From Us in Charcoal: Gladys
Meet Gladys, Charcoal’s newest Art Director, who best describes themselves as a proud freelance artist who enjoys finding community wherever they can. To Gladys, Charcoal has been more than a magazine; it’s been home away from home.
“I consider myself a jack of all trades..."
“I consider myself a jack of all trades... favorite mediums include charcoal (the black residue) or wash.” Being an artist who focuses on multimedia, Gladys uses their art and writing to showcase stories around their community or political concerns. On top of that, Gladys enjoys the concepts of magazines and has recently been getting into digital versions such as NewYork Times Magazine. She appreciates the way it uses color, and art to highlight themes related to feminist and punk media. This is why this year she’s excited about the theme and is set to make Charcoal “bigger, and sexier.”
“I’ve been interested since freshman year, don’t know why I didn’t get involved before…,” says Gladys as she regrets missing the deadline. Thankfully, she was on time and ready this year, for nothing less, than a place on the E-Board. Aside from missing the deadline, they didn’t know how to or who to talk to. Fortunately, she met people like Chike, one of the two Editors-in-Chief, who made it easier to connect to the group and made them feel more than welcome.
“it gave me a new family, filled with extremely well-dressed people”.
It’s only been a few weeks, but Gladys is grateful for the people in Charcoal ,especially their team of graphic designers. During the first meeting that she had, Gladys was nervous about how she would meet new members, being one herself. To her surprise, members of Gladys’s team were just as passionate about working together and even stayed past the meeting time just to talk and bond a bit more.
It’s some of the smallest interactions that have really meant the most to Gladys since they have joined staff. She mentioned that recently she went to pick up her laptop from the Howard Thurman Center, and some members were there. She came with her mom and everyone wanted to meet her, which she happily agreed to. That moment where she had her two worlds collide could only be described as “beautiful”.
Being Art Director not only allows Gladys to use her skills in journalism and visual arts to design to her heart’s content, but more importantly, “it gave me a new family, filled with extremely well-dressed people”.
Make sure to come back to read more, From Us in Charcoal.