Amanda Pickens Joins Atomicdust

Amanda Pickens Joins Atomicdust

We’re super excited to welcome Senior Designer Amanda Pickens to the Atomicdust team.

Amanda brings a wide range of in-house branding experience to Atomicdust – fueled by her penchant for clean typography and playful, informative design. Most recently, she worked in New York with tech companies Plated and Paperless Post. While in NYC, she also taught as a Visiting Designer at the University of Connecticut.

Amanda found her way into graphic design while she was living in Shanghai. Frustrated by her inability to communicate effectively in Chinese, she found ways to express herself graphically, combining graphics and photos to produce printed materials for small local companies.

A few questions for Amanda.

Where’d you go to school and what did you study?

I earned my BFA in Studio Art from New York University, with a concentration in sculpture. And then I went to RISD – the Rhode Island School of Design – for an MFA in Graphic Design.

What do you do outside of work?

I love experimenting with new materials and styling photo shoots—I love physically working with my hands and allowing for unexpected and surprising outcomes. My favorite prop is usually something food related. My most recent shoot involved black and white cookies and shot glasses of milk.

What do you wish you had more time to do?

I’d love to style more photo shoots and travel. I’d like to go to Morocco, France, and Turkey next. But I’d also like to take some long weekends to explore the Midwest. Chicago, Kansas City, and Milwaukee are on that list.

What do you want people to say when they look at your/our work? 

I hope they’re able to either surprised by something unexpected or learn something new.

Share a quote about the industry, advice, or what you’ve learned so far. 

Don’t take feedback personally, and be ready for your work to do a few 180s before the project is finished.