Blog Posts - Inspiration

If you’ve spent any time with Adobe InDesign, you know essentially every element you place or draw on a page is a frame of some sort. Those frames can contain anything including a color, a color gradient, an image, text, or  table. Your collection of frames and their content make up your entire page’s design. Frames can be rectangles, ovals, hexagons – even a freehand shape. You can create advanced visual effects in a frame by using InDesign’s “paste into” feature, which allows you

Like a fine wine, advertising has only become better with age. Now, there is more media and platforms for your brand to feature their product or service. Through the power of advertising we can now also change how people view key issues. With the political state of the country seeing radical changes in the past two to three years which have polarized the nation, advertising has started taking on the battle of activism.This activism in advertising is called movement marketing. Movement marketing

It’s been noted before by my previous blog that I am an obsessive font fiend, but I have never delved into the world of font creation (though I have edited fonts here and there when a character pestered my design). As a “creative” my brain naturally gravitates towards learning new skills, new programs, and new ways to be creative, so it was inevitable that I would find my way to trying my hand at designing a font eventually, and then here we are... In approaching font design, I discovered

Along with the returning of the swallows and the running of the grunions, there’s another momentous natural phenomenon that occurs without fail on an annual basis: the releasing of the bull. Also known as the publication of the latest New York Times bestseller introducing a revolutionary, new, can’t miss system/philosophy/religion for business success and leadership. Through the years, we’ve been told by the gurus of attaining business nirvana to deal artfully, tip our points, release our

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”  C.S.Lewis Fate whispers to the warrior.  “You cannot withstand the storm” and the warrior whispers back “I am the Storm” I AM THE STORM – I found strength in this quote during the past year.  Having cancer and working full time has many times been an uphill battle; however, with a strong support system, you can, as I did, Withstand This STORM and come out the other side to the magic word “Remission”. Despi

We all know the business of advertising, the industry we live for, can be stressful. I suppose you could say I’m preaching to the choir here, so all of you in agreement say “Amen”. The pressures that are inherent to our field of work such as being challenged to come up with multiple big creative ideas on short notice and presenting them, making tight deadlines on shoestring budgets, performing miracles and making it look easy, the endless pursuit of new business and, of course, hearing “

Ok, here it is. Full disclosure: I am not an organized person. Not by a long shot. So why am I writing this blog? Truth is, I've learned the hard way (a few too many times) that the real world has a near zero-tolerance policy for catastrophic failure. This isn't high school. You can't pass with a D, make up exams, miss class, turn in late work, pass go, or collect $200. In the real world, you need to be right 95% of the time. So over the years, I've adopted a number of systems to keep myself on

Hollywood was recently briefed on a creative marketing project – The Met Gala. Fashion’s biggest night in Hollywood gives us a glimpse into how celebrities respond to the same creative challenge. This year the task at hand was “Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” I am (humbly) assuming the role of the client as I select the winning creative idea. I will be analyzing who spent time thinking about the meaning behind the Gala’s theme, who jumped at the first obvious solution, and who

From my late teens to my late thirties I was a military wife.  Like so many other young, naïve girls, I thought it would be an adventure with my new husband to see the world.  I soon learned that my adventure meant that I was always the new kid on the block and had to repeatedly start over each and every time we relocated. The easiest part of moving was finding a new living space and getting settled in.  Once that was accomplished, it was time to get a job. GPS didn’t exist so the first th

There’s nothing more exciting to a designer than being given the chance to create or recreate a brand, and all that comes with it: from the logomark and logotype to the brand voice, design hallmarks, grids, font families, and colors. It’s a rare opportunity to mold a brand from the ground up and to create a personality that fits a company’s beliefs and values. Once the long road of research, exploratory, presentation, revisions and approval has reached its end (and congratulations if the r