We are absolutely ecstatic to welcome Crystal to the MonkDev team as our first fully dedicated UI/UX designer.

Crystal’s journey that lead her to UI/UX design at MonkDev is definitely an interesting one. It may not be the most straightforward route from point A to point B, but it allowed her to get a taste for many different fields along the way. Ultimately, it helped her realize her true passion for design and UI/UX. Believe it or not, it all starts with a little known fact that Crystal likes perfectly straight, clean, white teeth.

She decided to attend the University of Nevada to pursue a bachelors in Biology. After that, she had plans to apply for dental school. Reality hit after 2 years and Crystal soon found that science + dental was “not her thing.” So she did what any sensible undergraduate student would do, switch to an international finance major with an emphasis in Economics.

During her 4th year she experienced a totally normal, quarter life-crisis. She first ate a lot of ice cream, and finally decided to pursue her dream as a Designer. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design three years later. She has been making interfaces and user experiences with various tech companies ever since.

Her mission is to make the internet a less confusing place for people. She is fully confident that one day her mother will know the difference between a search box and an address bar.

How did you find out about MonkDev?

I was adventuring off into the deep space known as “The Internets.” I happened to be checking my twitter feed when I noticed a friend of mine retweeted a post from MonkDev stating they were looking for a UX/UI designer.

What excites you most about your new position at MonkDev?

That it’s a completely blank canvas! Since I am the first full-time, dedicated UX/UI designer on the team, I’m excited to be able to help shape and create this role. It’s essentially uncharted territory. It’s scary, exciting, and exhilarating all at the same time. No pressure. haha  

Can you give us a sneak peek of something you're working on? 

Sure! Here’s a work-in-progress concept for the new forms builder I’m working on. It just quickly shows the possible interaction one might have as they slowly start adding "stuff" to their form like a name, address, etc.

Who in your life do you admire the most?

I feel as though to have admiration for only one particular person would be unlucky. I have a lot of admiration for various people. They all have one thing in common, love. To love is to provide and protect.  

What is the best book you've read this year?

Mindy Kaling’s (creator of the Mindy Project and writer for The Office) “Is Everybody Hanging Out Without Me?” She’s hilarious. One of my favorite quotes from the book, “There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it.”

But overall, I have an affinity for non-fiction/self-help books. I love self-improvement and life-hacks. Tim Ferris, Ramit Sethi, and James Altucher are some of my favorites. Most people would probably look at me and say, “WHAAAT?!” for admitting this but, I’d rather watch fiction in the form of a movie than read it.

If you could have one superhero power what would it be?

Does being insanely, insanely, INSANELY, smart count? Like a super genius/savant about everything and anything. I think that’d be awesome. I could invent anything I want. Like a Batman or Iron Man suit. I could cure diseases. Learn languages in hours. Read pages in seconds. The list goes on and on. I’d be a “Super Genius.” But I think that term would be an understatement if I could actually possess the type of intelligence I’m imaging in my head right now.

If someone meets you out and about, what are three things they'll walk away knowing about you?

1. I talk really fast. I don’t do it on purpose. My natural pace of talking just happens to be 3x quicker than most people. It makes it difficult for people to understand me. It’s something I’m practicing and improving upon. Taking an improv comedy class actually helped.
2. I’m older than my face gives away. I’m not saying I’m actually that old, but I look a lot younger than my actual age. I’m okay with this.
3. I love cats but I don’t have any. Thus, the downward spiral in life begins. 

What is one adventure you'd like us to experience before you die?

I want to hop on a boat and make my way down to Antarctica, and then to the other 6 continents. Essentially 5, if you don’t count the current one I live on. I wanna see, hear, feel, taste and experience as many cultures as I can. Then I want to write about it. If I ever want to become that awesomely, quirky old lady that has amazing stories to tell, I gotta make it onto all the 7 continents! 

If you had one day to do ANYTHING you wanted in San Diego, money is no object, what would you do?

Buy Coronado Island, rename it “Crystal Island,” then have all my awesome island citizens throw me a celebration full of festival activities. I’d have this all kicked off with an amazing parade. Bigger than the Macy’s Day Parade. I’d want fireworks going off, a marching band, along with a moving symphony orchestra. You did say “anything.”