Emma Higgins, who co-founded the Fashion Club at Liberty High School in Bakersfield CA and graduated from FIDM in 2019 with a degree in Graphic Design, already has a dream job as a Production Artist working on The Mandalorian, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Lady and the Tramp, among others. We recently chatted with the California native to hear more about her career at Eclipse Advertising!
You graduated last year and already have a great job with Eclipse Advertising. How did your position come about? Eclipse’s Creative Director attended FIDM’s Graphic Design Portfolio Review and saw my work. They called me about working as a Junior Art Director at the beginning of July and I accepted the position. Since then, I’ve been transferred to their Disney Plus Production Team, and I love the projects I get to work on in this role. My current title is Production Artist.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities in your role? Our team handles a lot! We create many pieces for Disney Plus Originals, including laying out the art you see on the app, as well as designing the outdoor print and digital advertising for these shows, movies, and the Disney Plus brand. We’ve been juggling about six titles at a time since it launched, so we’ve been very busy.
You’ve also worked as a freelancer as well. Other than my day job, I was able to create designs for Riot Society/Universal City Studios. I made the artwork for the Jaws and Halloween shirts during an internship, and I’ve also designed two album art covers for the singer Becca, along with some other freelance work.
How did FIDM and Fashion Club help prepare you for your career? One of my strengths going into this job was how prepared I was. Because I had been taught different skills by many different teachers and learned how to adjust accordingly, it trained me to think quickly on my feet. While I was at FIDM, I also had a job, did freelance work, art directed MODE Magazine, and over-delivered on my school projects, which prepared me for the massive workloads we handle every day. Being co-president of my high school Fashion Club prepared me to be an organized leader and gave me confidence to take charge and make decisions quickly. These are qualities that I use to this day.
What do you most enjoy about living and working in Los Angeles? I love how close everything is and the diversity of food, sights, people, art, culture, etc. You name it, LA has it (or if not LA, then California)! LA is also full of go-getter people working hard to fulfill their dreams; I’ve met so many people in car rides, through mutual friends, strangers in line, or baristas who are whole-heartedly pursuing their passions—it’s extremely inspiring.
