Hi, I'm Allison, a graphic designer based in Western Massachusetts. I work with entrepreneurs who are passionate about what they do. My goal is not only to provide effective graphic design, but be a valuable business resource to my clients.
It’s always exciting and affirming to hear words of praise from my clients. This is what two of my recent clients had to say about their experience with me. Thank you to both of you. You are wonderful clients and I really enjoyed working with you.
“Allison created a logo for me, designed my business cards and designed and created my brochures for my new business. She did an amazing job. She is so creative and intuitive. My logo is perfect. She took the time to research a color that represented my specialty area of dementia. She has been very professional and timely. I am just so pleased and have had many compliments. Thanks Allison for a job well done.”
-Donna Dorans, Positive Dementia Care Services
“You only get one chance to make a first impression, and today that first impression is frequently a website , business card or brochure. Allison’s creativity, passion for design and customer focus make her the ideal resource for all your marketing materials. Allison takes the time to really get to know a client. Where some web designers have a cookie-cutter, “plug and play” approach, Allison reflects a client’s individuality through true custom design. I have had many compliments on the website Allison did for me and would highly recommend her!”
Last year, around this time, I participated in my first American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Cancer has touched practically every corner of my family, so this is a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart. I hope to not only see a cure, but also more education on cancer prevention.
In 2010, our team was Lulu’s Pie Diner (a play on the movie Waitress, if you haven’t seen it). We did a bake sale fundraiser, and with all of our efforts raised over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society. For the upcoming event, we decided to change our team name to something that would have staying power, and wouldn’t be so dependent on a theme. There were many painful hours of brainstorming, and some hilarious suggestions (Broccoli Walklie, anyone?). The final decision? Drumroll please…
Creative Allies.
The name has dual meanings (we are no way excluding people who don’t think of themselves as creative!). So first the obvious; many of the people who are participating in our team are creative professionals and artists. Beyond that- cancer is a destructive disease. It breaks people down physically and emotionally. Creation is the opposite of destruction. We are walking to build people up. On site we will have creation stations- with activities such as origami and drawing.
I created a logo for the team (you weren’t surprised, were you?) The new logo will be featured on a vinyl banner and tshirts. Keeping my fingers crossed, I want to win the tshirt contest this year! (Last year my tshirt design was disqualified because it was so professional they thought it was a corporate sponsored team. I don’t know whether to be upset or flettered.)
T shirts are available for $15 plus shipping, with a portion of the proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society. If you’d like to order a Creative Allies T shirt, please contact me with your name, size, and mailing address.
If you’d like to donate directly to the American Cancer Society, click here to be brought to the Creative Allies team page.
A short time ago, I finished up a project with Donna Dorans, the owner of Positive Dementia Care Services. She very recently started this business, and hopes to help families dealing with a loved one that suffers from dementia. Donna was a joy to work with, and I know that she will be able to help many people with her unique skills.
Because Donna was just starting out, we decided to begin at the beginning and develop a logo. The word positive gave me many wonderful ideas. Here’s a look at some of my original mock ups.
As you can see, at the very beginning I was all about the mathematical and scientific definitions of the word positive. I liked the way that these looked, but felt like I wasn’t quite there yet. Donna was looking for a look that was welcoming and comforting, and these concepts were a little too stark. Back to the drawing board. This is the result.
At the last second, I had divine inspiration. I was glancing at the vision board I had created earlier this year, and in big print it says “Sunshine State of Mind”. What a wonderful visual for positivity- sunshine! Purple seemed to be the natural choice, as it is the ribbon color for Alzheimer’s awareness.
After the logo was created, we went on to create other brand materials, like this trifold brochure. The inside features a photograph of Donna and her grandmother, taken by the fabulous Suzanne Larocque of Sleaque Images Photography.
Are you building a new business? I love working with start ups. Send me an email, and we’ll get this party started.
On a roll with the graphic design humor. This here is an example of what happens when a group of graphic designers have too much time on their hands. Side note, I want to be their friends.
I recently celebrated my 30th birthday with a Nerdy Thirty party (inspired by this book.) We all rocked out our high waters and black glasses, while chowing down on Nerds (the famous Wonka candy!). Being an obsessed graphic designer, I began a project for this party that I never finished, but I enjoyed too much to hide it. I started creating nerdy stickers. I am sharing them here. Feel free to take them and use them at will. They need a good home.
After Google’s little Helvetica/Comic Sans April Fools stunt, I was reminded of how fun font humor could be. This video and it’s sequel are brilliant. I always knew fonts had their own personality, and now it has been proved.
This week, I was featured as part of the Young Entrepreneur series published by Reminder Publications, a newspaper local to the Western MA area. Honestly, I’m quite flattered to be called a “guru.” There was one thing missing from the article though, my contact information. So if you read the article, felt compelled to Google me- You’re in the right place, you found me! Now send me a note.
A lot of design work is going on for the upcoming Inward and Upward show. In the last post you saw the postcard (there are also coordinating posters and programs- what can I say, I get carried away!) In addition to the branding materials, I thought it would be fun to do some headshots- especially for this show. These are no stuffy headshots either. As a group, we decided that it was necessary to remain authentic, and if we were going to show our faces to our audience, we should show ourselves as we really are– fun and a little bit goofy.
Sarah, artist and photographer extraordinaire, started out by photographing us in front of a white wall. Later that night- that’s when the Photoshop fun began. I was inspired by the front pages of one of my favorite magazines, HOW. Each month, it features headshots of contributing writers and designers in an artistic treatment, one month may be watercolor, the next charcoal illustrations.
First reactions to the final product? “Hey, have you ever seen the video for Take On Me?”
I was just introduced to a new site that essentially allows you to make an online inspiration board. And not only can you create your own inspiration boards, you can peek at other people’s as well!
On Pinterest, you can set up several inspiration boards, one for fashion, art, interior design, whatever it is that fluffs your peanutbutter. After you’ve created these boards, browse the web as usual. When you see something that strikes your fancy, you can “pin it” by simply clicking on the Pinterest button on your browser, and it adds an image of your item to the appropriate list.
This is brilliant not only for inspiration, but also for cataloging. Planning a special project, designing a room, and need a place to keep all your sources and images in one place? Pinterest is perfect for just that.
I like to go poking through other people’s boards. By doing this, I find new shops I’ve never been to, blogs I’ve never read, photographers I had not yet discovered. Take a poke through my board here.
You need an invitation to join Pinterest. If you are seriously interested, I have four remaining invitations. Pop me an email. The first four people to request an invitation will get one!
