How did you discover you wanted to be a graphic designer and get started in the field? Since I was a little Meg, I’ve been driven by a desire to make people happy and surprised with delight. I would create little experiences in my bedroom for guests, designing everything from wayfinding signage to activities and performances. This allowed me to use my creative imagination while making others smile. I also pursued acting, comedy and pantomime, incorporating these into my love for experiential design.

In college, I realized my varied interests and created my own major, taking classes in interior design, fashion styling, computer engineering, graphic design and performing arts. This helped me understand the expansiveness of my career potential. I realized I could not only make a thriving career in graphic design but also integrate other aspects of my multifaceted personality.

Knowing this was too much for one full-time role at a company, I decided to become a freelancer. I’ve been one ever since!

What led you to establish your own studio Meg Lewis Fun House as well as the design collective Ghostly Ferns? Ghostly Ferns came first, created as a way to work with my best friends as much as possible. We had been working alongside each other in a shared workspace, each with different freelance specialties. We decided to form together and act like an agency while retaining the freedom of being contractors. It’s a great way to work, and I’m grateful to have such talented friends!

Meg Lewis Fun House, my personal design studio, developed gradually as a way to house the many things I get paid to do: graphic design, public speaking, education, comedy, clown, stage combat, illustration, sculpture and experiential design, among others. It feels like a fun house because it’s a chaotic array of many things—just like me! My work is largely influenced by circus culture, so the name felt like a perfect fit. The Fun House allows me to showcase all aspects of my multifaceted career and interests under one creative umbrella hat.

How did you discover your signature colorful, cheerful style? Did your interest in clowning and performance help inform it? You guessed it! It’s important to me to think back to when I was a kid. What was I really into back then that I’m still into today? For me, that’s circus, clown, mimes and physical comedy. When I was intentionally trying to form a style that reflects my influences and personality, it was crucial that I pulled from visual themes across those influences. My style today is a perfect reflection of circus and mime color palettes, emotive faces, and clean but chaotic design, perfectly communicating my personality, interests and lifelong points of inspiration all at once! This unique style not only expresses who I am but also fulfills my lifelong drive to make people smile. By infusing my work with the playful, joyful elements of circus and physical comedy, I can create designs that surprise and delight people, just as I’ve always wanted to do since I was a tiny Meg.

What have been some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on at Meg Lewis Fun House? How did they change your perception of what you can achieve with graphic design? My favorite projects are those where I’m hired as an artist rather than a problem-solving designer. I love when clients approach me with their problem already solved and my style just happens to fit their solution! Increasingly, my clients say to me, “We trust you to just do your thing! Go for it!” Being given full creative freedom is my dream. It allows me to think beyond the definition of graphic design and what’s been done in the past. It allows me to actually innovate and design outside the box!

I’ve been grateful to be entrusted with some wacky, limitless projects for big brands where I’ve proposed truly outrageous ideas to extremely approving clients! I just hope someday someone will let me make my coworking space/playplace combo for adults or my fun house/retro diner/drive-in restaurant concept. Maybe someday!

Beyond being a designer and a performer, you also have developed online classes and run in-person seminars. What sparked your interest in this, and what do you enjoy about it? I desperately want to live in a world where everyone can identify their unique perspective and share it with others! My online and in-person classes are a way for me to share my own unique brain with the world and empower students to do the same. I’ve noticed that adults often impose many rules on each other about what’s “good” and “bad” in design and career strategy. And the rules that stick are usually the ones shouted by the loudest and most powerful voices! My work in education aims to help creatives undo, unlearn and un-grow up. I encourage them to think independently, designing their own rules, career strategies, tastes and styles.

My goal is to give people more autonomy, confidence and fulfillment in their career. By bringing my love for comedy, play and experience design, I’m able to create educational experiences that feel like me while making big change at the same time. It’s incredibly fulfilling work!

Tell us about your Creative Play Workshop, which helps adults rediscover their love of creation and banish their inner critic. What inspired you to create this half-day seminar? This is my favorite topic to teach because it’s the hardest for adults to learn! In this experience, I combine everything I’ve learned from my research on childhood creativity and adult socialization with elements of clown, improv and performance. All of this is used to help creative adults attain the freedom and boundless joyful spirit of creating like a kid again. It’s designed to help them get out of their own way and unlock their most creative brain so they can generate their best ideas yet!

The workshop is a way to help participants become more comfortable being uncomfortable. We do things like partner-led blindfolded drawing, making sculptures that look bad on purpose, rediscovering the world for the first time and rapid innovation exercises. These activities challenge preconceptions and encourage uninhibited creativity, allowing participants to tap into their innate imaginative powers so they can begin a renewed creative practice!

What would you say is the biggest challenge facing designers today? I and many creatives I know are in the midst of a multiyear slow period. Whether it’s a rebound from a tech-industry spike in 2020 or a reaction to societal fatigue, it’s affecting work across many spaces right now. Many of us are unsure what to focus on; we don’t know what the world wants at this moment.

However, it’s important to remember that creatives have historically been the change makers and culture shifters. This realization empowers me to understand that I have more influence than I initially thought and can help move the world into its next phase.

This perspective reminds me of the vital role creatives play in shaping society. It encourages me to persist in my work, knowing our ideas and innovations can significantly influence future trends and societal shifts.

Which designers do you most admire, and why? I most admire those willing to show how multifaceted and varied they are in their abilities. We’re all so interesting and have many interests, but the world has told us we need to flatten ourselves and be just one thing to be palatable. That isn’t true!

One of my favorite examples of someone showcasing their full self is Kyle Letendre. Kyle is not only an incredible graphic designer, type designer, hand lettering artist and illustrator but also has a perfectly designed drag character, TOMBOY, who is a perfect extension of Kyle’s style. When asked to give talks onstage, Kyle often presents as TOMBOY, creating a unique stage presence.

I'm so inspired by and proud of Kyle for being a shining example for others to show up as their full selves.

Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? Start an independent thought practice! This sounds silly, but creatives are so used to thinking critically that in the graphic design industry, where there are many strong opinions being shared, it can be easy early in your career to take these opinions as facts. I spent the first years of my career hating on Comic Sans or making fun of poorly kerned logos, but once I stepped back and actually asked myself, “Do I really care? Do I even agree?” The answer was no! It’s always valuable to listen to others’ opinions, but before adopting them as your own, ask yourself, “Do I agree?” This practice helps you develop your own perspective and authenticity in the field, allowing you to contribute unique viewpoints and innovative ideas to the design community. ca