AAGD’s Social Media Queen, Camille Kaye

Tell us about yourself.

I mostly go by Camille Kaye, born and raised in Jamaica so I’m chill wid a lil spicy! After moving to Miami 15 years ago I’ve recently been back on the island soaking up the sun and reintegrating with my culture. Calling myself a “creative” has become the easiest way of putting an umbrella over the answers to “What do you do?” But a bit of specifics… I’m a Singer/Songwriter, who graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. in Dance, Minor in Music and Creative Director of The CKreatives INC since 2015. Both the Music and Dance resumes are long, and along those journeys I’ve been blessed to pack enough punch to apply my creativity to skills like music, choreography, production of photo shoots, events & podcasts, lighting design, writing, merch development, basic graphic design and managing content & social media. So, there’s a big enough nutshell I’d say?

What are some of your favorite tools or applications you use? Or can’t do without?

Ok, y’all pro graphic designers reading this don’t come for me but, I use Canva pretty much every day. I don’t consider myself an official designer, more like…I make what I need as I work on elevating my brands + social media presence. Other than that I’d say good ole Notes is something I open 100x a day. Spotify, Netflix, Instagram for sure. Lastly, any annoying, persistent alarm clock is essential for my daily time management routine?

What type of work do you enjoy most?

In general, the process of taking something from vision to reality is super enjoyable for me. At the top of that list, though would be creating for artistic or entertainment purposes.

Which project left the biggest impact on you as a designer/creative?

What an impossible question to answer!!! Sifting through a mountain of impactful experiences, maybe this one: Most schools in Jamaica have “houses” aka teams that every student would be assigned to. It instilled a big sense of healthy competition and 1 such cheerleading competition (sounds trivial I know), always stuck with me. Months and months of choosing music, making choreography, having auditions, coordinating schedules, rehearsals, finding/making costumes, planning makeup, hair, and props, all during the rivalry among 7 houses of 1500 students. Then the day came. The sun blazed on as each house took the stage, entertaining and riling up the crowd, pep rally-style before Sports Day commenced. It was kinda like when you watch a Beyoncé performance that just so happens to be at the Super Bowl like…we know the real reason everyone’s excited?

Anyways, what felt like 10 thousand events passed, and before announcing the sports winners of the year, they announced who won the cheerleading segment.

We. won. that. ****!!

And I’ve never forgotten the feeling of putting all your creative energy into something and having people appreciate, applaud and publicly recognize its value. I don’t think we won the sports but I don’t remember who won that Beyoncé/Super Bowl day either. I know she killed it though! We did our 200 teammates proud that day and I still remember it like it was yesterday because it’s a reminder to rely on my instincts and be my creative, unique self every day! I don’t however know where I’d find a pic of this day but it also left an imprint of confidence knowing I did it mainly on my own at 13/14 years old.

What advice do you have for younger or less experienced Black/AA designers?

I’d say, don’t limit yourself. Your thinking, your skills, the initiative to experiment… the sky’s the limit so take it there. This all sounds cliche I guess but probably also that failures are best viewed as lessons. The latter is a hard pill to swallow but…swallow it fast and get used to failing minus the desire to stop.

What would you say is the best way to take advantage of the AAGD network?

Get in there and join the conversation. There are sooo many interesting convos in the Facebook group, especially that can help anyone learn and grow professionally. But it’s also an invaluable platform to connect and share with creative peers of different levels and experiences.

How do you deal with creative block?

I don’t know that I experience a lot of creative block, to be honest. Probably because I’ve been relentless in my accepting projects that speak to me in some way. If there is a bump in the road, usually putting whatever it is down and coming back to it later is an effective practice that I apply across my entire life.

What advice would you give to someone who is interested in what you do?

#1. Be yourself.

#2. On the path to your dreams/goals start and keep going.

#3. Prepare for failure on failure on failure.

#4. For my ADHD fam, take a lotta breaks and use them alarms! Being a creative is similar to other epic journeys in that it requires relentless persistence, heart, and following your instincts. Even the veterans admit that we’re all trying figure it out just like you are, so do what feels right for you.