Not going to lie, I never know what to call myself. But my creative repetoire is something like: Art (I'm a professional freelance artist under the social media handle of @wavylinesem, have been drawing and painting for 6+ years), Video editing and social media (necessary skill for my art business; Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, etc.), Creative writing (always been a passion of mine on and off, yes I had a Wattpad phase), Game development (I'm a big cozy gamer, tried to make my own little games for 2 years, picking up Unity and C# in the process), Web dev here and there and Product/interaction design (self explanatory).

You can find my art, games, and writing throughout my site!

Little known about me: my favorite hobby is actually singing; I was in show choir for 8 years and have been singing my entire life. I record covers for fun but those have yet to see the light of day.

The only way I know how to learn anything-- lots ofYoutube, lots of ChatGPT, google search, and trial and error. It's useless advice, but truthfully: you just have to start. Find an idea you're really, truly excited about. That's the only way to be obsessed with learning whatever you can, as fast as you can, to make it happen. If I was a smarter person, I'd find a mentor in what I'm trying to learn and work hands on with them. If I was more patient, I'd take a class. But I'm often impatient and impulsive, so the internet works for me.  

By consuming a lot of media from different worlds-- games, illustration, animation, 3d, photography, design. Having a wealth of beautiful things that I love naturally allows me to see interesting connections between them, which grow into unique ideas. I don't actively "try" to have a style, it naturally appears within what I make. Everyone has a style-- you too! The best way to develop it is to be curious about new things and attuned to how you respond to them.

Figma for 90% of what I do. Procreate (rarely, Photoshop) for illustration. For advanced prototyping, a bit of v0.dev, Cursor, Unicorn Studio, Framer, Play, (rarely, AfterEffects). I also program in React/JS/HTML/CSS when needed, and C# for game development in Unity. This website was built in Webflow.

For design inspiration, X/Twitter, Pinterest, Cosmos. I'm also an avid portfolio stalker-- here's a folder of all my favorites. In general, I try to curate my social media feed with craft that I like, spend a bit of time scrolling every day, and save any image I like to MyMind, where I now have a wealth of media that inspires me.

I wish I knew :) I'd like to continue creating things that I care about, things that connect people, tell stories, inspire joy, etc. How I do that doesn't matter as much to me! I'll likely be working full time for a bit as I wrap up university & post grad, but I'm always tinkering on side projects and freelancing occasionally.

For any freelance inquiries, or if you'd like to find a time to chat, please email me at emartial@usc.edu. Please include context on the project or why you want to talk. Lovely to meet you!