I've done a lot of work.
Even not including my award-winning college paper design work, my time at Gannett's Phoenix Design Studio, or my work with the Creative Solutions team at Gatehouse Media, that statement holds true—I've done a lot of work. Like, "oversaw processing of over 300 print ads a month for three years," a lot. Below, please find a selection of some of my favorite pieces, some for work, some for fun, some for clients. If there's anything you'd like to see more of, don't hesitate to contact me; if I don't have an example on hand, I can still absolutely make it work.
FOR WORK
Renaissance Publishing 2020 House Ads
In advance of 2020, I sought input from art directors, editors, and sales representatives for all in-house titles at Renaissance Publishing. I took that input and used it to make a series of clean, adaptable house advertisements for all of our titles to encourage cross-publication subscription and audience growth.
Thanks to the clean fonts (which are consistently used across all of the publications in different aspects) and the tailored language, when paired with a matching online campaign, subscription numbers have risen for each publication and are projected to continue to rise further in 2020.
FOR FUN
The Plant Gallery Ad Concept
After working on a series of ads for The Plant Gallery, I wanted to see the possibilities of taking their branding in a fresh direction. I used an image of lush greenery paired with the strong, tall Morganite font to let the plants speak for the brand while conveying a strong message.
FOR FUN
Magazine Cover Concept
Working on items like this magazine cover for fun allowed me to play with depth, color and type outside of my day-to-day responsibilities.
FOR WORK
Print Advertisements, Various Clients
The nature of working in magazine advertisement means that the client—and the salesperson—is always first. By its nature it leaves little room for creative experimentation, but sometimes an idea struck me so strongly that I made concept ads and brought them to the client. Sometimes they were chosen; sometimes they weren’t.
Either way, it was an exercise that encouraged me to think creatively, to learn to temper pure creativity with rationality and to balance the needs of the client with a drive to try something new. It also allowed me the opportunity to experiment with copywriting, effective ad layouts and communication styles.
FOR FUN
Untitled Literary Journal Concept
A coworker and I were idly talking about, in some possible future, launching a literary magazine. In this concept, I combined the traditional elements of a lit journal with the more contemporary aesthetic aspects of a glossy four-color magazine, envisioning an end product that felt like a luxury while providing valuable literary content.
FOR WORK
Renaissance Publishing Sponsored Client Ads
Several publications choose to run advertising sections, in which ad content is made to look like editorial content, based on a certain theme. I designed the majority of sponsored sections, including (clockwise, from top left) Faces of New Orleans, Ladies Who Launch and Medical Profiles for a variety of magazines.
FOR WORK
Magazine Facebook Cover Photos
I worked with our digital editor to create monthly promotional campaigns for our editorial content, which included creating new Facebook headers to match our content and branding for each publication. She provided headlines (or we brainstormed them together) and I created graphics. I chose the typography for each magazine that was used for all graphics for the publications, and worked with art directors and our digital editor to make sure we were forming a cohesive digital brand that reflected our print identity in a way that made sense online.
FOR WORK
New Orleans Bride’s Semiannual Bridal Show, January 2020
I worked together with the event coordinator to discover a new, fresh take on the collateral for the show, which includes vouchers, invitations, print and web advertisements, customized newsletters, billboards and more. Taking her desire for a clean, fresh and photogenic look, I created a set of materials styled after a wedding suite.
The first item was the print invitation, which I used as a base to build the entire house ad, positioned the same way wedding photographers create flat lays of wedding collateral for photos. I leaned on a combination of wedding invitation trends and the tendencies of the magazine's art director to create a clean, modern look that wouldn't be out of place but would still catch readers' eyes.