Interviews

Interview with The Founding Moms’ Jill Salzman

Arielle Kimbarovsky — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 22:25:40 +0000

If you’re a mom and you’re thinking about starting a new business or growing your existing business, you are not alone. According to the International Finance Corporation, female owned businesses make up 37% of businesses globally. In fact, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, women are more likely to reinvest in their businesses, create more jobs, and be more innovative than men. It’s no wonder that female entrepreneurs are changing entrepreneurship and setting the bar for success even higher. Fortunately, as more women have become entrepreneurs, there are also more networks, support systems and resources to help them succeed. One of our favorite resources for female entrepreneurs is Jill Salzman’s The Founding Moms, a community that enables mom entrepreneurs to connect with each other for support and advice. We recently collaborated with Jill on a free eBook to help women entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Jill is a mom and a serial entrepreneur. We asked Jill to share her insights on how women entrepreneurs can raise a family while building a great business. Here’s what she had to say: 1. What were you doing before you started The Founding Moms? I was running two unrelated businesses. My first was a music management company that I started in 2005. I sent bands out on tour. And since it was my first business, I should have called it Mistakes, Incorporated. Two years into that, I decided to start selling baby jewelry. By the time I (accidentally) launched The Founding Moms, I was running two unrelated businesses with two small children in one home office. 2. Had you always seen yourself as an entrepreneur? Absolutely. There was never a time I was not starting a business. In elementary school I co-founded a catering-for-parents company. By the end of high school I was editing, publishing and selling my own fanzine. I also attempted a record label but I sucked at it so it never got off the ground. 3. What inspired you to start The Founding Moms? My hunger to meet just one other woman who had a business and a baby. I didn’t know any. So I launched a coffee get-together on Meetup.com to meet a couple. That “couple” turned into 10,000+ women 7 years later. It’s amazing how many of us are hungry to connect with one another to build better businesses. 4. What was your biggest challenge with starting The Founding Moms? Figuring out how to make it a business. I knew these women wanted to get together. I didn’t know how to formalize it in a way where people could have success because of it and I could make money because of it. To be frank, I’m still working on it and figuring it out. Every. Single. Day. 5. What is an average workday like for you? Does it change day to day? There is no such thing in my universe. It changes hour to hour. Things get moved, kids get sick, and/or opportunities pop up that I want..

12 Questions: Meet Tal More (USA)

Audree Rowe — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 14:47:46 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Tal More (crowdSPRING username: moretalme) today. Tal lives and works in Los Angeles, California. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hi crowdSPRINGers and NetBrowsers. My name is Tal More. I was born in Israel aka the holy land (known to some as the holy shit land) in 1978 and lived most of my life in a small town called Rehovot, about half an hour drive from Tel Aviv. These past few years I’ve been living in sunny- often too sunny- California, first in the bay area and more recently in L.A. (known to some as Hell A). I guess you could say that creativity pretty much runs in my veins. I used to write a lot when I was younger, but these days I focus on copywriting, songwriting, recording my music and giving music critiques to other artists. I also have a BA in Film and Television studies, but getting it was mostly an excuse to catch up on great films (mission accomplished). However, I did also get some practical use out of it working on a few projects, most notably while working on the script and the creation of the music video for my song- ‘Parallel Me’: {Animation: Rivka Press; Direction: Rivka Press & Yaniv Shmeltzer} 2. How did you become interested in writing? I was drawn to art and creativity from an early age. It started with music- I was classically trained but then in my teens I found out that I also extremely enjoyed expressing myself through writing. I guess school essays were mainly to blame. Thus began a short story phase in my life. For a long time I was certain that I was destined to be a writer. Some of my short stories got some buzz on the internet and later on I won first and second place in a couple of short story contests. I briefly worked as a book critique in a big online portal and also had a few stories published in a couple of magazines. But then one day I started writing songs and that was a major turning point. I realized that though writing short stories was nice, writing songs was even better because it fused my two passions together- music and writing. What could be better than that? (Answer: Nothing). Since then I’ve been writing and composing like a madman. I’m pretty sure that songwriting will be my main focus for the rest of my life. 3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing? The main influence on my prose was an Israeli short story writer called Etgar Keret,..

