BWBR is represented at many career fairs throughout the year at universities in the Twin Cities and across the country. In addition to the pens, notebooks and water bottles we might bring with us, we also like to give students an idea of what is important to us when looking for prospective employees. In this double cover, accordion fold brochure, students get tips to help them through BWBR’s interview process, as well as information about the internal structure at BWBR and where they might fit. I worked with the communications director and marketing team to gather the content and make it easily digestible and approachable for college students.

A very fun and rewarding project to work on, this client was building a whole new pediatric wing of their hospital and wanted the rooms to be colorful and kid-friendly. The 3-person graphics team at BWBR brainstormed many different directions these graphics could go, and the client loved the simple, geometric animals. We worked with the hospital staff to narrow down the specific scenes that donors wanted to sponsor.

BWBR publishes Enhance magazine annually to keep in touch with our clients and consultants. Each edition has a specific theme tying the featured projects together. I worked closely with the communications director and other office leadership to organize content, pair with photography and polish the overall layout and design.

Every year, the week before the July 4th holiday, BWBR aims to kick off client and consultant’s summers with a fun and fresh mailer. The annual summer card shows off BWBR’s creativity and usually reminds everyone to slow down and enjoy the season. This particular card played off of classic citrus fruits and their relation to fun summer activities. The senior graphic designer and I loved stepping away from the computer, rolling out the sketch paper and markers and hand drawing the line art featured in the card.

BWBR’s winter card is sent out each year before Thanksgiving to wish all of the clients and consultants a happy holiday season and new year. The ideation begins around August - we get into the holiday spirit quite early! A committee of about 8 people get together and bring ideas to the table, whether well thought out or not, and we narrow down to around 3 or 4. We repeat this process until we land on a final concept, which is easier said than done.

In this card, we wanted to highlight each BWBR employee and showcase, through the snowflake metaphor, that each one of our different personalities and skill sets combine to make BWBR thrive.

Every year BWBR hosts multiple get-togethers for employees, spouses and family members. These events are a fun opportunity to create graphics embracing whatever theme the BWBR social committee has chosen. This particular event was held at a local farm with all the quintessential fall activities, each needing ticket vouchers for the families in attendance to use. From the flannel- themed invitation to the hemp-wrapped tickets, this was a Minnesota fall celebration at it’s finest.

innovationIOWA Magazine is published annually by Business Record in Des Moines. The design team works closely with the editorial and advertising teams to layout all content as well as design many of the advertisements and advertorials, like the Kemin spread featured here.

As the lead designer on this publication, I coordinated photoshoots with the in-house photographer to capture photograph portraits of the innovation experts we profiled in the magazine. I also created the cover design, working within our budget to enhance the look and feel with a UV coating on the vector design.

The Annual Real Estate Magazine is published annually by Business Record in Des Moines. The editorial team spends countless hours interviewing real estate professionals throughout the city, providing Business Record’s audience with the most current trends and predictions possible. The design team works in tandem, making the huge amounts of content approachable.

As the lead designer on this publication, I coordinated photoshoots with the in-house photographer to capture the real estate experts as well as artwork for the cover.

Business Record belongs to the Alliance of Area Business Publications (AABP), who represents 70 business publications across the US, Canada, Australia and Puerto Rico. Each year the AABP holds awards for editorial and design honors. In 2018 Business Record’s Annual Real Magazine was award silver for Best Ancillary Publication. The award description is below:

“Des Moines Business Record’s Annual Real Estate Magazine contains a staggering volume of information, yet it is well organized and helpful. The transcripts of the round table discussion with executives were particularly informative. Tremendous effort went into each listing, such as the numerous pages of Land for Sale or Office for Lease. This is an invaluable snapshot of real estate in Des Moines, particularly for the target audience.”

Iowa’s Cultivation Corridor, the region of rich top soil located where Highways 35 and 80 intersect, is a leader in innovation, research and discovery. The Cultivation Corridor program was launched in 2014 and this year they chose to do a 16 page insert in one of the Business Record’s yearly publications. As the lead designer I took the core brand information and created a unique and eye-catching design to inform others about the goals and achievements of this powerhouse program.

Business Publications Corporation, the parent company of Business Record and dsm Magazine, created a new division in 2017 to focus on custom publishing, book publishing and creative marketing.

The design team for Business Record began brainstorming to capture this new idea’s personality and bring it to life. After a first round of critiques I worked directly with the publisher to perfect my concepts. The end result is an elegant and timeless yet modern identity. The contrast of typefaces and diagonal slash into the letters represents the balance of left brain/right brain thinking - creativity and innovation with intelligent and purposeful execution.

One of my favorite projects from college - the last one still standing in my portfolio! The assignment was to create an infographic about any topic, and with my study abroad trip to Rome coming up the next year, this topic was on my mind.

I loved tying each country’s colors into the guide and really giving the viewer something to interact with by creating tabs of the most well-known landmarks for each page.

Outside of my 8 to 5 job I love working with people during the happiest times of their lives to create wedding suites and other invitations. Capturing personalities and all that love and excitement within the confines of a 5x7 piece of cardstock is so rewarding to see come to life.