Kate Tressler

Every new company comes with a different brand, a new identity, a new team who operates in a way that we as designers might not be used to or even comfortable with. In the beginning, there is a certain rigidity that comes with proving yourself before having the freedom to incorporate your own style within the branding guidelines. For me SAIC was this exact challenge. Although I was used to a certain level of "government graphic" I really had to pull back on my creative side to learn a more militaristic approach to graphics so I could be fully immersed in completely new markets than I was used to. As a clean open concept artist I was met with multilayered "Call of Duty" level covers, and very masculine sharp edged 3D graphics. It took me almost three full years, but in the end, I found balance. I learned to add more without a feeling of heaviness, to paint a canvas with layers, and most importantly, to find myself in my work that transcended the SAIC brand.