12 Questions: Meet Connie Zegers (The Netherlands)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 15:41:24 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Connie Zegers (crowdSPRING username: StudioZ) today. Connie lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 1. Please tell us about yourself. I live and work in Amsterdam and I’m single. Since 2000 I have been self employed as a graphic designer and illustrator. I also paint. Before that, I worked for almost 20 years as a packaging designer for HEMA (department stores). I started off working the old fashioned way; pencil, markers, ink, drawing board, scalpel, repro camera, Letraset etc. (showing my age now). When the Mac came into our studio, it was love at first sight and Illustrator became my favorite creative tool. After HEMA I worked as a desk top publisher for almost a year, but I quit as I missed the creativity. I learned a lot though. Starting as a free lancer work was slow at first, but luckily I was asked to do 2 illustrations weekly for a national newspaper, which was great and meant a regular income. In between jobs I did a lot of painting for fun and on commission (mainly portraits). I always use photographs but I work on them first in Photoshop. Then when I’m satisfied with the result, I start the painting. Since discovering crowdSPRING almost 2 years ago however, I’ve said goodbye to my brushes and have been back at the computer almost full time. 2. How did you become interested in design? Can’t remember exactly, but I was always drawing as a child. I used to make my own little magazines with advertisements copied in a funny way from magazines. I was also interested in typefaces from a young age and had a strong opinion about how things looked esthetically (shoes, furniture, fabrics, clothes, houses, interiors etc (never cars though). When I heard about the Design Academy whilst in high school, I instantly knew that that was what I wanted to do. And I have never regretted it. 3. What is the design industry like in The Netherlands? Although I can’t really compare with other countries, I do think we take design seriously. These days everyone seems to want a logo, which is good for us designers and businesses like crowdSPRING, but I sometimes doubt whether all buyers can recognize a professional design. I once saw a logo on a truck made out of 4 or 5 letters with wheels, wings, arrows, speed lines and shadow. I hope they didn’t pay for it. It was a foreign truck though. 4. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your design work? I’m a huge fan of David Hockney, so he may have influenced me, I..

12 Questions: Meet Jelena Mirkovic Jankovic (Serbia)

Audree Rowe — Thu, 22 May 2014 14:46:06 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Jelena Mirkovic Jankovic (crowdSPRING username: JMJ) today. Jelena lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia. 1. Please tell us about yourself.  When I think a bit, my name is mom. Most of the day I respond to IT: Moooom, come to see this!!!  Moooom, why are turtles bold?  Mom, will the people on clouds fall down on us one day?  Mom, why are there no woman pirates?  …and so on and so forth.  Seventhousandandeightynine times a day! And the rest of the day – when I’m not dressed in the magic “mom” costume – I’m simply Jelena. I got Mirkovic from my father and I greedily snatched Jankovic from my husband. And thus we got JMJ (Jelena Mirkovic Jankovic). Oh, I forgot to tell you.  I am actually a sculptor. Deeply involved in painting and arts. And again – in momhood. It all started a long time ago – almost 38 years ago, when everything that could be drawn – was drawn, when all that could be colored – got colored. And that “disease” remained incurable in my case. I was born in Bosanski Petrovac, a small town in Bosnia (ex-Yugoslavia), where I blissfully lived the best and most magnificent childhood on earth. This was a childhood ample with smells of earth and sky, full of colors, bare feet, animals and freedom. Following my “artistic urge”, which is more powerful than orientation (what I would be when I grew up), I left to attend the High School of Art in Novi Sad (Serbia), where I graduated from the Department for Interior and Industrial Design. I never wondered what I would do later. Nor did I have any compromise. I wanted to study painting. Alas, all the teachers who saw the drawings that I prepared for the entrance exam said – you’re born to be a sculptor. And it took me just few days to make five portraits (plaster cast) and take them, still “hot”, to the exam. This is how I became a graduate sculptor and art professor. In spite of my fingertips being enamored with the tactile world of sculpture, my ontological need for painting, drawing and colors never ceased, it was rather simultaneous. Following this urge, I finalized my Master at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Department for the Theory of Culture, and I defended the thesis entitled Color and Culture (from myth to postmodern culture). 2. How did you become interested in design? Huh, entirely by chance! By the end of my studies, I visited a friend and colleague in a marketing agency and their design studio. At that moment, they..

