From my roots in journalism to my depth of marketing knowledge today, I use design to communicate clearly, spark curiosity and create calm.
My journey to where I am now started with photojournalism. I still have dreams I need to turn in photo assignments. When my Bachelor of Journalism from the University of Missouri was nearly wrapped up, I realized I wanted to explore this thing called design my fellow students were doing. So I set off to learn graphic design and obtain a Master of Arts at Ball State University.
After college I started designing for The Indianapolis Star learning the ropes of every section, eventually settling in creating the front page daily. The Star taught me to think on my feet, respect deadlines and get that slice of election night pizza before it goes cold. I still miss the camaraderie of news junkie night owls.
As newspaper budgets and staff were squeezed, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity at Sport Graphics, a company that creates large format, event and print work for the NCAA, NFL, Pacers, Colts, and higher education institutions. At Sport Graphics I learned how to scale up to think about how a Final Four fan experiences a multi-location event, the signage, wayfinding and wow-factor decor they encounter. I’ll never watch things like the Olympics or the Super Bowl the same way again.
The next step on my journey was at Angie’s List where I learned not only how to streamline print production logistics for maximum revenue but also how to clean gutters, fix squeaky floors and hire the best pros for renovations. I worked on a team designing for a monthly 2.5 million-circulation magazine, creating social media tips and tricks graphics and helping to launch a fresh marketing identity.
Now I’m at Indiana University keeping schools and departments on the cutting edge of recruitment and retention. From UX design on custom-built websites to full-day photo shoots to social media assets, higher education is a fun space to be a designer. I design under the umbrella of IU branding, but the projects are as varied as education itself—medicine, diversity and inclusion, business, athletics, international studies and more. Creating materials that appeal to young audiences forces me to keep current on stats and trends of incoming students. At the same time, other projects are faculty-facing and draw from a completely different set of marketing goals. Most of all, working in higher education I feel like I get the chance to learn every day—something I strongly value.
Here’s a photo of my dog Riley pretending like she’s not
with me so she looks cool to the other dogs at the park.