To listen to the full audio version of this interview go to Creative Wonder on Spotify.
Tae: I really enjoyed working with you on that educational strategy report thing where we went into a school and I did the photographs for it, but you were my art director and eventually used them in your graphic design that you did. I really love your work that I’ve seen on your website, by the way. So I’m going to include a link to it if I can in the podcast on Spotify. Anyway, I’m very excited to talk to you about graphic design because that’s your specialty, right?
Amy: That is my specialty, heck yes.
The Journey into Graphic Design
Amy: Totally. I feel like it’s like a long-winded answer. So I’ll go and you cut me off if you’re like, I’m over this, let’s move on. So originally I went to the Laurier in Waterloo for communications and long story short of it – I feel like in the time that I was going to university or college it was seen as like the be and end all. And I went and then I was like, it was great and all. And I loved the experience and met a lot of really awesome people. But I didn’t really learn things that I could put into skill or practice in the working world. And so I actually did an internship the second last summer before I was almost done. And they’re like, what have you learned? Show us your skills. And I was like, I know the history of the radio. I’ve taken a lot of feminism classes. I don’t have, I don’t really have a lot for you. And I was like, that’s concerning. That’s not a good sign. So I ended up actually just cutting it short and graduating with like a general Bachelor of Arts kind of thing. Because I was like, okay, I want to have actual skills that I can use. And while I was at an internship at a car dealership, there was a graphic designer there in the marketing department and she was just photoshopping all day, every day. I’m like, the dream! How? What is this job that you’re doing? And I was like,
I know how to do that and that’s a dream. You’re just doing that every day. You’re just Photoshopping. You’re making art for for this car dealership. That’s amazing! And so I really didn’t know that graphic designer was a job or career or anything. And so this kind of opened my eyes to it and it changed my life. I was like, OK, done. Let’s look at some programs. So I ended up going to George Brown on kind of an express advanced diploma kind of thing at the School of Design. Stunning. It felt like summer camp, honestly. It was very hard work. Like a LOT of work. It felt like more work than university, to be honest with you. There was no time for partying. And I was like, my gosh, I’m laying all my work into this juice packaging design or whatnot. You know what I mean? Like these funny projects. But it was really, really cool. I really enjoyed it. And it gave me kind of that hands-on experience that I needed to go into the field. I didn’t feel like a pro by any means, because we all know once you’re in, you’re like okay, there’s lot of things I didn’t learn. But it gave me enough to feel confident that I could go and be like, okay, I have something to offer. I have an understanding of what we’re starting with and I’m ready to learn kind of mentality. So that was really cool.
And then I came to Waterloo to help my boyfriend at the time work on a food truck because I couldn’t find a design job right out of college. It was the summer and he’d opened this food truck but the guy who was supposed to work with him fell through. I cannot cook, let me tell you. It was not a good idea. But I was like, yes, I’m supportive. I’m ready to go. So I came, I worked on the food truck. It was a good relationship tester for sure. But then I was like, okay, we can only do this for so long. I’m definitely not meant to do this. I should find a job. So I ended up going to this business speed dating thing in Waterloo and came across this wonderful lady that worked at this company called Him and Her in Kitchener at the time. And I said, I only want to work for you. Please hire me. If you don’t want to hire me, I’m going to go back to Toronto and try my best there. And she’s like, we’re not hiring. And I was like, well, that’s a problem. It’s ruined my whole plan. What the heck? And then long story short, my thesis for college was creating these jeans that I had screen printed and I ended up dropping off like 15 pairs of jeans to their office after this call or after this meeting with her. And I was like, I know you’re not hiring, but I’m just going to take one last shot. Here’s a bunch of jeans that I screen printed for the office. If you want to look at them, just so you remember me if something comes up. I’m going to be here for like another month and then I have to go. And she ended up calling me and she’s like, okay, you got me with the jeans. It was very strange. Come in, let’s see if we can find something for you. And I ended up kind of wiggling my way in and I worked there for about four years and it was great. It was a fantastic company. I learned a bunch. It was a creative agency and it kind of gave me the jackknife skills to be able to do a lot of different things and find out what I really liked. And that was kind of when I found out that I was really interested in branding and working with small businesses.
Career Development and Branding Focus
Amy: And then I had a child and I was like, I don’t know how two people work corporate jobs in nine to five in like a stressful environment. I was like, this, this I think is the perfect time to kind of pivot and change, change what I’m doing.
Tae: …and then go into your own business, right? I love that. It’s very interesting to hear people’s, know, journey to where they are and stuff like that. I love that you made such a memorable impression with the people at Him and Her.