12 Questions: Meet Tayo Adetola (Nigeria)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 16:52:25 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Tayo Adetola (crowdSPRING username: HisP1611 ) today. Tayo lives and works in Lagos, Nigeria. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hello, my name is Tayo Adetola [HisP1611 on Cs]. My wife Peace and I both live and work in Lagos, Nigeria. We recently moved back into Nigeria last year, having spent 7 years in the United Kingdom. I have a diploma in Architectural Technology and a BSc. in Architectural Design Technology/Building from Coventry University. I have worked with several architectural firms both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. I currently run a small design studio called His-P Design Studio whilst still freelancing on cS. Did I mention that I am an “Arsenal” fan? COME ON GUNNERS. And also have a thing for TIES, just love to wear them, most especially SUNDAY mornings to church. 2. How did you become interested in design? Pretty much from junior high. I used to so much cartoon DVDs and still do. I became very much interesting in illustrations, characters, and anything and everything design wise. I have always wanted to become an architect, I worked as one for years and decided to change career to graphics design. I am proud to say I am an architect turned graphics designer [self-taught]. And I love my job. 3. You were awarded for designing the new ComEd Bill. What was your process for organizing all that information into an easy-to-read format? ComEd Bill, one of my favorites till date. I was born to design this bill. :] From the very first day I read the brief, I just knew it was made for me. I am a sucker for infographics and this just fit the bill for me. [Touché]. The brief was well detailed enough and it just like speaking to the client face-to-face and knowing what they wanted. I had to go back and forth on the previous bill, the comments their already customers made with regards to the look of the bill and what they wanted changed. I always keep my notepad with me during the time spent on the project; illustrating new ideas, icons, what needed to be added to make reading easy for users. My approach to this project was, what if I am a ComEd customer, how would I like my electricity bill to look like? That really was the key thing for me to producing such a design. 4. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your design work? I cannot place my hand on who or what influences my design work. What I can say is that the most influential thing on..

12 Questions: Meet Catherine Feeman-Fick (Wisconsin – USA)

Audree Rowe — Thu, 13 Feb 2014 15:03:33 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Catherine Feeman-Fick (crowdSPRING username: catherinef3) today. Catherine lives and works in Wisconsin. 1. Please tell us about yourself. I am a visual communicator that broke the mold coming from a family of teachers. I love to help companies discover their business personality! It is a passion, and quirky as it may be, I am able to pull out information or see things others cannot. All I wanted for my 9th birthday was oil paints… I wanted to be an artist. Thankfully my parents embraced the idea and set out to support me any way they could… I received the gift I so longed for, painted my little heart out, and entered my work in a 4-H contest. The result: a first place win and the good fortune of meeting my art teacher/mentor for the next nine years.” So the story begins – Kendal College of Art and Designs and the “real world” have been my best teachers. Yes, I admit it; I came from a generation with out cell phones or computers. I can honestly say I am grateful for not having all of the distractions technology can bring. I still prefer starting any project with a pencil and paper to this day. Technology has given me the ability to take my concepts and easily present them to non-visual clients. Back in the day, we had to do it all by hand or key lining which was a long and tedious process…no command Z’s! 2. How did you become interested in design? It has always been part of me ever since I could draw, create, act, speak… and of course my 9th birthday wish. 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? Each holds a special place in my heart. They are like my children whom I have created and nurtured to the best of my ability. It is not possible to love one over the other when each holds such a special quality. 4. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your design work? My Grandma Stearns, who always told me I was clever. My Grandfather Feeman, who always encouraged me to draw. He was a high school chemistry teacher, but he could draw a mean brown bear… a skill which he patiently taught me. I have also been inspired by great artists who were not afraid to explore the boundaries, Picasso, Monet, Ansel Adams, David Carson, Paula Scher, among many others. 5. How do you come up with ideas for concepts after you read a creative brief? I read them two to three times. Often I can read between..

