’t know how an art career would work out. In my first two years of high school, I had creativity, but lacked polish and discipline. There were teachers and college recruiters who told me to quit and focus my efforts into other disciplines. This gave birth to a stubborn voice inside me that told me I’m going to make it happen. Thankfully, I transferred to a new high school where I met the art teacher whose instruction and encouragement changed my life. Through the rest of high school and two years of community college, I worked hard, and with support from my parents and teachers, I got into Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY.

Getting into Pratt was a huge confidence boost. I already knew I would be a Communication Design major. At the time, there were three tracks you could take: design, illustration, and advertising art direction. Even though I was primarily passionate about illustration, I picked design. All of my counsel up to that point told me designers made money and financial and career security was my chief concern. None of this mattered if it didn’t translate into a profitable career for me. The problem was I struggled to impress my professors or create a portfolio that was competitive for jobs and internships. All my fears were coming true.

There was a moment where I was ready to accept that maybe I just wasn’t as good as I thought, but the stubborn voice piped up again and told me to dig deeper. This led me to a Nickelodeon campus visit. I soaked in every word from the recruiters. That talk got me so excited that it inspired me to change my major track to illustration which changed my life. It was in those illustration classes that I would create work I took true pride in, found mentors who nurtured my abilities, and found opportunities that have shaped the early stages of my career. By the end of my days at Pratt, I was interning at Frederator Studios, freelancing for my first employer, Amplify Education, and working on 2 senior projects. This combination brought me pride, but sparked a misalignment in myself that send me on an on-going journey of achieving work-life balance.

It has been a long road, but I am living my dream in every sense of the word. During the day, I work with a creative team designing books. My current position is at Scholastic designing novelty and picture book titles. In my time outside of my 9-5, I foster my publishing career. I just finished writing and illustrating my first major children’s publishing project with Holiday House, an early reader, My Day with Dad, and have already broken ground on the follow-up, My Day with Mom. I’m writing and mapping out my debut graphic novel while I continue to work on my web comic, I’m Broken. Send Help. I had the honor recently of working with clients such as the NY Jets and Rebel Girls Publishing. My current style focuses on color and emotion. I primarily work in my digital comfort zone with my Adobe security blanket. In the future, I would love to explore more visual development and smaller, freelance illustration-focused projects to balance my design and publishing work.

I will leave you all with the 2 pieces of advice I live by: 1) Watch the replays of your successes and failures alike. Success is a byproduct of failure. Learn from it. 2) There will be so many things that hold you back from greatness. Don’t let yourself become one of those things.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love to show people around New York. First, we’d have to get pizza. Probably from Joe & Johns, or Prince Street Pizza. My favorites are the gooey, cheesy squares with the thick pepperonis. We would also have to hit up my favorite restaurant, Craft Culture. It’s one of my go-to places. Their food is amazing and, for those who partake, their beer selection is impressive and extensive. Places with multiple booths or shops are another fun option for food in New York. For this, Chelsea Market and the Smorgasburg are musts. (If you go to Chelsea Market, I highly recommend spending some time on the Highline. It’s free and a fun outdoor activity.) If it’s around the holidays, the Bryant Park Winter Festival always has a great variety of food booths and fun shops. It’s the perfect place to grab a unique souvenir.

My favorite place to explore, especially at night, is Dumbo in Brooklyn. Especially from a rooftop, there is nothing like enjoying the view of the Brooklyn Bridge close up, Manhattan in the distance, boats and ferries passing by, and all of it twinkling like stars on Earth. Another one of my favorite places to explore is Koreatown. The area is huge and full of things to do. I don’t come with an agenda. I just let yelp guide me. I especially love a karaoke bar or Korean BBQ! A big plus is it’s a quick train ride to Greenwich Village which is another area I love. They have the Comedy Celler and the IFC Center which is a great place to catch a film you won’t see anywhere else.

For a day trip, I always recommend the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. When everything is in bloom, it’s one of my favorite places to get inspired. On the subject of inspiration, there are so many museums. I adore the Met because I love ancient history, but the MoMA is great and is located in a great part of Midtown. I’d recommend the MoMA if you want to also check out Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Met is close to Central Park.

And lastly, as former theater kid, we’d have to see at least one Broadway show and walk around Times Square at night. Sure, it’s a total tourist trap but seeing all the bright light at once with all the cabs and people buzzing by is just about as New York as it gets.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To my parents, you made sure I had everything I needed to take this crazy, wonderful journey, I am beyond grateful, and I will work to make the most of it. Love you both so much!

To my (soon-to-be) husband, you knew what you were signing up for and you signed anyway. I’m so excited for the adventures ahead! I truly adore you.

To Marty, John, Wayne, Floyd, Rudy, Pat, Tom, Hollis, Laura, Patti Ann (in the order you came into my life) you have impacted my life beyond measure. At one point, your vote of confidence made all the difference and I’m eternally grateful for your guidance and teachings.

To my agent and my editors, you take my work to new heights. Thank you for your patience, critical feedback, and constant support. I feel so lucky to be working with you!

To Keisha Okafor, whose friendship and endorsement is the reason I have the privilege of participating in this interview at all. You deserve every good thing you have and more!

To all of my friends and colleagues, you inspire me daily. You’re all hilarious, intimidating and terrifyingly brilliant and talented. Never change!

And to everyone else who ever supported me with their time, money, friendship and kind words, I feel nothing but gratitude and love.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Website: http://www.raecrawford.com/

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rae-crawford/

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