Introducing - Lisa Williamson

Hi one and all! My name is Lisa Kalani Williamson. I'm in my 4th, and final, semester at Parkland College and will be graduating in the spring. I decided to go back to school, after being a graphic designer for 19+ years, because the company I worked for "downsized". It was a blessing in disguise! I love school and learning new things, and know that a degree does make a difference when it comes to pay in the design industry.

My creative process might be different than others my age, but, it seems to work for me. My creativity does vary depending on what kind of project I'm working on. If the project is text intensive, then I go to my huge collection of books (I'm an avid reader & have a very large collection of hard back books) and magazines (I subscribe to multiple design magazines & others). But, if the project is illustration heavy I reference anything from video games (yes, I'm a gamer & proud of it!) to children's books, and online, too! I'm finally using my sketch books more. I had gotten out of the habit of using them when I worked because I simply didn't have the time to sketch anything (it was all about producing, not sketching). I also try to pull some inspiration from my experiences. Being older can have a few advantages in that respect. Ha ha! I have the most difficult time being creative if it is something that I really know absolutely nothing about, or aren't really a fan of.

I think that it is very important to have creative people out there in the world. Think of how boring it would be if everyone used the same layout for an advertisement and only changed the name of the company or the item being advertised. Imagine everyone using the same logo and only changing out the initials in the logo and the name.  It would be a very bland and overbearing place to live in. Creativity adds "life" to things. It gives things personality and can be fun and uplifting. I don't know a lot of "big named" people out there in the world, but, I have worked some individuals before that I really admire their work and am a bit envious of their talents. However, everyone has their own strengths, and if I'm not as good as someone else at one particular thing, I'm sure there's something I can do that they aren't quite as good at, too. It all works out in the end. 

I'm including a packaging design, that I did here at Parkland for one of my classes, for Carrington Farms Organic Flax Paks.

Here is a design I did for a double sided postcard. This is for a Dentist's office that was now offering customized tooth guards for athletes. I was given the brand of tooth guards and a his print information and was told to come up with a few design. The pictures are stock clip-art, but they were used in a non-standard way & the client loved it.