Hi, I’m Fatima. I’m terrible with labels.

Junior designer and art director, based in Ottawa.

So which one am I? Depends on the day. Whatever the title says, I care about getting the idea right first, and then making it look like it couldn’t have gone any other way.

I’ll happily push pixels all day, but I’m way more annoying about the idea that comes before them.

Concepting, writing, poking holes in my own idea until it finally holds up. To me that’s as much the job as the layout is, because a beautiful execution of a meh idea is still, well, meh.

I studied advertising, actually.

I studied Advertising and Marketing Communications at Algonquin College. Design was my specialty, but the program doesn’t really let you hide in a corner, so I got my hands dirty with everything else too.

It gave me a holistic (sorry, I hate that word) view of the work. Basically, I can’t look at a layout anymore without wondering who it’s for, where it’s running and whether anyone will actually read it.

Report cardabridged

  • Strategycovered
  • Copywritingcovered
  • Digital marketingcovered
  • Media planning*covered
  • Designmy specialty

* Traumatized by rate cards, blocking charts, and spreadsheets. Would love to never do it again.

The path, so far

Short, but pretty busy.

  1. School

    Algonquin College

    Advertising and Marketing Communications. Specialized in design, survived the rate cards.

  2. Last year of school

    Intern at BOLD LIP Studio

    Fully remote, so I asked a lot of questions on a lot of calls and tried very hard not to sound like the new kid.

  3. After the internship

    Art Director at BOLD LIP Studio

    They kept me around, so I went from intern to Art Director. Mostly it meant the same work, more of it, and a scarier title.

  4. In that time

    Small businesses to national campaigns

    Brand creation, web, campaigns, naming, editorial, socials, and every kind of print from flyers to OOH.

    See the work

  5. Now

    Figuring out what’s next

    Ideally with a team that gets as excited about the idea as it does about the execution.

The elephant in the portfolio

Yes, I’m a junior.

I can’t hand you years of experience, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise. What I can promise is that if I don’t know how to do something yet, I will figure it out.

fig·ure-out·ernoun
Someone who hears “have you done this before?” and quietly starts googling under the table. Gets there anyway. And once it’s learned, it stays learned.

Look, my first idea isn’t always the best one, and I’m pretty quick to admit it when it isn’t. I’d much rather the work win than my ego.

I once drew my messy process of building a portfolio.

(Fair warning: it’s about my old site. Purple everywhere, a job title I’ve since outgrown, and about the same amount of overthinking.)

See the original post
  1. Page 1: “Last semester, my biggest project wasn’t an assignment. Worse. It was building my first portfolio.” A hand lifts a cloche off a laptop on a platter, with PORTFOLIO in giant letters on the screen.
  2. Page 2: “Before doing anything, I had to answer: What am I? (professionally).” Three shadowy figures labelled Designer, Student and Marketing generalist grab my shoulders. “Unnecessarily existential for a Tuesday.”
  3. Page 3: “Tried on every title: Advertising student, expiring soon. Designer, too broad. Marketing communications designer, too specific?” A pile of crossed-out name tags, with one on top: “Hello my name is: designer that specializes in marcomms??” “If I’m putting myself in a box, might as well label it correctly.”
    (It’s Art Director now. Still terrible with labels.)
  4. Page 4: “Show process or just the outcome? Explain everything or let the work speak?” I balance on a tightrope holding a messy stack of thumbnails and insights in one hand and a tiny sparkly final piece in the other. “Did both. Carefully.”
  5. Page 5: “I wanted full control, so I coded it myself… with zero coding experience. My only credentials? A customized Tumblr blog from when I was 13.” I’m face down on my desk under a lamp, saying “Should’ve used Wix.”
    (Still didn’t.)
  6. Page 6: “Obsessed over details. Spent hours on 2-pixel adjustments that no one will notice. Except me. Especially me.” I clutch my head under a block of CSS, wondering if I can use half a spacing step. (You can’t.)
  7. Page 7: “Came up with ideas. Loved them.” Me beaming at a page: “This is great!” Behind me, a ghostly me crumples it under a wall of self-criticism. “Waited 48 hours. Hated them.”
  8. Page 8: “Big lesson: when to commit and when to scrap it. Sometimes perseverance wins. Sometimes it’s just ego.” I stand at a fork in the road between Push through and Start over. “‘Kill your darlings’ if you will.”
  9. Page 9: “I’d also look at incredible professional portfolios online and spiral because mine wasn’t ‘on their level.’” I’m curled up on the floor in front of a wall of sparkly websites. “Dramatization (…maybe).”
  10. Page 10: “Eventually, those same portfolios became something else: proof of what’s possible.” I throw the websites into a bright folder labelled Inspo bookmarks. “A benchmark. Just not for today.”
  11. Page 11: “Oh, and I asked for feedback. …Then asked again. Rinse and repeat until I showed up with version 9.” I stare at my phone sending: thoughts on this? / ok revised it, better? / sorry one more look / last time I promise. “To my victims: I’m sorry.”
    (They got texted again for this one. Sorry, again.)
  12. Page 12: “This is version one. I’ll outgrow it. That’s not a flaw. That’s the point. Find it at fatimarabi.com.”
    (You’re here. Hi.)

