Emily BLANK

1.)     What was your very first job? 

My very first job? I worked at a video rental store in Philadelphia called West Coast Video. I feel like I am dating myself here…. In photography, my first job was interning at a local newspaper taking pictures of events and news in New York City.  

2.)     Please describe, in your own words, what your job is and what work it entails. 

My job is exciting because I get to work on a wide variety of projects. In my day-to-day, I create and commission images for Google products and work on imagery guidelines that are put out by the Material Design team, but I also put a lot of thought into how imagery is consumed. One thing that is particularly interesting to me right now is gaining a better understanding of how someone with a visual impairment can better experience imagery. 

3.)     How did you discover that the creative world was right for you? Was there a time in your life that you credit to this discovery? What was there train of events that brought you to where you are today?

I was 17 and had moved to New York City for the summer; I was living on my own for the first time. I had my dad’s point-and-shoot with me, and I took it with me everywhere. I loved the shooting, getting the film developed, and creating visual stories with the pictures.  I was hooked!

4.) In your constantly growing and expanding industry, how do you find inspiration to keep your work fresh, innovative and relevant? 

It might sound cliche, but I love to travel. Besides seeing a new way of life and cultures, you get exposed to local artists that may not be as accessible in other ways. 

5.)     If you had to pick one piece of work or project that you are most proud of, more for the creative work and innovation it required, rather than its recognition or industry “success,” what would it be? 

Last year we launched wallpapers for Google Meet (an enterprise video conferencing software). I worked with a group of amazing artists to create the images that would live on screens when the program was not in use. The wallpapers were an opportunity to bring conceptual still life photography to a digital space and bring beautiful imagery to conference rooms, worldwide. In addition to creating the wallpapers, we collaborated with SFArtsED, a non-profit in San Francisco that brings art education to public school students and runs summer visual and performing arts classes and workshops for kids. Before the wallpapers launched, we showed SFArtsED the work,and told them the principles behind it. From there, the students created their own pieces. Both their work and Google's was displayed at SFArtsED's gallery at Minnesota Street Project this past July.  I love what I do, but I enjoy it even more when it steps outside of the digital space and I can work with a possible future designer, photographer or illustrator.