Designer Q&A with Sara Gray

March 19, 2021

Designer Q&A with Sara Gray

What makes the most perfect situation for creating a great campaign?

The perfect situation for creating a great campaign is having all the information. It is way better to over communicate with your designer than under communicate. If we have all the information about your event or campaign and we understand your objective fully, that’s when we can produce the best results for you and normally nail it on the first try!

What do you love most about what you do at BLM?

It’s very hard to choose, but I think the thing that I love most about working at BLM is the variety in my day. Although I have a task list and meetings just like any other job, you never know what will happen once the day gets started. Some days I can plow through my task list. Other days we have projects that come up that need attention or new opportunities that we are looking to go after, so it really keeps me on my toes and I like that. I don’t feel like I work a boring desk job EVER!

If you had one piece of advice for new graphic designers these days, what may it be?

There are so many things that I could/would want to say to a new designer but I think the most important thing is to make sure you don’t limit yourself in terms of what you think you are able to do. Being a good designer is not just about form, it’s about function. Although design sometimes feels like it can be a detached thing, you’d be surprised how many people you are impacting every day with something you made without ever knowing them.

In order to make sure that your design continues to be effective and continues to grow, you should try and learn or have a basic understanding of as many things as you can. I have found some of the best things to expand on include video, UX/UI design, photography, and, further yet, human physcology. This doesn’t mean you need to read a textbook or listen to weekly seminars, or even be the best, most knowledgeable person in these areas. But make sure you keep yourself open to those learning experiences. It will not only make you more marketable in your skillset, but it will make you an overall better communicator in the design realm and the world in general. And communication is key to ultimate success!

Your favorite graphic of 2021 so far – what is it and why?

I think one of my favorites might be this street sign that was created for one of our jewelers for Valentine’s Day. A lot of times when we start designing something it ends up going in a totally different direction. Sometimes the stars just align and you end up going all the way through with the idea, so it was fun to execute and see this come to life.

I really enjoy that this graphic is more focused on the imagery instead of the copy. There aren’t a ton of words on here, but the ad as a whole, says it all. I also really like the classic nod to getting chocolates for Valentine’s Day, and to top it all off, as much as I love red and pink (really I do!), this is a Valentine’s Day ad that doesn’t have the typical hearts, cupid or love message.

It was an out of the box project that the client gave us creative freedom on and at the end of the day they were happy with it, which is always one of the most rewarding things to hear from a client!

Diamonds for Valentines Day