Pacific Tote Company, I Love Your California Surfer Vibe

Jun 9, 2015 | Art Direction, Creative People, Graphic Design, Places, Storytelling

File this obsession under Company I Would Love To Work With. Pacific Tote Company, I love your vibe. I love that you use the term “mood board” to take us to your inspiring Tumblr site which guides us through your inspiration process. I love how you share... Read More

Freelance Art Direction: A Lesson in Letting Go

Jun 1, 2015 | Art Direction, Client Work, Creative Process, Creative Projects, Creative Strategy, Graphic Design, Photography, Storytelling

We talked about what art directors do. Now it’s time for me to take you through a project that I art directed and shot for Seattle-based luxury leather handbags and accessories company, BEVÉE. The goal was to shoot a set of images that represented BEVÉE’s... Read More

How To Be An Art Director in 125 Simple Steps

May 26, 2015 | Art Direction, Client Work, Creative Strategy, Storytelling

“What do you do?” “I’m an art director.” Silence. “Okay…but…what do you do?” Sound familiar? In the introductory “fable” of Art Direction Explained, At Last! by Steven Heller and Veronique Vienne, Brian... Read More

Your Clients May Not Be Your BFFs

May 20, 2015 | Creative People, Creative Process, Creative Strategy, Storytelling

Two years ago I worked with the very smart sisters of Braid Creative, Kathleen Shannon and Tara Street. In their Personal Branding ecourse (which runs for the LAST time on Thursday! Sign up here!) there’s an exercise where you invite different aspects of your... Read More

Photography + Writing: MiiR Flagship

May 19, 2015 | Client Work, Creative People, Photography, Places, Storytelling

A couple of weeks ago I covered the opening of the MiiR Flagship store for Seattle Refined. I loved learning about MiiR and all of the amazing things that they do. And it doesn’t hurt that the product design and store interiors are freaking awesome. Meeting... Read More

Travel Tips for Introverts

May 14, 2015 | Mindfulness, My Life, Photography, Storytelling, Travel

Earlier this month I spent four days in New York City. Most of the time I was enjoying the company of “my ladies” – six of the most amazing, creative women that I know. I feel so incredibly grateful to be part of this group and have them as dear friends. I... Read More

I Don’t Want To Build A Company, I Want To Build A Life

May 11, 2015 | Creative Projects, Creative Strategy, My Creative Journey, Storytelling

It’s been four years since I interviewed Design for Mankind’s Erin Loechner here in this space. At that time this was a blog called Inward Facing Girl. Erin was one of the first design bloggers that I read regularly and looked to for guidance as I learned... Read More

On Letting Go

Apr 2, 2015 | Creative Process, Creative Projects, Mindfulness, My Creative Journey, Photography, Storytelling, Writing

Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about saying no to some things in order to be available to say yes to the opportunities that I really want. Artist Lisa Congdon wrote a great blog post on saying no and what this has meant for her and her business, and... Read More

A Story of Place

Mar 21, 2015 | Family, Mixed Media Collage, My Creative Journey, My Life, Places, Storytelling

In June I will have lived in my current apartment for five years. My son will be five years old in August. Five years is the longest I’ve lived in one place. The last time I lived in the same home for five years I was 15 years old – 30 years ago. Some people may... Read More

I write stories.

Mar 9, 2015 | Mindfulness, My Creative Journey, Photography, Storytelling, Writing

I write… …stories that inspire and motivate others. …stories that reveal my personal journey. …stories that emotionally resonate. …stories of travel. …stories of stillness. …stories of love. …stories of loss.... Read More