Megan Rabatan
BIO
My name is Megan Rabatan and I am originally from Fremont, Ca. In May 2022, I received my BFA in graphic design from University of the Pacific. When someone asks me about my identity, I consider myself to be a former athlete, a Filipina, and now, a designer who is discovering how she will give back to her community.
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My artist’s story starts at a very young age with small crafts and doodles. My dad was also a fairly talented painter and illustrator, but his skills were self taught and never fully developed. With his help I gained an interest in art and design but never fully pursued design until I reached college. Now, I am most comfortable using Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, XD, Premiere, and Photoshop. I also have some experience with Procreate, Megascans, and Blender.
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My work tends to focus on what inspires me most at the time but Asian awareness and mental health has always been an important topic for me. My style tends to be very illustrative in hopes that it captures my passion and I hope that one day my work inspires and motivates others. Although I am most interested in marketing materials, brand identities, and all digital mediums, my ultimate goal as a graphic designer is to one day have my own studio where I can bring client’s visions to life but still have time to create designs of my own. I’d love to work for a company where our designs can be used to spread messages and make a change.
My Process
My process tends to start with me brainstorming or simply trying to think of a good concept. I'll start with determining the target audience and then the message I would like to send to said audience. When I have a hard time I look for references from Pinterest where I tend to create mood boards to help me gather all my thoughts in one place. From there I'll start sketching very rough concepts and try to combine these with my references.
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When I was in school I would take time collecting feedback from my peers and use that to further develop my work. Now, when working with clients, I try to create a few drafts (at least three), and move on depending on which draft they choose.
Here are a few examples of how I brainstorm:
ARTIST'S INFLUENCE
My artistic influence is Rebecca Sugar. Sugar is an animator, screenwriter, producer, and singer/songwriter. Sugar is most well known for her work on Steven Universe. She is the first woman to create a series for Cartoon Network by herself. Besides being an amazing animator, this is one of the many reasons why she is my influence.
Before Steven Universe, Rebecca worked as a storyboard revisionist then artist on Adventure Time, also a well known series for Cartoon Network. Steven Universe and Adventure Time are still two of my favorite cartoons. The way the animations flow and truly make it look like the show is in another world is simply incredible. When I was younger, seeing people’s creations on television was so inspiring and I wanted nothing more than to learn how to draw the way they did. Sugar has an incredible way of showing her character’s emotions and actions. Although I could never copy her style, I extremely appreciate it.
Rebecca Sugar always remembers to find a way to slip LGBTQ+ representation into her work. I admire her greatly for finding a way to bring attention to the community. She once stated that working on Steven Universe has helped her come to terms with her own sexuality. I truly believe that being positively exposed to anything LGBTQ+ related will help people of all ages learn about and accept themselves for who they are.
I respect Rebecca Sugar for taking big steps as a female animator and becoming so well known. She influences me as an artist, a woman, and a human being. Rebecca Sugar is my artistic influence.