One day while cashiering at Home Depot in 2018, two customers told me my name means “uncle” in Albanian.
I know it as an amalgamation of my grandmother’s name, Daisy, and my mother’s name, Jalana.
Hello. My name is Daija. day-juh (not dye-yuh, which is “uncle” (dajë), and a common mispronunciation)
A fine arts major who late-night student-centered her way into learning Photoshop and Illustrator, I stepped into ad land by creating spec art for the brands I loved. Somewhere along the way, tech and design fully replaced charcoal and sketchpads (though I still draw occasionally), and I landed a role as a tinkering intern at Doner Detroit in the summer of 2021.
I’ve spent the past four years at the agency as an Art Director, primarily working on McDonald’s as a lead visual creative.
I’ve pixel-pushed many Medium Fries cartons to scale and pondered whether the shadows on Double Cheeseburgers and McDoubles were “too gray.” I’ve created 35+ OOH boards for a single summer beverage campaign and filmed a previz concept with my cousin for McD’s TikTok.
Somewhere between all that, I still found time to whale watch in the Pacific Northwest and boat in the Caribbean.
Other brands I’ve worked on include Stellantis, Owens Corning, The UPS Store, and Jiffy Lube.
When I’m not in the office, I can usually be found at a weeknight movie sprinkling nacho powder on my popcorn or in Google Docs writing YA fiction.
How to reach me:
Email: ginyarddaija95@gmail.com