I’m Kristina Casarez, an independent designer and visual artist based in the Bay Area, California, specializing in building brand identities, editorial design, illustrations, and trend analysis.
I specialize in bringing new and established brands to life by elevating visuals with refined storytelling and craftsmanship while remaining thoughtful in my attention to detail. I work closely with clients to define the best approach in partnership. And depending on the project needs, I also collaborate with my network of talented creatives to offer a holistic experience.
—
“YOEME” means “THE PEOPLE”
—
“YOEME” means “THE PEOPLE” in the Yaqui tribe’s language. Most of the Yaqui tribes are descendants from the Aztec & Nahuatl families of the original indigenous tribes of this land we call the Americas. My grandmother Rosa’s family came from Sonora, Mexico and who we have traced to be Yaqui Indian.
In an amazing dream one night, my Grandmother visited me and whispered…”you & me.” I remember waking up thinking THAT’S IT!! I loved how it represented a continuous connection between two people. That was exactly what I wanted to foster: DEEPER COMMUNITY + SOUL CONNECTION…YOO+MEE.
The universe conspires to meet us in moments. No matter how long, in the physical or spiritual world OUR ANCESTORS ARE ALWAYS WITH US.
GUIDING US.
My purpose : To be in service of a world where heart-centered companies and creatives fully express themselves in the digital landscape.
What I value: I live a life that is grounded in creative freedom and expression that radiates a sense of joy, peace, passion, fun, and togetherness. An inspirational life where community holds sacred space for everyone to self heal while upholding compassionate values that are for the benefit of all.
How I love : I love embracing my gifts of creative storytelling and visual design to weave people's stories with clear purpose and truth. With my ability to compassionately listen to people, I harness that energy to see and reflect to others what their true talents and gifts are. I bring self-awareness and truth-seeking into my design practice to help others become their highest vision.
My Story
For so long, I lived in a term I like to reference as “functioning in the dysfunction.” I had become so efficient in living in such a small place. Contorting myself anytime I would feel discomfort, pain, or sadness. Outside sources and physical “things” became my only forms of happiness. I was living at such a low vibration, my habits and wounds would perpetuate and feed the parts of me that felt anxiety and scarcity. I was experiencing such dis-ease in my physical body. I was never energized, exhausted all the time, and had developed lingering conditions that we’re literally trying to release the toxicity out of my body.
As I perfected this cycle of living I would come into the later part of my 30’s entering what our culture would label a “mid life crisis-mental breakdown”. I knew something was off, and there would be bursts of anger and screaming fits. Reacting to everything, my feelings would be hurt, my ego constantly telling me everyone was out to get me.
Then it happened one day. I can only describe it as my first “awakening” experience. I always laugh and think of the scene in The Matrix where Neo the main character gets “unplugged” from the matrix.
One morning, early as the sun was rising, I was on my usual brutal 2 hour commute to work and like most mornings fighting to stay awake. I would doze off and catch myself. I rolled down the window, and something told me to smell the air outside. It was the first time in a long time that I took a conscious breath. After taking a second breath, I experienced deep stillness. Everything was clear, and all around me expanded and bounced into focus. I could FEEL the nature around me. The beauty in the sun rising captivated me. I felt like I was REALLY looking. And the world around me was looking back. I felt hot tears roll down my face. Even though I was crying, I felt LOVE. And then a nudge, a whisper…LIVE YOUR LIFE. But “live” came out different. My focus and energy on work was making me feel that I was not “living”, and that my life and “living” were separate. That living was the feeling I had just experienced. That whoever, or whatever presence was with me came in to SHOW me first. To have me FEEL what living was. I knew that the “life” I had built for myself was not THAT.
That was the beginning of my journey. The inner journey back to myself. As I started to experience the curiosity with what I experienced, my world and the way in which I operated became so loud. I felt like I was walking around with clothes four times bigger than I was. I start to unravel. And that’s when you feel crazy.
You feel like you’re breaking. Something is DEFINITELY WRONG with you. I started to feel and experience what I was doing, how I was behaving in a new way. The people which I called my “friends”...I started to feel their insecurities and how we created a space of such low vibrating behaviors, feeding our unhappiness and sadness without ever realizing the self-inflicted pain.
This led to my first big realization that my job and the environment had become toxic, and was the biggest co-dependent relationship providing me with self-worthiness. I had become so tied into my job, that it had become my entire identity. If it was good, then I was good. I noticed this even more as I became a mother. My relationship with my son was a catalyst that amplified and made me acutely aware of negative talk and the self-sabotaging behavior that had become my “normal” way of being.
That is when I embarked on the journey in which the first step was letting go and leaving places that were unloving, and no longer served the place in my heart that began to grow.
I am a designer and healer. I am an empath and a business owner. I embody and know how to nurture all the different aspects of who I am. When we can fully express all of who we are, we operate from joy versus sacrifice and work.
THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE…
Everyone has a unique story to tell that can inspire the world.
The only way to find your truth is to use intuitive tools to access what is already inside you.
I believe in telling your story through a unique lens that incorporates every single part of who you are.
Your branding and design work must be grounded in your truth, which means approaching the process with a holistic approach.
Our design visuals should be constantly evolving with us, and just as we change our communication to the world and our branding should encompass who we are at any given point in our journey.