(e) cardenas.elle@gmail.com

Cover for Gamers Magazine by Sean DallasKidd

The Kidd’s Got Style— an interview with Sean DallasKidd

Some girls liked Tiger Beat. Others prefered People Magazine. Though I could honestly say that I’d be easily entertained reading either of them, my go-to magazine for entertainment had always been EGM or Electronic Gaming Monthly. Read more…

thhsj5

She’s Got Many Skills— an interview with Jasmina Trafikowska

I love the internet.

Not only is it a great source of inspiration and a panoply of education what with all the tips, freebies, and tutorials one can find- but it’s also a great place to make friends. After graduating from college and going into the working world, I quickly came to realize that out of all creative fields, designers and artists were an incredibly competitive bunch. (In my opinion, at least… all the actors, musicians and writers seemed to love each other and create big, happy insta-communities after graduating) Read more…

secrets
interludes

Stayed up late last night working on a website, but prior to working on it I had the urge to sketch, and this is what came of it~ Read more…

loveme

If all your friends are friends of love, then they’re all friends of mine (Interview: LoveIt)

Watch out Pinterest, there’s a new kid squirrel on the block and its name is LoveIt! Today marks the application’s public launch after several weeks of private beta tests via Klout. Since then, LoveIt’s been picking up quite a following via Twitter. I had the chance to interview LoveIt’s
Kat Garcia, who talks about how it will stack up against other social pinboards like Pinterest, what makes it so special, and most importantly— what’s the story behind the squirrel?
Read more…

Fun & Games

It’s all fun and games (sketch)

Over Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to the local park— which happens to be one of the Regional variety, so it comes complete with lakes, a botanical garden, steam train, ferris wheel, a little farm, and some really excellent trails. Read more…

astral

In the middle of nowhere (sketch)

While listening to the Sookie Stackhouse novels on audiobook last night (well…while my significant other listened as I was in the same room working), I had the urge to start sketching characters for a story I was playing around with earlier.

anchor

Prologue

Welcome to the new Digital Heat, an ever-evolving experiment in pixellated alchemy. When I was fresh out of school, excited to embark on my career-journey of design, I’d met with a mentor who was the owner/Creative director of an established agency in Pasadena who asked me which I wanted to be- an artist or designer, since he felt strongly that, “You have to choose one because they are not the same- there can be no ‘self’ in design, especially for clients”
Read more…