Meet Grace Cain | Designer, Illustrator, and Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Grace Cain and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Grace, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I grew up in the midwest before moving to the Nashville area with my family in high school. Growing up in the midwest suburbs meant that I saw a lot of the same thing. Everyone had similar cars, similar houses, similar hopes, similar dreams. There was something about the similar that made me want to be different. I was blessed to have musically and artistically inclined parents and their influence in my early life gave me freedom to pursue different activities than those around me. They instilled the hard working midwest ethics in me, but with creative freedom. When my family moved to Nashville, I was surrounded with opportunities to pursue the arts. The work ethic and creative freedom from my childhood finally had a playground. I believe I am where I am today because of those two things.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve been a creative professional in the music industry for about 7 years now. The first five years of my career where spent cutting my teeth as a designer and artist at a music venue, a label, and finally a music management firm. At each one of these places I was given the opportunity to work on a plethora of projects from packaging, animation, illustration, and even a little bit of video.

It was a lot of long nights and hard work, but I am so grateful for all I gained from those experiences. I learned how to trust my creative eye, while still managing other people’s brands and personal styles. I learned how to create for death metal fans, country artists and everything in between. And most importantly, I learned that the best art comes from a place of plenty.

That last one was the hardest to learn and I am still in the process of learning it. Like everything else in life, you need to have margin. Without margin and flexibility your work will suffer. Creativity never comes from squeezing out the last possible bit of toothpaste from the tube. If comes from having a rested soul and mind. Only then do you have the space to experiment – and the best creations often start with “what ifs.”

These days, I have been blessed to run my own design firm under the name Interrobang. With a focus in the entertainment industry, it is important that we are always creating and experimenting from a place of plenty. Unlike most industries, music and entertainment are always looking to try something new. My goal as a creator is to help our clients create something new and exciting that fits their brand and helps get their message across.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First off, please sleep in! Nothing is better on a day off than getting a little extra snooze time. But when you do get rolling, you got to get some coffee. For that, I’d recommend Crieve Hall Bagel Co. They make fresh sourdough bagels everyone morning and with a wide variety of smears there are options for everyone.

After that, I would recommend taking a little walk around Wedgewood. There are a lot of fun shops to pop into, art to see and some good spots to walk. Also, so many DOGS.

For lunch, there is nothing like Gabby’s Burgers and Fries. They close at 2:30pm, but totally worth trying to make it in! Burgers are greasy, sweet potato fries are poppin, and the homemade spicy ketchup is a staple.

I’m a book girl, so for the afternoon I would be heading to Americano Lounge for a coffee or maybe even a cocktail and a good book. This is one of the few coffee shops in the area that still has couches. And it turns into a jazz bar at night.

When dinner comes around, I’d either recommend grabbing drinks at ML Rose for trivia night or heading to the Listening Room to hear some local songwriters.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Big shoutout to my husband, Bryce, who encouraged me to start my own business. Also to my parents, who gave me rock music and a good work ethic. And finally, to my pup, Juliette, who brings a little joy to the everyday!

Website: https://interrobang.co

Instagram: https://interrobang.img

Image Credits

all art is from my portfolio