“I have no idea what I want… but I’ll know it when I see it.” Have you ever said this phrase? As a designer, I’ve heard it plenty of times. Honestly, when I hear this, I immediately tag the person as a potential problem client. (Sorry!)   I know what you’re thinking, “But what if I...Read More

“The needs and tastes of the audience should lie at the root of any design solution. Begin there and grow outward.” –  Jim Krause TL;DR  The next time you’re working on a design/marketing project and feel like it’s not working out or looking quite right (but you’re not sure why), try approaching the project from an AUDIENCE...Read More

Flowers. Everywhere. I love spring. The smell, the energy, the longer days. It’s the perfect time to do some decluttering and cleaning up. I started writing this “how-to spring clean for your business” checklist. But then I stopped because 1) It was sounding really boring and 2) You probably don’t need a reminder to backup...Read More

The best change I made for our Design Sidekick clients (and my overwhelmed inbox) in 2017 was improving the way we manage our marketing and design projects. We were using Basecamp for our internal back-and-forth’s on projects and then I would send the proofs to the client. It worked… but it seemed so clunky and messy. Plus,...Read More

First of all, you need to know that I really had to restrain myself from turning this quick-read list into a giant novel. There’s really so much more to talk about when it comes to keeping overwhelm under control (and a lot of it isn’t as simple as a tool you can buy online). That...Read More

Your design and marketing projects are all over the place. They are either DIY’d by you, your in-house marketing team, or scattered between various designers. You’ve thought about hiring an employee (or two). But you don’t have enough hours to bring someone on full-time. (Plus, sometimes you just need extra help for a few months during...Read More

This question (or some form of it) comes up all the time in small biz circles: Do I need to pay a designer to create my logo? Should I hire a professional to do my website? Do I need to have branding in place before I start my business? I’m going to answer this question with...Read More

You used to have a website for your business. Now you have a glaring white screen with a few lines of code. And that code makes absolutely no sense to you. (Why should it? You have enough going on running your business, you can’t be a developer too.) It might look something like this: That’s what my...Read More

The All-Access Pass is my newest package for event marketers and producers. It’s a creative services retainer that gives you access to all of my creative services for your event or business. If you’re wondering EXACTLY what that means, here’s a list of tangible items we can work on for your event: Logo Design Visual Branding Brand Guide...Read More

When one of my clients first asked if I’d be open to working on a retainer basis I had no clue what a retainer was. It turned out to be a win-win situation and we’ve had one in place for over five years. A creative services retainer is an agreement you make with your designer (or other service provider)...Read More