Meet Brooke Caillouette | Vector Artist and Brand Specialist

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

Hi Brooke, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
My business partner would absolutely agree we are only our best in terms of design when we take calculated risk. Working as a digital vector artist for over 15 years the trust of branding and design from clients is a great responsibility. Our job is to create within the guidelines of their target demographic, location and business standards while being true to our creative process by producing unique and fresh eye catching work. It can be a bit of a hat trick but the voice and return on investment for our clients is at it’s greatest when we take calculated risk. From logo and branding to entire marketing campaigns, collateral packages or any form of branding design we are looking for a positive reaction from anyone that sees our work and creates an unconscious call to action by just visual interaction. I consider myself an artist with the expectation of immediate results integrating color science, demographic projections and return on investment for my client while creating art and that in itself is a calculated risk.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My journey actually started in marketing. I was going to school for marketing and advertising when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Managing a coffee shop full time and going to school full time while volunteering for the local downtown development was no easy task. I think that’s where my love and appreciation of helping small businesses started. We had an Earth Day Event coming up and the President of our small group owned a design and advertising firm. I was curious to see what his process was for creating so I went to his studio to help with the poster. As soon as he picked up his stylus I knew the way jazz musicians tell you about the first time they held a trumpet or sax. He became my first business partner and I moved to Chicago to start a firm. I was young and I still every once in awhile go through that old portfolio to remember how hungry I was to learn everything.

I ended up being stuck in a non-compete for two years which meant after acquiring all of this knowledge I couldn’t use it for two years. I did the only thing I could think to do…I became a photographer for two years. I didn’t know at the time it would be one of the most useful skills I could pick up for what was coming next. I moved to New Orleans and started working with a start up fashion magazine. It wasn’t that much time after Katrina so we were creating the arts world of New Orleans again and the city was our oyster. I was getting tired of the southern debutante events, the glossy pages and editorials of this seasons soon to be house wives, so I left. I and a co-worker created a mens’ magazine. Stylish and gritty, covering the Friday Night Fights, Banksy and researching the original Playboy Club in New Orleans. I was creating content I enjoyed with clients I loved to be around. After a year of designing ads 8.5 x 10.5 I was ready to move on to bigger spaces.

I bartended on the weekends at a small Absinthe Cafe in Pirates Alley located in the French Quarter. I was an unemployed designer for a total of three days when a man walked in with a sleeveless shirt and full tats, sat down and asked if I remembered him. I did not, but according to him he had come in a year earlier to my bar and we talked about me being a designer for the past six years and him owning a print house in Florida. It is ten years later and we have worked flawlessly ever since. Jumping for joy knowing Quentin Tarantino threw our work at Mardi Gras, being on the field at the Astro Stadium a week before the World Series opening a location of a franchise we created or installing work at the Dali Museum I once walked through as a little girl. The last ten years of challenges and successes have been a designers dream that eventually matched the hustle.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I LOVE visiting my clients in Arizona. I work remotely and my clientele in Phoenix is fairly substantial. So when I come to town I normally go to Cartel for Coffee for my double shot. You can always count on a farmers market somewhere around or grab goods at Essence Bakery . I usually make it a point to do some photoshoots while there because the landscape is gorgeous, especially at sunset. I am a oyster girl myself so try to stop by Buck & Rider and of course Merkin for wine.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would say my father. Since I was born my father has been an art collector and enthusiast which meant weekends at the Ringling Museum and wine tastings at the Dali museum. I grew up on a small island in Florida that was very influenced by artists. John Ringling had settled in the area during the hay day of his circus so creativity and imagination surrounded me as a little girl as well as the dream to grow up and be a mermaid. My Father, when I was six, had me sit down everyday after school and write a letter to Erté in cursive until it was perfect. It is one of my favorite memories I have with my Dad. When Erté returned postcards of his entire collection along with a letter that is framed in my studio to six year old me telling me to follow my dreams, I knew I was going to be an artist. The challenge was spending years discovering what kind.

Website: www.acehighneworleans.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acehighneworleans/?hl=en

Image Credits
Brooke Caillouette