Daily Inspiration: Meet Cymone Wilder

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cymone Wilder. 

Hi Cymone, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I decided to go to school for graphic design without having really any prior knowledge or adult examples of what that career would look like. I also didn’t have any money to get all the supplies I needed for art classes, so I quickly learned I had to make great work with exactly what I could afford. I started picking up freelance projects–some design, some lettering specific–here and there to earn extra cash and really never looked back. 

When I graduated, I moved to Nashville for my first full-time job while continuing to do freelance projects on the side. This allowed me the chance to have stable income so that I could explore freelance projects that I really enjoyed. 

It has taken me several years, but I feel I’m taking some of those early experiences, like having to make the most of the tools I have and baking it into my style. I’ve also started to allow my real-life experiences as a Black American inform my voice, which has felt like setting myself free. 

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I don’t know that it’s been a smooth road entirely, but I don’t think my experience is very different from most people in their late 20’s. The past several years have been a roller coaster of the ups and downs of depression, anxiety, and trying to “find myself” through it all. I’ve been learning to define and shape my voice through my experiences. 

I think the biggest thing I’ve been navigating, is finding my place in this world. As a black person who has grown up in majority-white spaces my entire life, I’ve been learning to love my blackness. It’s been confusing because in certain spaces I’m not perceived as safe enough, and other spaces I’m not perceived as black enough. And those are tough feelings to sit with, but I’m learning to be ok and present with exactly who I am. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a remote full-time senior designer at an agency based out of Chicago 9-5. Outside of that time, I am a lettering artist. Lettering is the thing that I love, and I feel so fortunate to have stable income that allows me to explore that love with some really incredible clients. 

I always say that I like my work, though mostly digital, to feel like you can touch it, smell it, and even stand in front of it. I take time to make the work technically good, but also feel really authentic to the space, and in the space it takes up. 

I think I’m especially known for the crunchy and tactile textures I use to create that real feeling. And some of the simple, hands-on methods I employ to make those textures come alive. 

The past couple years, I’ve gotten to work with some bucket list clients, like Target, Netflix, and Adobe. But I’m really more so proud of the community I’ve been brought into by some generous friends. I think surrounding yourself with people who make great work is cool, but being in community with genuinely good and caring folks, who are willing to share time and space with you is unmatched. 

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I am a big creature of habit and commitment (sometimes to a fault). When I say I will do something or deliver work at a certain time, it will happen. It is absolutely outside of my DNA to anything different. I think it takes a certain set of habits and practices to pull that off. 

But sometimes that can lead to burnout, especially when I don’t leave time to care for myself and those around me. This is a balance I am constantly trying to figure out. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: simonandmoose.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/simonandmoose
• Twitter: twitter.com/simonandmoose

Image Credits
Jenna Blazevich
Nickelodeon
Oatly