Cierra, with a 'c.'

Hi. I'm Cierra Ireland. I've always done things differently. Unusual names breed unusual people, right? This weirdy is a Colorado-based graphic designer that specializes in print, production, and branding design with a splash of illustration and fine art background. I am a graduate of Colorado State University, was born in Boulder, raised in Steamboat Springs but currently living in Loveland, CO. Growing up in "Skitown USA" left an indelible imprint on me and my passions, and I try to take the amazing things I saw and learned from this community with me into the future. I enjoy biking to local breweries, camping with my kickass husband, taking my two sweet mutts for walks, being in the great and wonderful outdoors of Colorado, baking pies, and eating. A constant, never-ending passion for eating.

What is design to me?

Designers are situated within a peculiar niche within society. Lodged between art and feeling and information, designers have the seemingly impossible charge of synchronizing these elements in a perfect, simple union.

It's not just a singular skill, but an interdisciplinary craft that allows me to work with depth and varied artistic goals. I seek to reclaim graphic design as a craft and push past the current notion of it being singularly skilled with software and computer-generated graphics. Those, while essential to modern design, are not the limits to design and I push to look to both new and innovative techniques.

Graphic design is a social and evolving craft, and it's artistic goals must be considered from a very socially aware lens. I like to think that I have a very distinct and unique perspective on life and people. I am very passionate about equality and diversity, and as a former Women's Studies Minor, I have a forward-looking approach to how I treat people and different situations. As a designer and a critic of society, I am uniquely capable to lift my interpretation of modern graphic design back to the level of fine art and craftsmanship that it once previously occupied. 

Design is my craft and I am the craftswoman of my design.