This week Kristen LaMarca interviewed Chamber Board Member Diane Palma. Diane is the co-owner of digho image marketing right here in Huntington Village. Here is what she had to say…

Q: What made you so interested in Graphic Design?

What made me so interested in Graphic Design was Kevin Richardson, the most handsome and mature of the Backstreet Boys, and I on the beach together.  Or at least I made it look like we were.  I took a Photoshop class as a Junior in High School and was fascinated and intrigued at how easily I could make my celebrity crush and I look as if we were the new hot couple enjoying our first beach date.  Little did I know what that one silly assignment would introduce me to and how little it had to do with Graphic Design but I am sure grateful for that silly crush.  It really brought me here.

Q: What are your favorite projects that you have worked on at digho and why?

My favorite projects are really all of the ones that our clients trust in us to do what we love.  There is nothing more empowering and exciting when a client believes in us whole-heartedly.  We become more than just their designers but a trusted part of their team.  Whether it be their event they have been planning for months or a business that has been brewing inside them for years.  We really are given a chance to make a difference and the outcome is always so rewarding for us as well as them.  What I love is the connection we make beyond the design.  We don’t hang out with our clients on nights and weekends but they absolutely become a part of the digho family and we become a part of theirs.  We without even knowing it have created a community of art and design lovers and appreciators.  So it really isn’t a specific project.  It is the process and experience of each that helps us grow and ultimately be an even bigger asset to our clients.

Q: If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

I know you aren’t going to believe me but here.  Huntington. It is the first town that I got to know besides my hometown and the diversity blew me away. I met some of my most interesting and treasured friends as a Barnes and Noble Huntington employee. I spent so many hours with them in Huntington. Exploring the culture and opportunities. They really helped open my eyes and shaped me into someone I strived to be.  The literature, films, food, the art. Most things that I just began to have an interest in.  I felt like I was where I belonged. Huntington is the town Maria group up in to boot.  Italy right in Huntington.  A family that loved me and treated me as their own. I spent many hours at Book Revue and Cinema Arts Centre. Had millions of Pancho Villa mashed potato burritos and way too many mixed sticks I care to admit.  Nothing beat the Fall Fest year after year with Maria and our growing families and business. Maria and I specifically chose here for digho to start in and the town that has allowed us to make our dreams a reality.  I had my first date in Huntington and I fell in love in this town. We got married, shared our first apartment together and baptized our children here.

Q: What drives you?

What drives me...  I am already tearing.  It is mostly making those who I look up to and admire proud of me.  My mom, my husband, my best friend to name just the biggies.  People who have all been MASSIVE to me and for me.  Those whom have helped me be the best version of me.  I want them to be proud of me and I want to show them that their hard work and support is paying off.  I know my dad looks down on me and it helps me knowing that he is watching.  I want him to smile.  To know that I am doing something I love and I am okay.  My dad lives on in me, my brother, sister and our kids.  I want my girls to be proud of their mom.  To brag about me.  To look at me as proof that you really can have it all if you work hard and surround yourself with the right people.  That if you live life with a positive outlook, make things happen for yourself and most importantly appreciate the life you have you will be unstoppable.

Q: What artists inspire you?

The art that inspires me the most is the art that stops me in my tracks.  The art that looks so easy but can never be duplicated!  Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Richard Avedon are a few of my tops.  You can stare at their work for hours.  Look into endless color, motion or even someone’s eyes.  You can find yourself, your story, your answers in theirs.  Artists like Richard Serra or Christo who completely alter your space and makes you stop and look.  Experience a common place and appreciate it in a way you would never have if they didn’t point it out.  Incredibly moving.  Incredibly inspirational.