The multi-faceted creative world of Mélissa Jeanty

*Mélissa Jeanty (courtesy of the artist)*

Mélissa Jeanty is a young creative from Haiti who started her journey in design and photography through the unconventional path of simply falling in love with creative tools, like her very first camera, and developing an insatiable thirst to grow her knowledge in that sphere.

In 2020, we had the honor to collaborate with her during our annual event (AAVAG) where she hosted “The Basics of Design: A Workshop for Creatives and Entrepreneurs Looking to Thrive in the Digital World,” in which she explored crucial aspects of design such as formatting and visual branding, as well as apps and tools to help creatives with their social media graphics.

You are a graphic/web designer. You are a photographer. You also write and love to travel. Do you remember which one of your passions came to you first?

I don’t do it as much anymore, but my very first passion was sketching and drawing. Most kids would draw then grow older and get into other things. I was that kid that didn’t stop. I piled sketch book after sketch book well into my teen years. Then, I met a professional photographer that kindly let me take some shots on his fancy camera. That’s when I fell in love with photography.

Around the same time as well, I was writing a novel (that will never see the light of day). Graphic and web design came around a bit later, while taking communication arts classes during undergrad. I’d say it was in college that I started realizing I had all of these passions and perhaps no clear way to channel and utilize them. So, I created platforms for myself, the Krik? Krak! blog first, then what is now MelJeanty.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all this, it’s that being ashamed of who you are never leads you anywhere. For so long, I couldn’t wrap my head around why I had such an eclectic set of interests. It’s only once God gave me the courage to embrace them all that I started to see purpose and meaning in how I was created and who I was created to be.

How do you manage to stay on top of all your projects?

Lists. Lists upon lists upon lists. Fancy lists that I create on Notion. Basic ones that I jot down on notepads. I inherited my mom’s love of organization and list-making, and that alone has been a life-saver.

The other thing that I’ve started to be more intentional in doing is to step back. I step back once a week, go offline, rest. That’s my Sabbath. Throughout the work day as well, I find little pockets of time to step back, maybe listen to a good podcast, make some tea, see sunlight even. Stepping back has allowed me to come back to the pile of lists and to-dos with a more settled spirit.

You currently live in Haiti and the situation over there is very unstable. Does this affect your work as a creator?

Living in Haiti as a creator is an absolute challenge. When I get to meet up and talk to fellow creators, it’s hard sometimes not to feel overwhelmed or discouraged, and even worse, unproductive.

What I do, however, like about the work that I do is that 80-90% of it I do at home. I know that this alone, the fact that I don’t have to leave my house every day, is a privilege that I am absolutely grateful for. But, on days where I have shoots or where I simply want to see humans but can’t, or each time family and friends leave the house themselves, when I have to pray for their safety and worry, here and there, when I don’t hear from them… Those are the droplets that add to a glass of despair that I need to watch out for, and that, thankfully, time with Jesus helps me empty regularly.

What inspires you as an artist?

I’ll be honest, hearing myself referred to as an artist feels weird, good weird. I am slowly learning to embrace the title and to see myself that way, thanks mostly to fellow creator friends that affirm me but also call me out when I don’t.

So, to answer your question, I think people are one of the best sources of inspiration for me. When I have a client shoot or when I travel, it’s people I observe. I love how we’re all so different; we think, act, look, laugh, eat, love differently. Yet at the same time, even without words, we have the beautiful capacity to connect with one other, even as strangers. There is so much that comes to me in those connections, so much that God allows me to see when I do have or witness those connections.

That’s where I see beauty. That’s where I simply… see… and create out of.

What is one thing you want people to know about the work that you do?

We’ll go with the obvious, that they can check out my services at www.meljeanty.com and book if they need to.

Overall, if there’s one thing that I’d love them to know about my work, it’s that my main goal is for it to have impact. When a client tells me that the school website I did five years ago has allowed them, to this day, to be prepared for the instability their students have been facing these past couple of years, how because the work that I did, they can easily do online school when there’s a #peyilock or #grèv, my heart warms up. I always want what I create to have meaning, purpose and impact.

And so, if they’d like to work with me, I’d love to connect with them.

Support and know more about Mélissa’s work on Instagram and her website.

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