Advertising

Company profile booklet

PROBLEM
MDL Group, a leading real estate company in Las Vegas, needed a concise, clear way to present its values, expertise, and full-service brokerage and property management offerings to prospective clients. 
 
SOLUTION
Working with the president and principal of the company, I crafted messaging and designed a 16-page print booklet to feature the company's successes and services. I also created a digital, interactive version. I featured photos of diverse hands to reflect the caring human touch that MDL Group brings to interactions with clients. To help build brand cohesion, I edited photos to feature the green of the logo, and used the company's gray slash graphic in bold ways. An excerpt is below.

Event collateral and website (examples in design tutorial)

PROBLEM
When you need visuals but don't have the right photography, an abstract representation may be a good option. Custom illustrations aren't cheesy or generic like clip art, but can seem time-intensive to make. 
 
SOLUTION
I produced a tutorial on quickly making line art with Illustrator's blend tool, and included several examples of applications to illustrate objects and concepts, including a poster and daily programs for a fictional conference, and the landing page for a theatre website. This tutorial was published on CreativePro.

Event poster and product ad (examples in design tutorial)

PROBLEM
Patterns can add branding, texture, tone, style, and even deeper meaning to a design. Many designers might not realize how easy it can be to design patterns, and how they can be applied to a wide variety of contexts.

SOLUTION
I produced a tutorial on how to create patterns in Illustrator, and designed all the examples for applications, including this poster for a theatrical production and the packaging and promotional ad for a line of skincare products. The tutorial was published on CreativePro.

Website redesign for seminar

PROBLEM
After launching several sessions of The Marketing Seminar with Seth Godin, we were faced with marketing the program to the next group of customers—those who aren't early adopters. These later adopters are marketers who are more skeptical about whether the program works.

SOLUTION
I proposed redesigning the website to position the site as an approachable, effective learning platform with a vibrant, diverse community. The goal was to welcome, reassure, and heighten some FOMO. The original site was text-heavy, with few graphics. With the redesign, I added color, video, photos from students, and featured customer testimonials. I wrote the copy, handled typographic styling, and edited all photos and videos.

Original homepage (before redesign)

Promotional video for seminar

PROBLEM
Most customers want to know what an experience is like and whether it works before buying. We were sprinting towards launch day for the next session of The Marketing Seminar and wanted to address these concerns quickly and effectively. 

SOLUTION
In one flurry of a weekend, I designed, produced, and edited a short video (in Premiere Pro) to help prospective students decide if The Marketing Seminar is right for them. It provides samples of the seminar experience and numerous testimonials from students.

Social media cards for marketing The Marketing Seminar

PROBLEM
We wanted to reach new customers and build buzz around our program, but the social media environment is noisy and cluttered. 

SOLUTION
I proposed and created a set of template options for quick and easy social media cards that are simple, bold, and on-brand.

Magazine advertisement for website

PROBLEM
Upon launching a new media website, The Nature Conservancy wanted to raise awareness of the site and explain what it has to offer.

SOLUTION
I made a visual pun out of an iPad (playing on lily pad), a "pool of knowledge," and a frog, an animal that travels between both land and water. I composited seven images in Photoshop to create this ad, and wrote the copy. This ad was printed in environmentally-themed magazines and journals.

Event posters (examples in design tutorial)

PROBLEM
Using a grid may sound restrictive to beginning designers. Yet, grids offer great flexibility and provide a structure for information organization. InDesign offers a feature for setting grids efficiently, but this feature can be easily overlooked by novice (and seasoned) designers.   

SOLUTION
I produced a tutorial on setting grids in InDesign and using grids to create a variety of layouts. I designed and wrote the copy for the tutorial examples. This tutorial was published in InDesign Magazine.

Business cards (examples in design tutorial)

PROBLEM
Beginning designers may not realize that most photos provide cues for strong layout decisions, and that strategic cropping can amplify their impact. 

SOLUTION
I produced a tutorial on using cues in photography for positioning text and photo cropping on business cards, where clarity (and first impressions) matter. I kept the text structure generally the same, to show how different images could subtly guide the text position on the page. This tutorial was published in three parts on CreativePro.

Social media ad (example in design tutorial)

PROBLEM
Social media is a popular place for advertisements, and GIFs can be a way to stand out in the crowded environment. A lesser-known feature of Photoshop is its ability to create GIF animations efficiently.

SOLUTION
I produced a video tutorial on how to design a more eye-catching ad and animate it as a GIF in Photoshop. This tutorial was published on Adobe Create.