Design Style & Emotional Impact
Tae: Okay. So let’s talk a little bit about your design style nowadays, cause you’ve been doing it for a while. And I just want to know, do you have a certain style to it? Is it something people would recognize or is it more subtle?
Amy: I think it’s so funny after working at an agency where you kind of have to be like a chameleon of sorts – where your style needs to be quite versatile. I think I take that with me a little bit because with every client, I want it to be more about the client style and their brand and kind of what essence they’re looking to show. But if I was doing work for myself I’d say maybe putting some 3D into it, that kind of thing. I think that’s been something that I’m becoming known for, because I do really love to mesh branding or projects with some 3D designs. I think it’s so cool.
Tae: What program do you use for that?
Workflow & Apps
Amy: Cinema 4D. Have you heard of that one? There’s a few now. It’s crazy. It’s very cool. I think it’s one of the more industry standards, I would say, but is a bit more pricey. Blender is similar, but it’s free, which is nice.
Tae: I am more familiar with Blender, though I’ve never used it, but my brother has done a bunch of 3D modelling for people. Some of it’s been products, but some of it’s also been like interiors and exteriors of buildings. But I don’t know a lot about it.
So I know you do a lot of different things. You specialize in branding and packaging and illustration and 3D stuff. So what do you think would be your favourite?
Amy: Branding is my bread and butter. It is my favourite. That’s why I do offer the packaging and web design or 3D illustration. But I really try and focus on branding. And if there’s someone that comes on and they’re looking for a brand and we can bring some of those other aspects into it, then amazing, perfect fit. But my ideal client is a branding project.
Tae: And what would that kind of entail? I’m thinking logo, colours, fonts. What else?
Amy: Totally. Normally a lot of strategy at the beginning, kind of creating what’s your story, finding those golden nuggets that make you stand out from your competitor. And then a brand package of a logo, probably secondary logo, maybe a brand mark. Like if you’re thinking Nike, you know the swoosh, that’d be a brand mark. And then typography – what are we using of on our website, what are we using on social media? And then the colours, as well as a brand guide, which I think is forever changing now in today’s industry. But some sort of PDF or a website that kind of guides you. Let’s say your company has many other employees or people you work closely with. How do we use this brand without butchering it? How do we all make it look cohesive? Because I’m sure we’ve all seen things where the brand looked really awesome here and then we got a new person or something, you know what mean? And they had a new idea and it got sidetracked a little bit.
Tae: So, Helvetica, love it or hate it?
Amy: I kind of, love it. I gotta be honest, it feels like kind of like vintage. It’s like a form of perfection. I’m like, I’m not touching it. I like it.
Client Interaction & Project Strategy
Tae: Alright, so what’s your typical workflow from beginning to end? Like say someone comes to you – how do you go about figuring out what they want and working through that process to deliver it?
Amy: I think I’m going to use branding as an example, but I think even the project we worked on is kind of similar to this workflow. A lot of projects work in that same kind of step by step of starting out, let’s say contract deposit at the beginning kind of thing, and then jumping into a form of a discovery call, really hashing out. I normally have like a crazy laundry list of questions. Let’s really get everything on the table because the more that I know, even if we’re not gonna use all of that information, the better I know you, the better I can create things, create that story, and create a visual that matches up with that story. I find even if it’s really, really simple, like I love a simple, strong brand that has a lot of integrated story, but it’s not cluttered, if that makes sense. So starting with strategy, diving into some visual concepts. Let’s say some mood boards, some directions. Here’s what some layouts might look like. What do we think? Making sure that’s approved. Making sure we’re all on the same page. Then really building out some of those brand marks, some of those logos or finalizing and customizing the typography, the colours. We’re double checking that it’s all accessible. you your website really likes those colours and they like the way that they’re working together. Bringing in some photography. I love to show like visual examples even if we’re not gonna do the photography right now for a brand, here are some examples of visuals that we should aim towards, like all lighter colours or having striking people in the images. You know what I mean? Like giving some kind of guidance and saying let’s try and stick within this visual look and feel so that if many people do touch the brand, we all have a cohesive look and feel for the visuals. If it’s photography, if it’s illustration, that guidance is needed as well. And then really just making sure that we’re confirmed on that and then diving into building out those assets, the brand guide as an asset, building out anything that you have individually as a deliverable. Like signage or print materials like business cards or stationery. Social media templates are a crazy popular one right now. And then sometimes websites is the next step after that of building that out and what that looks like as well.
Tools of the Trade & Typography
Tae: Are there certain software programs or things that you use that are an everyday occurrence that you love?
