Indigo Hoffman
Graphic Designer, Printmaker, Creative Mind
Hello! I'm Indigo Hoffman, a Twin Cities-based graphic designer and artist with a background in fine arts dedicated to combining passion with a diverse range of creative skills. My goal is to uplift brands and tell unique stories.
About Me
I am a graphic designer with an interest in combining fine arts with the principles of design to influence the decisions I make in my work.In my personal work, I frequently explore themes of LGBTQIA+ issues, personal identity, social justice, animal rights, sustainability, and environmentalism. I often utilize bold and rich color palettes, counter-culture aesthetics, and combining traditional and digital methods within one project. I consider myself a "jack-of-all-trades" when it comes to art and design.I have worked with serigraphy and relief printmaking, and multiple other 2D and 3D mediums and materials ranging from charcoal to woodworking to oil paints, which allow me to make more informed decisions about design.
Experience
Portkey SEO Solutions
Designed custom websites and digital graphics, managed social media accounts, and handed SEO strategies for multiple clients. Communicated directly with clients on their needs, wants, and visions.
2023 - Present
Wisconsin Education Association Council
Directed composition, information layout, and color usage on instructional fliers, promotional materials, and educator resource books.
2018 - 2023
University of Wisconsin-Stout
BFA in Graphic Design & Interactive Media
Double concentration in interactive media and communication design.
University of Wisconsin-River Falls
International studies in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Fine arts, graphic design, and career exploration studies through the Wisconsin In Scotland education program.
Lumi
Graphic Design Capstone
2023
Lumi is an online, subscription-based pharmacy for transgender, intersex, and non-binary patients seeking gender affirming care. Through invoking empathy in others, Lumi spreads awareness of the issues gender non-conforming individuals face, primarily in medical care. Emphasizing on positivity, education, and cultivating a friendly environment, Lumi's mission is to make gender affirming care as accessible as possible.
University of Wisconsin-Stout senior capstone projects are featured in a gallery at the end of the year. Lumi was featured in the Graphic Design gallery space, where patrons were invited to interact with the brand, get their own hand-pressed pronoun buttons, and answer a question on an interactive board.The gallery board was hand painted, all posters and merchandise were produced and created by Indigo, and the book was hand-bound.
The Dog
Interactive Media
HTML | CSS | JavaScript
2023
"The Dog" is an interactive media experience created to showcase proficiency in HTML/CSS and Javascript. The project was created to be an interactive video archive/memory experience of the small moments that many take for granted in dog ownership. Animals see the world in a different way, and my dog experiences the world in a playful, childlike whimsy that I admire deeply and hoped to capture with this project.The objective of this project was to display control of the design organizational matrix and to create an interactive "memory book".Every designer can put together a website. It takes an artist to skillfully combine visuals, animation, audio, and interactivity to create a true experience.
Habitat
Branding & Packaging Design
2021
Habitat was created in a semester-long project completed in a hybrid class with graphic design and packaging students. Working in teams, we redesigned the branding for Reckitt Airwick's plug-in scented diffusers.
Our team decided to focus on the natural world the fragrances take inspiration from. Each "Habitat" is linked to a specific ecosystem, both the packaging and fragrance relating to that habitat. The hand-drawn illustrations paired with the light wash of watercolor pair nicely to create a clean, natural feeling for the packaging.
With help from professors and professionals from Great Northern Corporation, we created a new logo, branding, and redesigned the physical packaging. We then had the opportunity to pitch our redesigns directly to Reckitt.
West CAP
Website Design
2022
Website redesign project completed for the nonprofit Wisconsin-based organization West CAP in a group assignment with a team of graphic designers and communication writers. The goal of the redesign was to work within West CAP's current branding while elevating their website design and the language used on the website to better communicate with clients about the services provided.
Both the layout of the website as well as the language used was created by the team. The utilization of sitemaps, wireframes, and Figma to built a prototype allowed the redesign to be strong both structurally as well as visually.
Print Media Design
Graphic Design
2023
HIV-AIDS Facts Posters
Posters to communicate facts about the HIV-AIDS crisis and update information to correct lasting stigmas, designed for the intended use in healthcare facilities.
WEAC Fliers
Informational handouts intended to give teachers and educators information on the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC) and the National Education Association (NEA). Designed while employed as a graphic designer with WEAC.
Printmaking Projects
Serigraphy
2023
The Contagion
"The Contagion" is a serigraphy project in an exploration of gender expression. The title comes from a book full of hateful rhetoric, the first chapter being titled "The Contagion", in which the book talks about the epidemic of young girls transitioning. Being an openly transgender man myself, this struck a chord with me.This rhetoric is dangerous and hateful. Being transgender is not a crime, nor is it ruining children. It is something that should be loved and accepted. Change is a part of life.
A Moment of Intimacy
"A Moment of Intimacy" is a reflection of my personal experience as a transgender man, reliving the discrimination, hate, fetishization, and neglect I have faced throughout my life. It is nearly a sequel to "The Contagion".Politicization of my body is an unavoidable reality that cisgender people can never comprehend. To exist as a trans person is to have incredibly thick skin. In my journey to just exist as the person I am, I am always on guard and prepared to be denied basic human decency or taken advantage of.Reflecting on Queer, punk, and counter culture history, I took inspiration from the visuals in band posters of the time. Paired with a close control of the screen and photo emulsion, I left the image as distressed as possible while maintaining visibility of the form. I let the art speak for itself, the nature of the newsprint leading to tears and creases, adding to the weathered appearance. Pattern, texture, and energy create visual interest to match my subject and concept.Featured in the UW-Stout Gallery 209 in April 2023.
Anaphylaxis
While working in my first serigraphy class, I found myself being restricted by the process of planning and then executing a replica of something I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I was enjoying screen print as a motive to have more evidence of the hand than I do in my graphic design work.
The objective of this project was to not use a computer at all.Instead of printing out my design and exposing it onto a screen, I used paint and marker on acetate sheets. After exposing from the acetate sheets, I printed different marks where it felt right. Working in this creative process helped me make decisions in the moment, instead of perfecting my design before I even purchase paper.The series of prints is intended to be displayed next to each other, working separately as well as in unison with each other, the prints visualize how anxiety increases to become an unstoppable panic attack brought on by medical issues. Inspired by the song "Anaphylaxis" by PUP.
