Raised in a small town along the Columbia River Gorge, Cornish alumna Mandy Blouin (Art, 2010) found her way to art school with the help of a counselor and a Gates scholarship. Initially eyeing architecture, she was drawn instead to Cornish’s hands-on, interdisciplinary environment, where she explored painting, printmaking, and design. That curiosity fueled a career in graphic design, UX/UI, and brand strategy, taking her from Seattle to New York and back, as she continues to expand her creative practice and explore new opportunities.

Where are you from, and what drew you to attend Cornish?

Carson, Washington. It’s where Oregon and Washington meet, and very, very tiny. In high school, I was awarded the Bill and Melinda Gates scholarship– that allowed me to attend any college in the state of Washington for the first two years, and then I could transfer out if I wanted. At the time, I had a guidance counselor push me towards Cornish. I hadn’t thought about art school as something I could attend; I wasn’t aware that that was a thing people did. 

At first, my sights were set on UW architecture school, which was the most artsy thing I could think of at the time [in high school]. My counselor guided me towards Cornish, and I just fell in love with the school and the people that I met there. Once I began truly honing in on my craft, I never really looked back.

Did you know what discipline you wanted to focus on when you were admitted? How did this evolve during your time as a student?

I initially went to Cornish for fine art, and I was pretty open to what that looked like. I kind of dabbled in a lot of things. I was really curious, which, in the end, served me well, because it allowed me to keep an open mind to any sort of medium and test a lot of things. I ended up focusing on painting, printmaking and photography. 

During my first couple years, though, I kind of floated between graphic design and interior design, so I ended up taking Foundations of both, which was really helpful. Ultimately, I fell back into fine art and really wanted to focus on those three majors. 

Looking back at your time at Cornish, how did the interdisciplinary approach to arts education shape your perspective as a designer and creative leader?

For one, it just taught me how to collaborate with a lot of different people, which is invaluable now, because I’m constantly collaborating with cross-functional teams. Outside of the design team itself, I have a lot of partners. Cornish helped me understand how to collaborate and partner better with other people– I don’t think I would be successful if I didn’t have that initial collaboration approach.

Your career has spanned graphic design, UX/UI, brand storytelling, and creative leadership. While you were a student, was there a specific moment or project that made you realize you wanted to expand beyond traditional design roles?

Yeah! It was one of my close friends who was in the Design program at Cornish. That really shifted my perspective. I was always really moved by the work that he was doing; he was so artful with his intention with design. I never really considered design or products in general–  I loved the passion and thoughtfulness that he designed with. He was definitely a kind of catalyst for it. 

Then, when I got out of art school, I found myself making collateral for different art shows I was curating or working at an antique jewelry store, and was making print collateral for their shop. I created a logo for them. I didn’t know what I was doing; I did all these things…I found myself designing a website and doing Photoshop for them. I was like, “I really need to go to school for this. I’m just too curious about it, and I could do this better with the right education.” 

That was the real shift into furthering my education in graphic design, and then UX.

You’ve now worked with major beauty and wellness brands to shape their visual brand strategies. What experiences—whether in school or your early career—have been most instrumental in shaping your creative vision?

You know, I think the biggest thing for me was when I moved to New York and just jumped into a lot of projects and [got] scrappy with a lot of gigs, which then landed me in the beauty world. Once I landed in that world, I fell in love with the process, products and the storytelling that you can have within that.

That kind of experience of jumping into something– shifting gears from Seattle, which then felt like a very small town after a while– was really what shifted and reignited my excitement for design. 

You’ve since returned to Seattle. How long were you in New York?

I was there for 10 years. I graduated from Cornish in 2010. I was around for a few more years and went to Seattle Central Creative Academy, which was a great program. After graduating from that program, I immediately moved to New York.

You’ve balanced a thriving creative career with an active artistic practice. How has maintaining a personal artistic practice influenced your approach to commercial brand work?

I try to maintain it. Balancing what I currently do for work and my personal art has honestly been challenging. It’s something that is always on the back of my mind, wanting to jump back into it and make it more of a priority. But once I get into a flow, it’s where I always want to be. 

What helped was when I was in New York during my commute to work; I started doing  Train Drawings, a two-fold decision to stop aimlessly scrolling so much on my phone and actively do something each day towards my art. That definitely helped me scratch that itch. I try to jump into a figure drawing session every once in a while…spending like four hours just drawing to warm myself up into jumping back into my art.

Your “Train Drawings” project is a remarkable example of blending digital tools with traditional artistic instincts. What daily habits of yours encourage this kind of experimentation?

My daily habits in the morning. I really like to journal within the first couple hours, and I think marrying that with doing [something like] those train drawings helps create a routine of what I’m doing with my time. I have to go from A to B, so at least I know what I’m doing in between, right?

As a creative consultant now based in Seattle [again], what excites you most about the future of design and brand storytelling?

What excites me most about the industry is collaborating with a lot of different people and a lot of different industries. I’ve been focused primarily on beauty, which has been wonderful, but I’m really excited to explore other industries now that I’m back in the tech world.

Going from fashion and beauty all day to entertainment all day, and then back over to Seattle and into tech has been a real shift. I’m excited to open myself up to what’s next!

Are there any industries outside of tech that are of interest to you?

I’ve also considered doing more in product design, even shifting gears outside of creative direction and going back into more UX work.

I don’t have anybody specific that I want to work with– keeping myself open to whatever’s next and trying a lot of different things worked really well for me when I was in New York. I’m kind of in a refresh of starting new again.

For current and prospective Cornish students, what advice would you give about making the most of their time at the college to prepare for a dynamic and evolving creative industry?

I would say a couple of things. The first is one that my husband told me a long time ago: fail actively. That’s getting out of your head and trying not to be perfect about everything, just making a work because that’s where you find the most beauty. The aha! moments happen when you are failing. You’re like, “oh, I never considered that!” And, it went this way, and I can now explore that [new way]. 

The second one is to document everything. Document the process of your work, any sort of experiments, just document it all. And then, don’t wait for the final product to share your work. Share it actively, too.

What’s next for you? Are there any new creative projects, collaborations, or goals you’re excited to explore in this next chapter of your career?

I have a few projects that I’ve been working on with some folks in New York and London, and I’m excited to see those roll out, and then welcome whatever is next. I have friends in Seattle that are creating some really interesting work that I may collaborate with. I am really staying open at the moment, nothing too specific that I can share yet, but all very exciting.

How else have you reconnected with your Cornish alumnx network since getting back to Seattle?

One of my best friends actually just moved back to Seattle too, who was in the Design program. We recently connected with him. My husband went to Cornish, so I connect with him all the time *laughs.*

Is that where you met? 

We did, yeah. He was studying theater, directing and playwriting. 

Is there anything else that you want to share about your journey leading up to or since Cornish that has influenced who you’ve become and your career?

I just think Cornish opened my eyes to a lot of new things. When I first moved to Seattle it was very much a big city to me. I mean, I grew up in a small town. My graduating class was around 60 people. So, it felt nice to go to Cornish because it felt so intimate in a lot of ways. 

Where can people follow your work?

You can find Mandy on Instagram at @mandilla and on LinkedIn.

For many creative professionals, success comes from unexpected twists and turns, and Mandy’s journey has had its fair share! Initially unsure about pursuing art school, she discovered her passion for visual storytelling at Cornish and expanded her creative horizons through its interdisciplinary approach to arts studies. Now based in Seattle, she continues to blend commercial design work with an inspiring dedication to her personal arts practice– embracing the ever-evolving nature of creative careers.