Alum Draws on UTD Experience To Create Pop World of Chappell Roan

Since graduating from The University of Texas at Dallas, Ramisha Sattar BA’21 has brought her artistic visions to life for millions in a career that has quickly taken off.

As creative director for pop music star and Grammy Award winner Chappell Roan, she uses a distinct and personable scrapbook design style that has found a wide following around the world. It’s artistic work that she began nurturing while still a teenager and that matured during her time at UT Dallas.

“I loved going to UTD because of how kind all the students and faculty were,” Sattar said. “[The school] was really special because it’s small and all the students got a lot of support from the faculty.”

Sattar graduated with a degree in arts, technology, and emerging communication, focusing on design and production, from what is now the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology.

“I learned a lot about art from a more tech outlook,” Sattar said. “I got to learn about coding, user experience, user interface and other things that may have never caught my attention elsewhere.”

Sattar, born in Lincoln, Nebraska, has always loved do-it-yourself crafts, particularly scrapbooking and printmaking. Her time at UTD inspired her to use technology and software, as well as motion graphics, to work with digital art.

“I have always loved making stuff with my hands because it feels really special, and I love tangible things,” Sattar said. “Learning how to translate that into digital art through technology has been so fun and has allowed me to take that skill to another level. But my first love will always be making art with my hands ― collaging, doodling, bedazzling.”

At UTD, Sattar was the director of design for a startup group that created the astrology app CHANI, for which she continues to work on visual strategy. Her reputation as an artist took off in 2022 when she began working with Roan and soon saw her creative insights evolve in Roan’s visual and artistic projects.

Sattar’s work with Roan ranges from wardrobe and other visual concepts in music videos to album artwork and tour merchandise. She created the design and packaging for Roan’s debut album, “The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess,” released in 2023.

In 2024 Roan performed at Coachella, Lollapalooza and the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City in front of huge, animated backdrops featuring Sattar’s art concepts.

“My favorite moment working together was at the Governors Ball where Chappell came out of an apple dressed like the Statue of Liberty,” Sattar said. “It still gives me chills seeing videos and photos of that day. Getting to do all the visuals for Chappell’s festival run was a huge moment for me.”

Before they connected in person, Roan saw Sattar’s work on Instagram and began following her. The two first became online friends and then began working together.

“We’ve followed each other for years and supported each other’s art virtually,” Sattar said. “I love the internet because you are able to connect with people from all over who have common interests as you.”

Sattar believes that she and Roan have connected so well because of their similar backgrounds.

“We are both weird art girls from the Midwest who love crafting, pop music, playing dress-up and just being silly together, so all the work falls into place so naturally,” Sattar said.

At the heart of her creative realm is Sattar’s love of creating worlds through her art. At Coachella 2025, Pinterest partnered with Sattar to create a pop-up space dedicated to making collages. She said it was amazing to be asked to help with the project.

“They recently launched a new collage feature in their app,” Sattar said. “It was so much fun dreaming up what their space would look like and what it would consist of visually. Getting to see the design files I’ve been staring at on my computer screen come to life is so surreal.”

Sattar continues to work creating the visual world behind Roan’s music, but her creative universe is expanding, too, including a line of clothing she is designing for a brand that will be available soon.

“I love seeing art take on new forms,” she said.