12 Questions: Meet Emanuel Hărdăuț (Transylvania, Romania)

Audree Rowe — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 17:25:36 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Emanuel Hărdăuț (crowdSPRING username: emanuelhardaut ) today. Emanuel lives and works in Cluj-Napoca (Transylvania), Romania. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Servus to everyone, (Servus is an old Transylvanian salute, it comes from the latin “servus tu sum” which means “I am your servant”). My name is Emanuel Hărdăuț, I’m 34, I am a graphic and motion designer, I live in Cluj-Napoca (Transylvania), Romania, with my fiancee, Luciana, which I love very much and I hope we’ll get married soon. I’m proud and honored to be here, on crowdSPRING, with all of you, talented guys. Because I loved drawing and painting I went to the Arts High School, and graduated the University of Arts and Design, here in my hometown, Cluj-Napoca. It was a nice period, I was drawing portraits and nudes, studying much history of arts, meeting interesting people, playing guitar, having fun after classes, and the most important – learning from each other drawing and graphic design, my coleagues and I. Pretty much like here on cS, where we all can learn one from another, that’s one of the things I like about crowdSPRING. After graduating the university I had many jobs, I worked as a graphic designer for two publishing houses, and three advertising companies. I was an animator and background designer for a tv animated series. For the past two years I have been a motion graphics designer for a local television. And now I’m back on crowdSPRING, after a two-years break, and I enjoy being freelancer again. 2. How did you become interested in design? Probably during high school, in ’94, when my graphics teacher was trying to keep us away from the computers. She was teaching us traditional, manual techniques for obtaining textures, hand drawing letters, collage, etc. At that time I really hated her for the anachronic approach, but over the years I realized that that experience helped me understand what design is all about. That’s when my parents bought me my first computer, a terribly slow 486 PC, and a friend of mine brought me the ms-dos 3ds studio 1 (the first 3ds max) and I was amazed, although every command took like 4-5 minutes to do, and I was kinda staring at a sphere, not knowing exactly what to do next. Back then I discovered PhotoStyler and later, PhotoImpact, which came free with my first scanner, in `96, and it was much faster than Photoshop, so I used it until a few years ago, when it was discontinued. 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? My favourite design is the logo for a..

12 Questions: Meet Bojan Bundalo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 15:19:47 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Bojan Bundalo (crowdSPRING username: BigBaldBeardo) today. Bojan lives and works in Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hello all! It’s nice to have this opportunity to present my work to crowdSPRING design community. My name is Bojan Bundalo (33), cS “code name” BigBaldBeardo. Started using this username as a joke, but it kinda stuck with me,…you can say I’ve accidentally made a brand out of my head, but down side to this, is that shaving beard, or growing hair would be considered complete re-branding. I’m based with my creative studio in City of Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina, small country located in western Balkans. You all probably know about Bosnia from the war that took place here 20 years ago, but there’s another side of this beautiful piece of land, that should be more in the focus this time. Inspiring nature and its position on the roads between Austria and Italy in north-west, and Greece and Turkey in south-east (German, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman culture), made this area rich in various influences, specially in fields of art and design. I’m no exception to this rule, as you’ll see from the works presented here. After this short initial introduction and “global positioning”, that needed to be done, I can continue with shameless self promotion! 🙂 So, I didn’t start as graphic designer, but painting and architectural design were my first picks. After learning some basics in these fields, I’ve decided to take short brake, that extended into two years working as a sailor on Pacific coast of United States and Mexico. American tour made even more influence on the work I do today. After returning home, I’ve opened small art workshop, with selling gallery, specialized in creating classic and wood-intarsed orthodox icons. Few years after that, I’ve taken interest in 3D modeling and animation, so I did some exploration in those fields as well, as significant parts of architectural and product design visualization. Illustration led me to discover all the positive aspects of graphic design, specially logo design/visual identities/branding. All these explorations in the past resulted in creating one place, rounding up my entire creative activity today – BigBaldBeardos_design and modeling studio (www.bigbaldbeardos.com). 2. How did you become interested in design? When you say “design”, my first thought is architectural, product, and in the end – graphic design. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not underestimating graphic design,…on contrary. As most of the creatives here, I’ve started doodling as a kid. Playing with shapes, forms and colors led me to drawing and painting, after that..

