Meet Leilani Patrick of Lei + Design in Inglewood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leilani Patrick.

Leilani, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was about eight years old, I was asked to write a paper based on the limiting question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. While most of the other children wrote about one occupation, my paper read, “When I grow up I want to be a doctor, a lawyer, a model, a hair stylist, a dancer, a magazine editor, a singer…” The list continued. My entire page was filled with almost every career you could think of. Now in hindsight, that innocent and naïve moment would eventually reflect who I would soon become, just slightly more realistic. If I were asked that same question today, at twenty-four years young, my response would be, “I want to be an animator, a film director, a film producer, a film writer, an author, a magazine editor, a sportswear model…” You get the idea, another ongoing list of what I’d like to accomplish in life. Now imagine your brain being consumed with so many creative concepts and visions but never actually knowing where to begin.

My initial plan was to create a blog focusing on skincare, lifestyle, film, beauty, and more. I had this vision of making my blog extremely fun and creative so I started by contacting various graphic designers for a logo and some illustrations. Unfortunately, every single graphic designer either gave me the runaround or quoted an extremely high price. Now if there is one thing to know about me it’s that I have this unrealistic, slightly egotistic belief that I can do anything myself, so usually I prefer to (even if I’m in over my head). I honestly would try to build myself a house if I could. Seriously, if I had the land and the proper materials, you would find me in a vacant lot hammering and nailing planks of wood together. But back to the point, me getting turned down by each of those graphic designers forced me to hop into “DIY mode”. I dedicated my spare time to studying the world of graphic design. Thanks to YouTube University (if you know, you know), I was able to teach myself how to proficiently navigate intimidating applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, and more.

Being proud of my personal projects, I’d sometimes post them on social media. That’s when people began to ask me to create graphics and content for their businesses and/or events. Although I have completely abandoned my blog, the idea helped me find a starting point towards my future and an end to my frustrating “creator’s block”.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I think two of my main struggles have been time-management and not feeling burned out on the skill. Balancing school (including the transferring process), a part-time job, a freelance business, and having a life outside all of that can become extremely overwhelming. I would find myself annoyed with the thought of accepting new clients because I was simply exhausted. The last thing that I wanted to do after having class and work back to back was come home and work on graphic designs. Learning to say “Sorry, but I will not be able to meet that deadline.” or “Unfortunately, I am swamped with multiple projects and won’t be able to get to yours until the following month” was a vital lesson that I had to learn. Another struggle has been finding confidence in my skill. Whenever family or friends would brag about my work, I would brush it off as if it wasn’t a big deal. Slowly but surely, I am realizing my worth as a graphic designer and I am also starting to believe that my work is impressive.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Lei + Design – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Lei + Design is a small freelance graphic design company based out of Inglewood, California. It is currently a one-woman show. I independently collaborate with various clients, specializing in but not limited to, business logos, promotional flyers, illustrations, and product labels. I bring creative visions to life. I would like to think that I am known for polished and aesthetically pleasing designs. I am most proud of my professionalism when communicating with clients, as well as the amount of support that I have received. It seems like someone is always either sending me graphic design jobs to apply to or tagging me in a social media post. That is so special to me because I often feel like I don’t know what I am doing. To see that people recommend me so frequently to others is definitely exciting and reassuring.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am most looking forward to graduating with my Bachelor of Arts with emphasis in Animation. I have less than two years to go and I couldn’t be more excited! I plan to continue running Lei + Design while in school. Hopefully, I get to a point where I can hire other creatives to help lessen the workload. I also plan to start working on a short animated film, as well as launching a film production company with my immediate family. As for big plans or dreams, let’s just say that by the time I’m 30, “Leilani Patrick”, will be listed in the credits of some of the most spectacular box office films. You read it here first.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leindesign.myportfolio.com
• Email: leindesign@aol.com
• Instagram: leilanislp

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