One day while cashiering at Home Depot in 2018, two customers told me my name means “uncle” in Albanian.
I know it as an amalgamation of my grandmother’s name, Daisy, and my mother’s name, Jalana.
Hello. My name is Daija. day-juh (not dye-yuh, which is “uncle” (dajë), and a common mispronunciation)
A fine arts major who late-night student-centered her way to learning Photoshop and Illustrator, I stepped into ad land by creating spec art for the brands I loved. Somewhere along the way, tech and design fully replaced charcoal and sketchpads (though I still draw occasionally) and I landed a role as a tinkering intern at Doner Detroit in the summer of 2021.
I’ve spent the past four years at the agency as an Art Director, where I worked primarily on McDonald’s as the lead visual creative.
I’ve pixel-pushed many Medium Fries cartons to scale and pondered if the shadows of Double Cheeseburgers and McDoubles are “too gray.” I’ve created 35+ OOH boards for a single summer beverage campaign and filmed a previz concept with my cousin for McD’s TikTok.
Other brands I’ve tinkered for include Stellantis, Owens Corning, The UPS Store and Jiffy Lube.
When I’m not in the office, I can be found at a weeknight movie sprinkling nacho powder on my popcorn or in Google Docs writing YA fiction.
How to reach me:
Email: ginyarddaija95@gmail.com