Stephanie Irigoyen diligently works at her desktop with headphones in place—a fairly traditional image to conjure up when imagining the life of a graphic designer. However, coming through her earbuds is a slightly uncommon soundscape: spooky podcasts. Irigoyen loves listening to the hairraising folkloric histories of “Lore,” reports from a fantastical desert town in “Welcome to Night Vale,” and serialized docudramas, “The Black Tapes.”

This aural practice intersects with her visual creations, sometimes influencing the work if she’s listening to Halloween music when completing a holiday graphic, or providing a welcome contrast if she is working on something light and happy. Regardless of if it’s a podcast or music, Irigoyen says she cannot work in silence and she finds she is able to complete projects much faster with an audio backdrop.

“I enjoy feeling like I’m listening the radio from another supernatural world,” muses Irigoyen. “Sometimes people walk by my office and see me laughing, and it’s because the podcast got funny for a second before it transports you somewhere creepier. There’s a nice balance there.”

At the age of 15, Irigoyen was very much into the paranormal as a fan of the “Twilight” series. Thanks to that particular fandom, she earned $11,000 producing designs for an online T-shirt shop that promoted the characters from the books. Her mother often reminded her how art and design seemed to be a perfect fit for Irigoyen, who from the age of 10 was perpetually doodling on the computer.

Though she was always coloring and experimenting with different mediums, Irigoyen aspired to become a film director when she first stepped onto Florida State University’s campus. Her dream quickly shifted to communications, and finally to studio art where she settled into her calling for graphic design and digital art. While she still dabbles in sculpture and painting, she much prefers digital work and illustrating, and notes how her winding career trajectory still fits communications into her art making.

“There’s a cross between communications and art because you have to understand how to communicate what your art is saying,” says Irigoyen. “People are attracted to good aesthetics. Well designed things not only look better but they function better and make life easier.”

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