My name is Colleen Kong-Savage—yes, as in King Kong was a Savage beast.
I have been a freelance graphic artist since 2006. I live in NYC.

WHAT I DO

As a versatile illustrator with solid graphic design skills I create customized images for businesses and nonprofits to help them shape their visual brand identities. I create images in pixels and paper—for websites, presentations, newsletters, business cards, signs, tents, and more.

My job is a mix of visual imagination and problem-solving, like a puzzle: the client presents the challenge and rules. My job as the graphic artist is to find the clearest, most effective visual solution to communicate the essence of the company.

Together, we build a distinct look, using a consistent style of images and design across the board—on your website, your last-minute postcard, the mural on your kiosk—to make your business more recognizable, marketable, and showcases your company’s personality to attract your ideal customers. We create a look so uniquely yours that customers recognize you before they even see your name. That’s the goal: make them know you, when they see you.

A LITTLE BACKSTORY

I got sucked into the big city by an MFA fiction writing program at Columbia University. While earning my degree I worked at a video distribution firm, where I learned graphic design. I also worked at an art supply store, where most of my paycheck went right back into my employer’s pocket because I could not stay out of the paper department. Decorative and handmade papers became my favorite medium. Encouraged by a scholarship at the Art Students League, I pursued painting and drawing, and my pieces grew physically larger by the month… Alas, NYC apartments are small. Eventually I resolved that all work must fit on my scanner, and I evolved from fine artist to graphic artist. In my artist’s toolbox I hold skills in Adobe (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign), Affinity (Design, Photo, Publisher), collage, pen and ink, watercolor, and gouache.

While I have the freelancer’s privilege of creating graphics for a wide variety of industries—food, fitness, health, arts—I do have a penchant for the children’s market, picture books in particular. Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook to see what else I’m up to.