Meet Katie Ormsby | Owner & Designer of Katie Rou Design

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Ormsby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I am originally from the suburbs about 30 minutes outside of Sacramento in Northern California. I grew up with my mom, dad, older brother and younger sister. My mom and her side of the family were all extremely artistic and over the years I’m lucky to have family who are published writers, featured gallery artists, tattoo artists, musicians, sculptors, welders and entrepreneurs. Every member of my family has influenced or been a role model to me in some way.

Growing up, my mom made it a point to bring art and creativity into mine and my siblings lives. I know without being introduced to so many different art styles and mediums that I wouldn’t have pursued a career in graphic design. I love that I was able to be my creative, artistic, weird, loud self from an early age.

I got a lot of creativity from my mom and her side of the family, but I got my stubbornness, perfectionism, and take-no-shit attitude from my dad’s side. My dad was a hard worker, always putting his all into everything he did in life and that 1000% rubbed off on me.

I ended up choosing graphic design after taking an elective class in high school and by the end of the semester I fell in love with it. Creating art on a computer had endless possibilities and was a lot less messier then painting 🙂 Graphic design appeals to my creative side but also my logical side and I couldn’t ask for anything else.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I struggle with describing my art because I don’t call myself an artist. To me, art just is. There doesn’t have to be a meaning behind it. It doesn’t have to be for something or someone. Art can art.

I call myself a designer. As a designer I am solving problems and as a graphic designer I am solving problems in a creative way. Every color I pick, font I use, and pixel I move serve to solving whatever the problem is. I am able to pull in inspiration and knowledge from traditional art and artists to then give my designs a visual style. But over the last few years I have experimented more with designing for fun and from that I have created pieces and series that I would consider art.

My design style fluctuates because I am constantly learning and evolving. I hate staying complacent. I am my biggest competition and I am constantly trying to out-do myself. I love using bold, bright, in-your-face colors and fonts. I love (and hate) solving new problems or creating something with lots of restraints. I am always trying to figure out how I can do something better or more efficiently.

I started my career as a web designer and was able to learn how to use code to make things move. And after 3 years of that I learned I hated code and wanted to focus more on the design side.

Then I moved to a smaller, more cutting edge agency and was there for just over 5 years. At that agency I learned how to work under the pressure of being part of a small team and also being one of the only women on the team for most that time. I struggled with speaking up and standing up for myself and let myself get put into boxes that I didn’t want to be in. It took a very long time after that job to figure out who I wanted to be and how I wanted to be treated.

But despite those challenges, I was able to be part of some amazing projects for local companies. I spent 50+ hours one week designing custom line-art illustrations for a street car wrap and was able to dig deep into Tucson and its landmarks to create tons of easter eggs hidden in the design. I was able to learn how to create animations designs for banks, political clients and festivals.

Towards the end of my 5 years I was the most senior designer for a time and got to help mentor some of the newer team members. I learned that I love being able to help people and pass on any knowledge and feedback that I have.

From that agency I found myself working remotely for a few agencies and while those particular places didn’t work out how I wanted, I did learn that office life isn’t the best fit for me. I’ve been able to work from home for the last 4 years and after lots of trial and error found I am so much more productive, creative and more importantly, happy in my day to day life.

I never thought I would ever work for myself as a graphic designer but over the years I’ve been struggling one way or another at the various agencies I was full time at. Whether it was processes I didn’t like, people I didn’t agree with, or projects that didn’t align with my values, I was tired of being forced to do things for other people.

Over the last year I thought hard on what I wanted and being fully freelance sounded more and more appealing. In November 2023 I started making the transition to working for myself. I was able to change to a contract employee at the agency I was working at full time and I was able to get a part time job at another company to help pay my bills while I hustled and worked towards the freedom and flexibility I wanted.

I am very proud to say that on May 15th I had my last day at my part time job and have been working for myself 100% since then 🙂

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live in Tucson and would want to show off all my favorite things about this city.

I would start with breakfast one day at Bobo’s and get some giant chocolate chip pancakes. Then we’d make our way downtown, stopping by the MSA Annex and checking out all the shops there, probably grabbing a beer from Westbound before taking the streetcar to Congress. We’d check out Hotel Congress and grab lunch at Cup Cafe. Then we’d have to head to Borderlands Brewery for some beers, before walking towards 4th Ave. We would for sure hit up The Hut for a fishbowl, Mr Heads for a cheap PBR and depending on how the night was going we might make our way to the Buffet and hope to hit it during their happy minute.

I love taking anyone who visits out to the Desert Museum. I love a good drive and going through Gates Pass is beautiful. If it’s too hot for walking around the Desert Museum then we’d have to take a visit to Mt Lemmon, the drive up the mountain is one of my favorites.

I would also have to check out what concerts are going on at the Rialto or 191 Toole and if there’s a cover band concert somewhere (especially if it’s Yächtley Crëw or Metalachi) then we would absolutely get tickets to that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My husband, Andy, has been my biggest supporter and my rock throughout my life and career. He has been by my side through thick and thin and without his (sometimes too blunt) encouragement I would never have taken the leap to work for myself and start my design business.

My family and in-laws who’s love knows no bounds and have been the best cheerleaders.

Website: https://katieroudesign.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katieroudesign/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-ormsby/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553377995133

Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@katieroudesign 

Image Credits
Citra Wit beer design image: Photo Credit: Reuben’s Brews Agency Credit: Top Hat