Sara Kuba – Designer

At Joyin, I work with a team of skilled designers and product managers to brainstorm and create wonderful toys and seasonal products for kids and adults everywhere to enjoy! While I do a little bit of everything here, I specialize in pattern design, surface illustration, and costume design.

I began this position in mid-March. I currently design characters and mascots for Paint With Diamonds, as well as assist in product packaging and illustrating for product materials and advertisement. I give the characters and assets a childlike feel to bring a sense of nostalgia and joy in customers.

I worked with a client to provide character designs and scene explorations according to her descriptions. While she has decided on another illustrator, she was grateful for my work and my enthusiasm.

I was the lead children's book illustrator for a short series of picture books Kristi Grigsby wrote, my assigned book being Sophie and the Airplane. I not only communicated efficiently with Kristi about her expectations for my illustrations, but I regularly engaged in conference calls with her and the other two illustrators working on other books, and helped guide them and make decisions for the illustration process. I also formatted the books and created a template for the other two illustrators to use.

At the time, Ringling offered an extracurricular project for students to participate in a collaborative children's book. For this, I frequently met with the staff in charge of the project to review my progress and make any necessary changes. I met deadlines and worked with other students, bouncing ideas off each other and working together to create a cohesive and exciting picture book.