12 Questions: Meet Nausika Georgakopoulou (Greece)

Audree Rowe — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:27:23 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Nausika Georgakopoulou (crowdSPRING username: BlackCatDesign ) today. Nausika lives and works in Athens Greece. 1. Please tell us about yourself. First off, I’d like to say that I’m deeply honored and humbled by this interview. I always found it difficult to talk about myself, so I will do my best to paint you a picture of me. My name is Nausika Georgakopoulou (hard I know! … it’s pronounced Nafsika) and I come from Greece. I live and work in Athens which is Greece’s capital. My first name actually comes from Homer’s Odyssey, where Nausika was the princess of Corfu who helped (and had a secret crush on!) the stranded Ulysses during his long journey back to Ithaca. I’m 37 years old and I’m married to a wonderful and supporting fellow designer and calligrapher, named Dimitris. We live in a house where we are “guests” of our two cats, Eva (thus my BlackCatDesign nickname) and Cookie (a.k.a. “the Cookie monster”). For as long as I can remember myself, I was the kid who always loved animals, especially cats, and had from time to time owned several pets including a goldfish (that mysteriously committed suicide by jumping out of its bowl!), a hamster (who run herself into a heart attack on the wheel in her cage!) and a baby duck. I studied graphic design in VAKALO School of Arts in Athens and got my MA in Interactive Media Design from Derby University in the UK. I have to say I loved going to school there and to think that at those days we had to do everything by hand. Computers were not so evolved and wide-spread back in the day, so we did everything by cutting, taping and combining our own designs. It may seem unreal to many young designers now but trust me, it gave us skills that came in handy. At some point (around my senior year) computers came into the picture and I found my calling! I was fortunate enough to have found a job during my post-graduate year, where I quickly realized that things were much different in the real world than what we had in mind while studying! And yes, much to my fellow students surprise, my first job, apart from designing and brainstorming, also included making coffee, answering occasional phone calls and running chores! So, word of advice to any young designers that set out on their first job, “you won’t all be made creative directors at once”! Nowadays, I divide my time between working as a freelance designer and teaching graphic design in an Arts College. Though it may seem..

12 Questions: Meet Moisés Ferreira (Brazil)

Audree Rowe — Wed, 01 May 2013 12:41:40 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Moisés Ferreira (crowdSPRING username: moisesf ) today. Moisés lives and works in Brazil. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hello friends from all over the world. It is a pleasure to share a little more about me. I’m an artist, interior designer, graphic designer and musician. I live in a very quiet town, but it was not always so. I spent the longest time of my life in a big city called São Paulo, in terms of comparison, we can compare it with New York. I had a busy life and did many things at once. Working as a web designer, artist, designer events and still enjoying myself. One day I was visiting a small town in the state of Parana, called Ponta Grossa, where my parents had moved a little time. I was charmed by the city, the people and the climate. I could walk through it with ease and come and go from one place to another very quickly. I worked twenty-five kilometers from the center of São Paulo and took about two hours to arrive. Now go through my town in ten minutes. I have considered that it could work online and earn a living in a more peaceful place, even earning less. Eleven years ago now that I’m here and do not intend to leave. In the meantime the world of technology has changed a lot and I could relate to people around the world and with great speed, but because of my age, some ports work closed. When a relative of mine who lives in the USA showed me the possibility of working in the cloud, introducing me to crowdSPRING, I signed up immediately. I will not lie, at first it was very difficult. I thought it was going to bulldoze, but actually I have to relearn and change my concepts for introducing me to this world. Designing for the world is different from designing for a particular group. Today caught my initial drawings and see how much I learned. The work in the cloud opened a new world of possibilities and learning, where else could find it all? I found on crowdSPRING. 2. How did you become interested in design? I am interested in drawing since my childhood. I had many problems with my teachers, because my books had pictures everywhere. Nevertheless I always had good grades, but my notebooks may not be used .. rssss I got to do cartoon, paint pictures and draw booths for events, with booths for events has to earn well. After this phase started for digital design, I had a shock initially...