Amy: Yes, I love Adobe. I feel like there’s people coming up with things that are similar to Adobe, trying to figure out if you can get away from it. But I feel like I’ve been using it for too long. I’m too much of a fan girl. But Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, even Adobe XD, I think that one’s a little bit on the outs from what I gather. Figma for web design. And then Cinema 4D and Octane as the renderer. Those are what I use for my 3D designs.
Tae: So typography – I want to know what your approach is to figuring out what you’re going to use and how you’re going to use it. Do you start with a typeface that you really want to use or do you just, you know, let it evolve as you do the design?
Amy: I find a great example is the strategic document we worked on together. Before I would show it to the client, I would figure out what’s H1, H2, subhead, body copy? Like, what do those headers look like? And how are they working together? I do a lot of those combinations in Illustrator and see how things are looking together. Once I find maybe one or two combinations that I’m really set on, I put those on a mood board to visually show to the client to get their approval. But yeah, once those are locked in, honestly, I’m a very black and white person. So once they’re locked in, the line has been drawn in the sand and there’s no going back.
Tae: How do you design for emotional impact? Do you think about that ahead of time as far as like, I want people to feel calm when they see this, I want people to feel excited, I want to enrage people to be able to do something for the greater good. What is your process there?
Amy: Yes. 100%. I think that’s kind of my main goal overall – creating a good strategy, a good story. And then the visual design needs to have that emotional impact. That’s kind of the most important part. Honestly, even I’m working on branding myself right now, and that’s exactly something that I was conflicted on. I want it to be this emotional feeling when I look at it. I want it to be kind of like moody and cool. And then I had a complete change of thought. I was doing the moody and cool and I’m like, this isn’t the feeling that I’m hoping someone, let’s say, comes to my website. And this isn’t the feeling that I want them to experience. I want them to feel, exactly what you’re saying, that calm, that sophistication. I want them to feel not rushed into any decisions. I think that branding is already overwhelming in itself and I want them to feel a very like minimal and approachable feeling when they go onto the website or they see my social media or something like that. And so that’s something definitely top of mind, making sure that we’re always hitting that touch point no matter what deliverable we’re putting together.
Memorable Branding & Unique Identity
Tae: I like that. What sort of psychological triggers do you think make a logo or a brand identity truly memorable?
Amy: I think that if you have strategy and you are pulling from your own story and you’re building that into your visual identity, it’s going to be unique. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to be something funky. People are going to remember you. You what I mean? You need that little golden nugget that’s kind of like a little bit unhinged.
Anything, I feel like in the creative industry too, people are more open to do kind of a bit of it more off the wall or something that’s maybe not stock standard. They appreciate that.
Tae: Ha ha! Mm-hmm, like having a boob on the wall behind you.
Amy: Exactly. That’s how I actually tell like if a client’s a good fit or not, we see the boob and they’re like, if they’re scared, it’s a good, okay, maybe we’re not the right.
Sources of Inspiration in Design
Tae: Are there any creative people that have inspired you?
Amy: So many. Here are some of my favourites: Trevor Wheatley, Emily Filler (she’s like a collage artist), Ellen Rutt, Wade and Leta (they are graphic designers or in that realm), and then Wally the Wizard. It might not be a direct reflection into the projects that I’m working on, but just things that kind of like tickle your brain and get you thinking differently about the way they’re using colour or even textures and things like that.
Redesigning Iconic Logos & Branding
Tae: Lastly, if you could design or redesign any iconic logo you’ve seen, what would it be?
Amy: Hmm. Honestly, I think it sounds so funny, but I’ve had like a hankering to do like a brand for something like a plumber or like a fence building company, or like a construction company, that kind of thing. Something maybe like a bit more blue collar. I think that there’s so many great businesses out there and I’d love to make them look as fantastic as they are. You know what I mean? Like I’m sure there’s a plumber out there and he’s a doll of a guy and did his own branding or his wife did it 20 years ago. I’d love to help that guy out and spiffy it up before his son takes over the company and transition it into the next generation. I love that kind of humble story or where there’s a lot of like grit behind it. I’d love a client like that. That’d be a dream.
Marketing Strategies for Creatives
Tae: How do you kind of like get your name out there? How do you market yourself?
Amy: I feel like this is something that I’m always so curious about because I have a bunch of friends now that are freelancers as well. And this is something we talk about all the time. I find recently I’ve been going to a few networking sessions and stuff. There’s been some really awesome ones in the Waterloo Kitchener area. But I’ve actually gotten a lot more word of mouth and past clients kind of coming back, that kind of thing. It’s one of the parts of my business that I’m forever working on improving.
