About Me

Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Kristina Leongard, I’m a designer and Illustrator living in Seattle, WA.

I’ve always been fascinated by color and light, stains and lines, pixels and curves. I have a bachelor’s degree in International Relations, but it turned out, the intricacies of the world politics just don’t inspire me. So when I found a new job that required, among other things, taking photos and creating graphics, I was happy to jump in and learn as much as I can in this new and exciting field.

My hard work paid off and gradually I found myself trusted more and more of the creative tasks. I started noticing how my work helped to explain and support ideas, how it improved engagement and conveyed messages, how it took boring things and made them exciting. And, most importantly, how it made people happier.

I believe that any business can benefit from a well-thought and well-executed design, be it a website, a social media post or a printed leaflet. And I will be happy to help you. Leave me a message with a request or hire me on Upwork, and I’m sure we can make something great!

My Skills

Vector Graphic
Depending on the project, I choose between Adobe Illustrator and CorelDraw for my vector work. I am also familiar with Inkscape and Silhouette Studio.

Raster Graphic
My go-to tool for pushing pixels and applying effects is Adobe Photoshop.

Photo Development
I use Adobe Lightroom for general photo development and turn to Photoshop when images need retouching.

Other Tools
I use Sketch Up when I need to create a 3D model (e.g. as a reference).
I make presentations with PowerPoint or Google Slides.
And I think that Figma is excellent when an image of an interface is needed.


I also have a bunch of skills that are not specifically related to design but are helpful anyway

Website Administration
I can read and write HTML and CSS and read PHP. I managed an OpenCart store, numerous Blogspot and Wordpress Blogs and dipped my toes into many other CMSs. Understanding of the inner workings of the websites, from code to databases, helps me make better web graphics.

Computer Skills
Office Software? Check. Web collaboration? Check. Project management tools? Check. Even terminals don’t scare me. I’ve read a fair share of man pages and watched a whole bunch of tutorials. And being a swift learner, even if I cannot check some specific software right now —  I will if I need to.

Instagram Management
I helped to build and manage several successful Instagram accounts, creating not only the imagery but also captions and advertising campaigns. I know what makes a post successful.

Сrafting & DIY
I enjoy doing something with my hands, from paper crafting, modeling, and sewing, to woodworking. And I’m always happy when my crafting skills come useful, as with mixed media designs that combine real-life craft with computer graphics.

Photography
I’ve come a long way since picking up my first camera as a teenager. Even though now I mostly use my smartphone to take photos, knowledge about composition and lightning I gained while doing photography proved to be invaluable.

Watercolor and Sketching
I find the unpredictable nature of watercolor to be a nice contrast to the certainty of the digital drawing tools. For me, it also became a great way to learn more about the colors and pigments themselves and their interactions, and to improve my drawing skills.

Baking
My love of baking stems from the appreciation for the structured approach it requires, and for the unique balance between creativity and following a recipe. And a habit to set a mise en place proves to be helpful not only in the kitchen