12 Questions: Meet Sandie (USA)

Audree Rowe — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:37:31 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Sandie (crowdSPRING username: cornflakes) today. Sandie lives and works in Indiana, USA. 1) Please tell us about yourself. Hi! My name is Sandra, and I live in a small rural town in Indiana. My husband and I, and our youngest daughter moved here about 8 years ago, after having lived in the Chicago suburbs most of our lives. The simple, small town lifestyle has always been a dream of mine. I prepared for the move a year in advance by digging up most of my front and back yards….(I had spent 15 years planting trees and flowers in those yards, to the point that there no longer was any lawn, just mulched pathways through the flora.) I knew that most people prefer the typical suburban type yard, complete with grass, and would most likely not know what to do with all the abundance of plantings. I couldn’t bear the thought of my beautiful botanicals being discarded. So, for a year I waited till each season’s offerings emerged and bloomed, then I carefully dug everything that was not too big to move. Our driveway was full of 5 gallon buckets, flower pots, plastic dishpans , 20 gallon rope-handled containers, basically anything that could hold a tree, shrub, or plant. There were a lot of things that were just unmovable, so the yard still looked amazing. I put in a lawn. When we started having drive-by shootings in our neighborhood, we knew it was time to leave. For the first year it was only me and our daughter here. My husband had to stay behind and run his business. It took that time in order for him to be able to successfully move the business to this location. He came out to the country to see us on the weekends. I kept busy making gardens from all my transplants that we brought. Our town is tiny. It’s the kind with the one blinking stoplight. “Town” itself consists of a bank, library, post office, liquor store, grocery store, pizza place, hair salon, auto parts store, police and volunteer fire station. That’s about it! As for our home, we are nestled into woods on two sides, and in the back. The across-the-road neighbors are hidden behind evergreens, so we enjoy that borrowed view as well. There is pasture, and then more woods behind the first set of woods in the back. I love the peacefulness of this place. 2) How did you become interested in writing? I have felt an affinity for words as long as I can remember. As a child I loved to read. I..

12 Questions: Meet Xavier (Spain)

Audree Rowe — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 12:59:55 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Xavier (crowdSPRING username: Badaboom) today. Xavier lives and works in Madrid, Spain. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hola! I am a 40 something French-Spanish world traveler now living in the wonderful city of Madrid. It has been nearly a year now since I joined the great crowdSPRING community. I have lived in different countries in Europe, America and Africa. 2. How did you become interested in design? I think it all started somewhere between the age of my Lego and Construction Blocks childhood when I was living in a famous surfing town in France and watching first Breakdance movies somewhere in the early 80’s. Watching lots of TV series and films from the great 70’s Culture are probably a big part of my Graphics and other Creative early interests: Colors, Cars, Travel, Cities and Buildings etc. 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? I admit I do have some kind of retro vision, I love many things done during the last Century and try to get concepts from them translated into a Classic and Balanced feel, but trying not to fall into a fashionable trend that won’t stand too long. I try to use all kind of different external “ingredients” from Pop Culture to Industrial Mechanical Instructions, from Science Fiction to Street Art. 4. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your design work? Whaow! Many many things from the XX Century! Although thanks to internet and the huge amount of great ideas and visual concepts coming from anywhere of the world, this last decade has proven to be amazing. I think at the same time this huge amount of information and data can become negative if it doesn’t go thru a personal filter. Apart from trying to work more like an artisan, I can go thru long phases of stopping feeding my visual memory bank from the superfast changing “What’s ON” or “What’s IN Now”. The concept of Artisan work has a big relation between my own creative intuition and imagination connections, my visual background culture and how I use tools. 5. How do you come up with ideas for concepts after you read a buyer’s creative brief? Well, there is a process into it. I would say it is very much like cooking, but in this case it is like cooking in a restaurant but you don´t have a direct action with the customer. I usually take the briefing reading moment as a different creative process, it helps me to extract main ideas, inspiration and first sketches, like doing a shopping list for a menu. Another..

12 Questions: Meet Connie Carlson (USA)

Audree Rowe — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 17:32:52 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Connie Carlson (crowdSPRING username: iconicdesign) today. Connie lives and works in Northern Minnesota. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hello! I would like to introduce myself to all the talented creatives and buyers at cS. My name is Connie Carlson also known as Iconic Design. I was beyond thrilled to receive the April cS award, and then asked to be interviewed for the cS blog. I hate to admit it but I am not much into blogging, but I now can see it is a wonderful way to connect with others and express yourself. My husband of 23 years and 22 year old son and I live in beautiful Northern Minnesota and own a small hobby farm in the country, close to beautiful Lake Superior. 2. How did you become interested in design? I am what you call an “old school, self taught designer”. My father, a sign painter, started a small sign company in 1967 out of the basement of my childhood home. When I was young, I knew I was interested in art, I seemed to always be visualizing letters, shapes and how things were made. Our family recreation was mostly driving around looking at potential sign work, and long discussions about how signs could be constructed to be visually pleasing yet most importantly functional. While growing up in the expanding family business, I soon realized that I wanted to work in the family business but didn’t quite know in what capacity, so I started out doing odd jobs, sweeping floors, deliveries, coating boards or anything to be useful. In 1983, after my father invested in the first “signmaker computer”, it was a rather simple machine, first designed to cut fabric for clothing. You really had to have a good imagination because you couldn’t see your design on a monitor, you had to lay everything out on paper first and then choose your fonts and letter sizes and cut the letters out of vinyl and then apply them to your substrate. Most people don’t realize that even a simple parking sign need to be properly designed, what words should be emphasized, minimal text to get the message across and best color combinations for viewing. That is where my design work started and with the progression of new technology in the sign industry, I was able to learn new design software and my love of logo design took off! 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? Now having 25+ years of design experience I can’t say that I have a favorite project because with each new project comes a whole..

