Collab Convo with Designs by Rachel

Collab Convo with Designs by Rachel

We are so excited to announce our second collaboration with the graphic designer, Rachel Sullivan (Designs by Rachel)! Get to know this peppy 5th-grade school teacher as she doodles her way to success. 

Hi everyone! My name is Rachel Sullivan and I am the Rachel behind Designs by Rachel! I have been doing hand lettering for years, and just recently transferred that to digital lettering and designs. I love creating things that make me smile! You will often find that my stickers and things have a scripture reference: the Word is the foundation of my faith and my source of wisdom! I hope you enjoy my work and find things that make YOU smile!

Allison: So, tell us a little about yourself:

Rachel: My name is Rachel Sullivan and on Instagram, I am Designs by Rachel! I am a 5th-grade teacher in Mobile County. I graduated from South Alabama last year, and I'm currently a grad student there to get my Master's in Education.

Allison: What inspired you to become a designer?

Rachel: That's really funny you call me a designer because I don't consider myself one! haha! I've just always loved doodling and doing art, and then I was able to get an iPad and kind of explore digital art. I found it really fun and surprisingly, people loved it so it just kind of happened...

Allison: Well, we love it too! We love your designs and that's why we wanted to collab with you! So now, what is the best artistic advice anyone has ever given you?

Rachel: Oooh, artistic advice? I think just being confident in what you do. And even if you worry, 'will other people like it?', 'is it too weird?', just do what you like and if you're confident in your own work then you won't have to struggle with that comparison factor.

We totally agree with that! So we have some of your samples with us today that you designed for Citrus & Cane so tell us a little bit about them!

Rachel: Yeah! So I was so excited when Citrus & Cane reached out to me and we decided to do a collaboration and have the proceeds go towards Camp Rapahope! So I wanted to be inspired by summer camp and I thought well bright colors and the swirl design just really reminds me of summer camp and the tie-dye shirts that you make!

For me, the rainbows are really just a symbol of promises and hope and I look back at Genesis 9 and I think of the fulfillment of those promises. It makes me think about a child who is going through such an unimaginable struggle like the kids fighting cancer at Camp Rapahope, even if that hope is just a little rainbow mask to keep you happy while you go through your day.

Allison: That's amazing! So why Camp Rapahope?

Rachel: Yeah so for anyone who hasn't heard of them, they are an incredible summer program for children who either have cancer or have gone through cancer in the past. It's so important to me, especially as a teacher since I deal with kids every day, and to think that a child so young would have to deal with these grown-up issues of medicines, surgeries, doctors, death, and the heaviness of that burden. Camp Rapahope is such an incredible summer camp because the leaders have created a safe space where they can just be a kid for a week and enjoy being a child. 

It makes me think about my students and if they were to ever have to battle cancer, I would want them to be able to go to a place like Camp Rapahope who is so generous with their resources. I am just more than happy to support them.

Allison: We love Camp Rapahope too. I got chills while you were talking about them. So what has been your favorite or even least favorite part about quarantine?

Rachel: I think my favorite part has been the extra family time because we actually all quarantined together so being able to have that time where our schedules slowed down was really nice. I started doing the digital designs right when the pandemic hit so being able to focus on that and grow this little side business has just been really fun.

My least favorite part would definitely be all of the things that had to change like events being canceled and then the school itself going virtual has been such an adjustment. I've definitely had to re-do my thinking, but the safety of the situation definitely outweighs the risks.

Allison: What's in your bag, 2020 edition? What do you have to stay safe?

Rachel: Actually my current bag I've been carrying around is my current school bag. It's just this big backpack, and I've found that it's just so easy. I do have my little purse in here though, and I think my current mask-wearing essential has actually been this little fragrance mist from a small business in Birmingham called Crave Candles. It's made with essential oils that make your mask smell so good and actually has this cooling effect so it just makes it fun to wear. Otherwise, I just have my laptop, my iPad, all different kinds of teaching materials, and 3 extra masks.

Allison: Oh yes, I'm the same way with the multiple masks, and soon you'll have two new ones as well! So what have you been watching or reading lately while at home?

Rachel: So randomly, my bf and I decided that we were going to watch all of the X-Men movies chronologically and I'd never watched them before. He's a big nerd about those so we've been watching through those videos and that's been fun and intense!

Shop the Collaboration!