After an eight-year-long road of changing her degree from music, to education to marketing, quitting college and coming back, Anchorage artist Reagan Johnson says she is finally where she wants to be.
“I got a year into that and realized I didn’t really want any of the business end of it, I just wanted to be on the art side,” she said. “Now I am fully an art major.”
Johnson says that graphic design students can complete a very large portion of coursework online without ever actually having to meet someone face-to-face at the University of Alaska Anchorage. Herself, along with some fellow graphic design students, helped found the graphic design club at UAA. The first official semester for the club was fall of 2024.
“We built the club to help fill some gaps, but also to help build community in the program,” she said. “That has been getting rolling and that has been a good piece. I’ve definitely already talked to more people outside of the classroom than I have without it.”
Johnson’s artistic style relies heavily on bold colors and shapes, which she says she likes to experiment with.
“I always describe my work as having a childlike wonder. I am inspired by seeing the world through a more playful lens than we usually do,” Johnson said. “It is pretty loud, usually, very playful.”
Growing up, Johnson says that she was raised in an artistic household. Her mother was an art teacher, and Johnson recalls deliberately not taking art classes.
“I have been playing with art my whole life, just without any of the rules. So, I took a turn and have been learning the rules for the last few years,” Johnson said.
Johnson aspires to get into label design and product design, specifically: beer labels. She says she has three notebooks full of beer label designs waiting to be unveiled.
Johnson has stickers available for sale at Rage City Vintage.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
