​One of my best finds was a pair
of 3D glasses.
Those glasses became a bag.
Pretzel salt pattern?
Became a personal project where I rebranded Auntie Anne's Pretzels

(I'm embarrassed but I'll admit it: I would eat those pretzels every day.)

I love thinking about surprising connections, and I am passionate about play, curiosity, good design, and pushing the possibilities and limits of an idea. I just want to have fun with it (that's when most of the good ideas happen). 

01    I AM CURIOUS

I have always been really curious. I have a lot of interests and ask a lot of questions, collecting and cataloging experiences, ideas, objects, patterns, ideas, interactions, and inspiration in unexpected places––and I am willing to admit that my most fruitful inspiration is usually in the street. I will unapologetically photograph (and often collect) objects I find while wandering that I know will serve a purpose and inspire a project or palette sometime in the future.
 

When I first taught myself how to code, I made a website for a personal project  called the Lost & Not Found Library to catalog all of the things I find––and the things other people lose. 

02  //  I AM A COMMUNICATOR

I love collaborating, brainstorming, learning about what clients really need, connecting with people, pushing an idea, and making old things feel new. This was the starting point for my recent graduate capstone project, called Feelings Forecast. The project took an exciting turn when I began thinking about the future of marketing and advertising with technology. Using
augmented reality, and using technology to work with pattern 
to bridge consumer connection, I began wondering how clothing customization, emotion, and tech might interact, and how we might use these parameters to create a brand or design tool.
How can we use the vast amount
of technology and social media at our fingertips to create more connection?

An exhibition visitor

the Feelings Forecast exhibition 

How can new technology strengthen the 
connection between a user and a brand? 

Broadside brand book

Hand-bound project process books 

Through research in trend forecasting, psychology, history, and cultural associations with shape and color, the Feelings Forecast project uses Processing (P3) programming software to create a custom pattern based on how someone is feeling in that very moment, using data from a series of questions. This project was an exciting way for me to think more broadly about integrated marketing campaigns, and create a more personal connection through multiple touch points: branding, print, advertising, technology, customization. I made prototypes of these patterns, and think that a tool like this could be used as a content creator in a variety of contexts from a marketing or brand standpoint. I am also currently playing with building in facial recognition software into the project to create an even more unique user experience.
I am passionate about
bridging technology, social media, and brands in a provocative way. 
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(Also, I just love finding ways to make people's lives easier through good design. ) 

HOW LOUD IS              TOO LOUD?

03  //  ENTHUSIASM IS MY SUPERPOWER

On a given day I experience an incredible range of emotions. I get very excited, very easily. Little things bring me an insane amount of joy. It can be anything: the color palette on a dump truck, connecting with stranger, new pens, parades, signage puns, weird things I find on the sidewalk, the perfect InDesign paragraph styles combo, dumplings.
 
This enthusiasm makes me constantly curious about the things around me––and I believe I continue to grow as a better designer by pulling from so many different sources of inspiration.

A pattern on a food wrapper in the street! 

 

 

I knew it.

 

 

Listening--REALLY listening––is the strategy worth pursuing most times. (Amazing ideas are hiding in
quiet people.)
 
Making mistakes quickly, and learning it the right way. 
 
Being an active learner, and asking questions. Then figuring it out already. People are busy.
 
Addressing a problem head-on, taking care of people, brainstorming, talking loudly and passionately.
 
Showing not telling. 
 
"The details are not the details. They make the design." Couldn't agree more, Charles! (Eames.)
Being thrown into a room full of strangers (friends)
that I don't know (yet).
 
Identical twins (I am one).
 
Public speaking. 
 
Temporary tattoos (I once helped build a pop-up shop).
 
Outer space (I thought I wanted to be an astronomer).
 
 
I have been on the lookout for openings at Colle+McVoy, where I can contribute my best skills as a designer and connector. As I am shifting professional directions and
have not worked in an agency setting before, I attended Maryland Institute College
of Art for a Graphic Design Post-Baccalaureate degree this year as a way to re-orient myself towards my goal. The Associate Art Director position would be a perfect way for me to shift into an agency setting, jump in, learn the ropes while contributing fully, build relationships with the clients and team, and offer a new perspective.
 
 
My previous experience in an art director role at a nonprofit, along with working on teams as well as solo in my own design consulting business has set me up with the skills and work ethic for the next challenge in an agency setting. I am a quick study, and know this would be a great fit; encouraging and creating, persisting until the work is just right, expanding possibilities in advertising and marketing, finding opportunities to continue learning, being open to inspiration in unexpected places, maintaining unbridled enthusiasm with a healthy dose of reality, recognizing the value of play. 
 
I am passionate about design, finding innovative ways to communicate ideas, and continually taking steps on my own to learn, grow, stay curious, and challenge assumptions about what it means to create innovative, effective campaigns. I look forward to learning more about Colle+McVoy, 
the team, the culture, and about how I might best fit in to help contribute to creating the best work possible. I would be so excited for the opportunity to show more of my work and share more about why I would be a great fit at Colle+McVoy.
thank you for so
generously considering
my application!
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