  13. Called it.

    This is version two.

Tools

I’m never above a platform.

Like your average designer, I live in Adobe Creative Cloud and often jump on Figma.

Past those two, I’ll use whatever the job needs, and if I don’t know it yet, see above re: figuring it out. Client needs Canva templates? Gotcha. A PowerPoint deck in the big 2026? Sure, let me just install Microsoft Office on my Mac real quick.

Passport

Name
Fatima Rabi
Nationality
Adobe Creative Cloud
Permanent residence
Figma
Native in
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
Also speaks
After Effects, Premiere

Visas

  • Canva:not a fan, but sure
  • PowerPoint:my mac hates it, but oh well
  • In-house tools:whatever a client runs on
  • Google Slides:shared with edit access

Off the clock

I draw little comics about my life.

Dean’s List announcements, end-of-semester drawings, whatever’s going on that month. Most of them end up on LinkedIn, and they explain the human in me better than this page does.

See them on LinkedIn

  • Fatima Rabi

    Feb 2024 ·

    See the post

    My first Dean’s List. We don’t have those in Peru, so I had to google it before I could brag about it.

    Comic: Fatima confused by a Dean’s List letter, then showing it to everyone two seconds later.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Jun 2024 ·

    See the post

    Made it again. The semester itself looked a lot more like the bottom half.

    Comic: Fatima proudly holding up her Dean’s List letter, next to a drawing of her collapsed on a desk.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Aug 2024 ·

    See the post

    Back to school, and back to loving ads. When they’re not stressing me out.

    Drawing: Fatima beaming under the words “I love ads (when they are not stressing me out)”.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Jan 2025 ·

    See the post

    Another Dean’s List email, so naturally I made it everyone’s problem. Again.

    Comic: Fatima gets the Dean’s List email and shoves the letter in a friend’s face.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Apr 2025 ·

    See the post

    End of semester. It’s over (for now).

    Drawing: Fatima slumped over her desk next to a laptop and coffee, under the words “It’s over (for now)”.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Jun 2025 ·

    See the post

    Dean’s Honour List, year two, take two.

    Drawing: Fatima grinning and holding a Dean’s Honour List sign over her head.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Feb 2026 ·

    See the post

    Professional Dean’s List appearer. Read as: perfectionism.

    Drawing: Fatima holding a laptop over her annotated Dean’s List letter, labelled “Dean’s List appearer”.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Feb 2026 ·

    See the post

    Sat down to lock in, then remembered I’d already submitted everything.

    Comic: Fatima ready to work, then realizing she has already submitted everything. “I’m done?”

  • Fatima Rabi

    Mar 2026 ·

    See the post

    Hello, BOLD LIP! The internship, officially.

    Drawing: Fatima bursting out of a cupcake in an intern shirt, under the words “Hello, BOLD LIP!!!!”.

  • Fatima Rabi

    Jun 2026 ·

    See the post

    Goodbye, Dean’s List. Fall ’23 to Winter ’26, and it’s been a weird run.

    Drawing: Fatima hugging her last Dean’s List letter, surrounded by her older Dean’s List comics.

If you’ve read this far, we should probably talk.