Tell us about your journey! How did you get to where you are?
As I touched on before, I started my design career in 2004 as a wedding invitation designer. Few people realize I still do that now! From there, I dabbled in a number of design areas – print, layout, branding, web, color theory, and more – all of which I still do to this day. During all of that, I found that branding design was by far my favorite aspect of graphics.
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What are your favorite things about working in your field?
I don't even know where to begin! Since I really do work that makes my heart sing, it's hard to say what my favorite parts of this experience is for me... I really do love bringing the inner visions of others to life, and the reactions that I get from those designs. I love asking those thought provoking questions that help entrepreneurs define where they want to be (you'd be surprised how few people think of really important details!), and I really love going through the answers people give me.
While I blog a lot of my completed projects on my website, I also love that many of the details and nuances of branding that go on between me and my clients are sometimes not shared. For example, I love packaging design – and I think a lot of photographers do too. I spend time with a lot of photographers sharing resources and suggestions of how they can integrate their branding into their packaging seamlessly – such as ribbons, twine, stickers, stamps, and so on. I make sure I never just hand over a brand and say "see yah later!" – I share the ideas and thoughts behind each branding element that I suggest, and a few that I maybe didn't include in the branding materials!
What are some of your plans/goals for the future?
I have SO many grand plans for my business! Outside of branding, I am integrating photography (I've been doing that for almost 15 years now...) and product styling into my services list by the end of this year (though I already have a few fantastic clients!), and hopefully by early 2015 I'll be launching a shop with some really fun products – but that's all hush-hush today hehe!
What areas do you service?
I work anywhere! Since my business is so flexible, I don't need to meet face to face with my clients (though I do love Skype, FaceTime, and Google Hangouts to meet up and get to know people). I am based out of Los Angeles, but we move quite frequently (I've lived in more than 6 states in the last 10 years) and travel quite a bit too.