Finding Your Voice

As a designer and introvert I am constantly challenged to find the balance between wanting to crawl into ball and avoid the world, and having the courage to share my view points and creations. This hesitation has followed me from my creative endeavors to my social life to my ability to form complete sentences during a presentation to a client. I have forever struggled with being shy and afraid to share my voice in fear of being alone in what I was thinking or the fear of not being good enough. For me this struggle has been never-ending.  

First off let me start by saying the hardest part in any journey is realizing what you have to work on to move yourself forward.  I have been working for the last 5+ years to move forward out of my box I painted myself into, in order to get to a point where I feel I can live a life fulfilled. I finally feel like I have some sort of a voice that I can identify with and feel confident in sharing regardless of the thoughts of others. Recently I have been reading “You are a Badass” by Jen Sincero, which is amazing if you want to kick your ass into a higher thinking and make shit happen in 2017. 

There are so many poignant parts of this book, one of the quotes by Jen that really made me thinks was “ Watching someone else totally go for it can be incredibly upsetting to the person who’s spent a lifetime building a solid case for why they themselves can’t.” 

I mean come on, how many people reading this have thought of something they would love to do and convince themselves they can’t for a million and a half reasons, or see someone accomplish something they have always wanted and yet again convinced themselves they can never achieve it. I used to be one of those people. I would sit and over think, over analyze, over criticize myself until I talked myself out of whatever it was I wanted to do. It is incredibly hard to be brave in a world where most people would rather tear you down versus building you up, but you have to build yourself up, be your own cheerleader, love yourself for who you are and realize that you are worth what ever happiness in life you want. 

Once again, it is easier said than done, but you owe it to yourself to try. If you are reading this and want to make some changes to improve your ability to find your voice here are a few things I have found the most helpful. First, stop comparing yourself to others. The glorious thing about being you is that you alone can only create what you see and how you interrupt it, embrace your “you-ness” and learn to love your self. Love your self is number two. Not easy, but if you can muster the courage to love you, imperfections and all, that is one of the best things you can do to help yourself not only be confident in expressing your own voice but loving yourself will help you in every aspect of your life. And lastly, be brave and learn to be your own cheerleader so you can take those risks you have always been too sacred to take.  

XOXO

- Jen

Written for Elderflower Farmacy as part of their Wisdom Wednesday series.

Practice Makes Perfect - A Little Something Something

I have been working to get better at creating letterforms in illustrator. I remember being in school and getting frustrated because my anchor points where all over the place, and my curves always had that one point where they started to look a little janky. However, practice makes "perfect" -- and by that I mean you get better. I find it a humbling experience when you finally nail something that you have always hoped to be able to do and it actually looks ok. So well anyways, here it is. 

xoxo - Jen

See full shot on dribbble.

New Books / New Adventures

Life has been crazy lately.

I have started teaching nights at Valencia College to help mold the minds of young designers and give back. It has been great and really inspiring. I feel like teaching pulls my mind in ways that art direction doesn't necessarily pull me. I really helps me not only better articulate or see things differently but it has also helped me to further understand the importance of scheduling "me time." And in this case I am referring to time I can dedicate to learning and further developing skills that I want to learn. 

I am one of those minds who constantly strives to learn and grow. I like challenges that push me to refine my talent. I know that nothing will come to me over night, after all for the most part most it is said it takes 10% talent and 90% hard work. And so, I bought Jessica Hische's book "In Progress" -- all I can say is it is everything I wish I had read when I was in school. So far it has helped me realize that I have things to learn when it comes to perfecting lettering, but I have decided to dedicate most of my "me time" to reading Jess's book and integrating what I am reading to my personal design style. As I do so I will certainly be sharing them with you on my insta, so give it a follow.

Rare True Creative Freedom

Skyebird Thai Hot Infographic

Skyebird Enlightenment Infographic

As a designer it is hard to find clients who trust you to take their rough ideas and loose thoughts and turn them into what they are looking for.

Most attempt to over explain and try to direct us creatives in the correct direction, and I totally get it, I would do the same thing. But there are the few who grow to trust you and your creative gut to create exactly what they are looking for. I love the freedom to scour the corners of my imagination to create something uniquely different, and yet simply perfect for what the client is looking for. 

Recently I had the wonderful opportunity to work with my friend Devin at Skyebird Juice Bar to create a series of illustrated typographic graphics for some of their most popular juices. Moving away from a vector illustrated, “ridged look” they had previously embraced, I sought to find a solution that was both warm and rustic. Something that fit not only the personality of business but the people who work there and call it their “nest.” 

This project allowed me to direct a photoshoot for each graphic and color correct the images to best fit the feeling we were going for. I love working with my hands every chance I get and so I render the type by hand. I have a haptic nature that absolutely loves being covered in eraser and graphite bits as I work to perfect the sketch. Working analog guarantees a unique end product, and in this case the pieces are as unique as the client.

With Love - Jen

2015 Addy Awards

I can honestly say that ever since I studied at the Valencia College as a Graphic Design student I have always wanted to be a part of a team that created wonderful pieces for our clients who trusted us to create something unique and beautiful for them.

This year, my team at Great Big Circle entered a few pieces into the American Advertising Federation - Orlando Addy Awards. It was a surreal experience and one that I would not trade for the world. Not only had my teams work won a few awards, but the event was housed at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Which, for all who know me, knows that this location means a whole lot to me.

Overall I felt humbled, and deeply honored to sit amongst my community of incredible designers and support one another as we watched and honored everyone’s hard work. At the end of the day, its all about fostering the relationships we are lucky enough to have, and supporting one another that will allow us to further elevate the design community in our thriving city of Orlando. 

I look forward to another year of hard work and I cannot wait to work on some new creations! In the mean time, take a look a look at some of the things that we worked on and accomplished this year.

XOXO - Jen

See more work from Great Big Circle that won awards here.

Silver Addy Award – Orlando Museum of Art Logo – Elements of Advertising – Logo

Dr. Phillips Center - Membership Fulfillment Kit Gold Addy Award

Dr. Phillips Center - Philanthropy Kit Silver Addy Award