It is a rare individual who is commissioned by Nike and Apple for their creative input before the age of 25. But Elise Swopes is no ordinary graphic designer.
While she has years of experience in the art and business of computer-based visuals, it is her photography, a field in which she is a relative newcomer, for which @Swopes is most in demand. On the surface, it seems counterintuitive; but trace Swopes’ progression as a digital artist, and things become clearer.
Born in St.Paul, Minnesota, raised in Gurnee, Illinois, Swopes became interested in pixel-based drawing after her mother brought home a computer, and she quickly honed her skills.
“I owned my first website when I was in 5th grade and it taught other people how to make their own website, photoshop tips, etc.” she tells me. Passion eventually became vocation, and one in which she excelled. So far, so un-photographic.
In fact, photography only entered Swopes’ life in any major way around late 2010, arriving in the form of iPhoneography. Despite a relative dearth of editing apps back then, the ability to manipulate images on the go caught her attention. “I had always been a designer and for it to be so easy to do through my phone and so easily accessible rather than [having to use] the giant laptop I had at the time was absolutely fantastic.”
Alongside her boyfriend, @Trashhand, she began to post her images on Instagram. “We pretty much got into it [photography] together through Instagram. I was his first and only follower for a while and he barely posted anything. We found the Popular page one day which inspired us to be more creative with it,” she tells me.
Creative they were. While Trashhand built a name by sharing styled shots of both urban and natural environments, Swopes continued to play with her images, as she always had. “I’ve always been an editor rather than a photographer. I shoot a ton of ugly ass photos before I actually find one I can edit to be really dope in the end.”
In the time since, she has produced an incessant stream of stylish, quirky pictures that possess the free aesthetic of someone who is fairly new to the media, with her main focus being the city and people of Chicago, her current location. She has been rewarded with soaring popularity — at the last count, she had over 201,000 followers.
Building a Visual Empire
So, is her success just down to pure talent? Well, she did have a head start.
“Instagram made me a suggested user back when it first started…and through that I gained a chunk of the following.” But as Swopes points out, that list is changed every couple of months. “So in reality, social interaction, being prolific and my style got me what I have,” she explains. I wonder whether there is a pressure that comes with that kind of following.
“There used to be pressure. Not any more. I have become so comfortable with who I am and what I want my brand to be.”
That brand has rapidly gained value. Swopes has a thriving iPhoneography career, working with major brands through Mobile Media Lab, and selling images for the record covers she once designed. “I started getting jobs at the beginning of 2013. I did a really fun thing with Nike in San Francisco, and I think not only did that project seem interesting to other Instagrammers, but then brands and companies started noticing they could do fun Instagram campaigns too.”
She has even had to abandon some of her design work — “I have been getting asked to do logos but more times than not I tend to pass up my graphic design work because I know I have a really cool Instagram campaign coming up. It’s honestly made me less interested in graphic design as a whole; sometimes I don’t even want to pick up my computer because it’s so easy to use my iPhone now. So instead, I offer doing the logo on my phone…”.
She says it in jest, but to be honest, I think she could. Swopes takes mobile editing to a level few have attained, placing gorillas on the side of skyscrapers and giant, red balls on top of tiny figures. The process behind such flamboyant edits, it seems, is a case of mix and match. “My workflow is a little all over the place. More times than not I am blending more than two images together”, she explains.
Unlike the do-it-all domination of Photoshop on desktop, it seems that the key to mobile manipulation is to have many apps at your disposal, and know how to combine them.
“I started with Snapseed, but I always felt like I wanted to edit my photos way more than that app allowed me, so I started looking into more Photoshop-type apps. That’s when I stumbled upon Artstudio. Then from there I probably tried so many terrible apps but found some great ones too. Best of all time: VSCOcam, ArtStudio, Filterstorm, Picfx, Magic Hour, TouchRetouch, Slow Shutter and AvgCamPro.” It’s an interesting insight into the workflow of a mobile artist at the height of her powers. Perhaps the most important tip she offers, though: “You won’t ever catch me using an Instagram filter.”
Her editing technique might have the world swooning over her imagery, but thus far Swopes has mostly concentrated on furthering her personal brand and studying — she started a minor in photography, before switching to media management — rather than pursuing personal projects.
“Lately, I have been so busy with paid jobs and school, so I tend to just shoot what I am getting paid for first. Then, if I have time I’ll go to my favourite spots downtown, like to the top of the Sears Tower or the Hancock building.” And if she had a free choice? ”I would probably go to Iceland or somewhere similar. Or maybe even Tokyo, or genuinely anywhere that is beautiful.”
So what’s next for Swopes? “It’s so insane to think that I do what I do today. All I know is that art has always been a love of mine and whatever the future wants to throw at me, I’ll shoot it right back with a sweet edit over it.