Meet a Nuggeteer: Rachel

Ever wondered who is behind Nugget illustrations, including our fun characters? Look no further than Rachel, our Senior Designer/Illustrator, who joined the Nugget team back in June 2020 and has left her mark – literally – on the company every day since. In this edition of "Meet a Nuggeteer," get to know Rachel, whose art career started early with one of her favorite toys.

Rachel, can you describe your job in a way that kids ages 1 to 101 can understand?

I express ideas, tell stories, and solve problems through art! You can find design pretty much everywhere you look, and at Nugget I work on all kinds of creative projects — emails, illustrations for the blog, animated stickers — even the little printed card placed inside the Big Orange Box! I play and experiment with colors, patterns, shapes, and text to find imaginative ways to make it all look neat, fun, and (of course) Nuggety.

What’s the best part of your job?

The simple answer is that I get to draw almost every day — for that opportunity, I feel very lucky. I love what I do and am always, always learning; it’s exciting and rewarding to work on projects here while growing as an artist along the way.

And it's not just what I get to create, but who I get to create with. It's been an amazing experience working alongside the clever and creative minds on Team Nug. When someone tells me their idea for a graphic, it's really fun to collaborate and help bring their vision to life through design. The moments where I present a draft and they say “Yup, that’s it!”... I’ll always feel a little glow when that happens! 

[Fun fact: Rachel's sister Alyssa also works at Nugget!]

Any favorite memories from your time with Nugget so far?

The memory that sticks out the most is when I was able to take a walk around HQ for the first time. It felt pretty surreal to see my designs sprinkled throughout the building, like signage up on the walls or on the backs of t-shirts. I thought it was the coolest thing. My work is primarily digital, so it’s a special experience for me to see it existing in a physical, tangible way. 

What’s your favorite Nugget color?

Beanstalk, though I have Bamboo at home! I love green.

What was your favorite book growing up?

My favorite books in elementary school were A Series of Unfortunate Events. I remember at some point I tied my hair up and tried to invent things at recess like Violet Baudelaire using jump ropes and sand toys. Honorable mentions to the I Spy puzzle books (visually inspiring) and Goosebumps (I still love scary stories).

Any favorite toys?

I was an avid collector of Littlest Pet Shop toys; I remember forming a club dedicated to them in first or second grade. My favorite was a tiny orange kitten, and I used to take her to class and make her furniture out of scraps of paper and erasers. 

This question also made me think about this little digital tablet toy called the Pixter. I really loved that thing… Now that I think about it, that was probably my first experience drawing digitally!

What do you like to do outside of work?

It’s always been really fun for me to try out creative hobbies. In the past I’ve tried cross-stitch, crochet, hand-sewing, beadsprites… Most recently I’ve been making a lot of lumpy clay candlestick holders. I draw for fun, too! Outside of creating, I like thrifting, organizing things, and playing video games.

Alright, last question for you: dream Nugget color and why?

Checkerboard nugget!!! Because it would be awesome. 

Thank you, Rachel, for all you do to bring Nugget ideas to life! We appreciate you.