How about you? What have you found? Because you’ve been in the business much longer than I have.
Tae: Okay, so I have also done a bit of the networking thing and I still do it occasionally. But like it’s tricky because it’s not just anybody I’m appealing to. It’s specifically business people first of all, and it’s people that are like in medium to larger size companies. I don’t do a ton of work with smaller businesses like entrepreneurs or whatever, because they just don’t have like the marketing budget.
Amy: Yeah, that makes sense.
Tae: But like agencies or companies that have marketing departments, that’s my key demographic there. So some of the ways I’ve gone about getting work is like reaching out specifically to those people in those companies. I’d find them on LinkedIn: that’s the creative director for this agency, or this is the marketing director for that company. And then trying to connect with them, whether it be on a LinkedIn or if I’m lucky enough to find an email address, which is hard to come by, you know, maybe emailing them and trying to introduce myself or say something that I like about what they’re already doing. If I’m lucky enough sometimes I’ll be able to get a coffee date with them or just say hello. Like I have in the past said, hey, can I drop a coffee off at your work for you and just say hello? That way there’s like no pressure to spend a lot of time with me, but they get a free drink out of it and it’s just like a quick hello and I get in front of their faces. I think a lot of business comes down to working with people you know and people you like and that are reliable and do good work. So I could be the best photographer out there, but if nobody knows about me then they’re not going to hire me. And so I need to keep refreshing people’s minds and saying, look, I’m out here if you need me. Some of that comes down to, you know, having coffee with them, or sending out my newsletter, which I’ve just started doing this past year. Now I’ve started to interview people that I’ve worked with that are really interesting in the creative industry, people that have ties to marketing and advertising, right. So I’m hoping that because of it, I’ll be able to get me in front of their audience when they share it? So that will introduce me to new people that I don’t know and also give me a little bit of credibility of my own. I would say the majority of work that I get is word of mouth. So once I get a client, they usually stay with me because they like the work and I’m easy to work with. And then they’ll tell other people about me when their friends need a photographer. So that’s been super successful for me as well.
Another thing I’ve tried doing lately, and this is fairly recent, is when I updated my website, I tried to think of the pain points of my potential clients and be like, well, what is it that they really need? What are their problems? And how could I be the one to solve them? And then appealing to the fact that I’ll make it easy for them and I’ll take care of all this photography stuff that they don’t want to have to deal with and how it will elevate their brand and things like that. I’m hoping that will help. I’m not really a marketing person, but I think it’s much better than having a website that says, look how great I am. Because nobody cares. Nobody cares.
Amy: No, it was true. At the end of the day someone’s just looking for a guide and an expert, right? That they can hire and you can do what you’re great at and you can elevate their brand or their deliverables.
Building Credibility & Client Relationships
Tae: Exactly. Everybody is just thinking about themselves and not to say that negatively, but it’s the truth. And so when people are looking for a photographer, they’re thinking, okay, how is this going to, you know, be beneficial to me? Like, what are they bringing to the table that will make my life easier and get the job done that I need to do for my client or business. I’m trying to speak a little bit more to that than I used to. So I’m hoping that gets people’s attention and then makes it more likely that they’ll contact me for the photography they need.
And another thing is you need to have some credibility, right? So, another thing that works towards this goal is my Google reviews. Luckily I have a very high Google review rate. So that’s good. And people have commented on that. I specifically ask people at the end of a job, hey, could you give me a Google review and I send them a link to make it easy, just so that they’ll go right there. And I say, bonus points if you post some of our photos. And sometimes they’re do. So that’s been very helpful. And then I can use those testimonials in other marketing materials, like the newsletter or my website or whatever it may be.
Amy: I love that. That’s so smart. Actually I just started doing that because I was like, this is something that I’m missing out on that I see when I’m looking at other people’s businesses. I’m looking at their Google reviews. So why wouldn’t someone do the same for me?
Tae: Absolutely. But any reviews you get will never compare to an actual referral from someone.
Amy: That’s true. That’s a good point.
Tae: Thanks so much Amy! Whether it was about software, tools, planning to make things have an emotional impact, workflow and things like that, it’s so interesting to hear your side of things.
Amy: Thank you. I love this. I even love hearing about yours. I feel like even when we work together, it’s really awesome to kind of be a part of your process. And that gives me even more insight for working with you again or working with another photographer. I had a great experience working with you. hopefully there’s more of that in the future. I look forward to working with you again.
Curious how creative strategy comes to life across different organizations? Check out more stories and tips on our site – click here!
Join our newsletter to get first dibs at exclusive practical strategies, expert advice, and proven tactics that will elevate your marketing and fundraising game.