self illustration of Melanie Martinez VIA 360

MEET MELANIE

Melanie, a senior at Columbia College Chicago studying Graphic Design, is part of the Honors group Phi Theta Kappa. As the first generation within her family to attend and finish college, Melanie has a clear plan for her future career path by applying her Graphic Design skills in the Packaging Design field or the Publication Design Field. Her style inspiration, coming from her dad who sparked her interest in art when she was 12 years old, was mainly from watching Sailor Moon as a toddler. Her love for the anime character style and the bright pastel-like colors was what started and stuck with her throughout her schooling. She hopes to get a job in the Design field here in Chicago or in the future in California. 

As the pursuit of art continues to rise, one of the big goals for Melanie is to apply for her design work in a more practical way to meet the expectations of people from outside the classroom. Besides the 15 weeks of each semester, Melanie aims to gain more knowledge about the possibilities of the Adobe programs, like InDesign, which would help her become more experimental with her work. During the summer, Melanie spends the first half of her day as an intern for 360 Magazine, and the second half of her day as a part-time at a distribution center called Essendant as an order picker. 

Outside of work-related activities, she mostly stays with her three-year-old dog, Bruno, playing videogames or binge-watching anime. After the summer, Melanie would go back to school this upcoming fall to continue her bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design.