12 Questions: Meet Dylan Barmmer (USA)

Audree Rowe — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 13:33:56 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdspring community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Dylan Barmmer (crowdspring username: wordisborn) today. Dylan lives and works in Oceanside, California. 1. Please tell us about yourself. I have lived in the North County San Diego region for 6 years. I recently relocated from Cardiff-by-the-Sea to Oceanside, about 14 miles further north up the PCH. I am grateful to live so close to the coast. My new residence is a mere 220 steps from the Pacific Ocean. I get great inspiration from the ocean, and connect with it daily. 2. How did you become interested in writing? I have been interested in writing for much of my life. I was named after the poet Dylan Thomas, and my mother has worked as a librarian for many years (she still does in the Miami-Dade County Public Library System). I was initially drawn to drawing and painting, but discovered writing more in high school. I wrote for and co-edited the Christopher Columbus High School (Miami, FL) quarterly student paper, The Log, and went on to serve as a writer and Assistant Sports Editor for the daily student paper, The Observer, at The University of Notre Dame, where I also earned a BA in English. I have been writing professionally for 15 years, and started my own company, Word Is Born, in 2004, while still living in Miami. I write every day, in many different forms. Including Haiku/Random Acts of Poetry…http://www.delmartimes.net/2012/01/27/local-man-shares-random-acts-of-poetry/ 3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing? I have had several influences on my writing over the years. Hunter S. Thompson was a huge influence. Henry Miller was a strong influence. Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Rumi and Gary Snyder have inspired my poetry. During my formative years as a sportswriter, I was inspired greatly by Miami Herald columnist Dan LeBatard, Sports Illustrated writer Gary Smith and ESPN The Magazine writer Tom Friend. From a more advertising/writing perspective, Bill Bernbach and Luke Sullivan were both strong influences. But mostly I have developed my own writing style and “voice” over the years. I’d say it’s direct, urgent, conversational and often quite raw. 4. Please tell us about some of your award winning work in web, print, and television. While working for Southern Brand Collective in Miami on the Miami HEAT account, I wrote a TV spot called “Mini Mart” that received citation in AdWeek. It starred then-HEAT rookies Caron Butler and Rasual Butler, and they started shooting all kinds of items into a kid’s handcart sitting at this mini-mart checkout line. You saw the items flying in, as the kid looked on amazed…and then at the end, it was revealed..

12 Questions: Meet Naoki Haruyoshi (Japan)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:02:01 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Naoki Haruyoshi (crowdSPRING username: KIONA) today. Naoki lives and works in Tokyo, Japan. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hi, I’m KIONA, from Tokyo, Japan. Surviving among the meltdown and economical depression;) I’m not a boxer or a karate fighter but making logos and web pages. 2. How did you become interested in design? “Design” has a wide and also specific meaning, you know, but I just wanted to live more comfortably and excitingly. 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? I tend to love ones that people don’t admire. Why? I don’t know why but probably I’m just a foolish person. 4. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your design work? Stanley Kubrick, Yohji Yamamoto, Tadao Ando, Shintaro Ajioka 5. What are other ways you use your creativity? I used to compose music, now sing karaoke. I also like movies and write blog about them. I educate my kids and play with them. Slow shutter with light pen is our fovorite now. 6.Mac or PC? Mac, Illustrator(trying CS6), mi(text editor), less(extended css), MAMP, VMware fusion 7. What is your dream project? I want to start up a new web service. For ex, textbooks children carry are too heavy and they walk to school. They should carry iPad. And also I’d like to make a movie someday. 8. How do you promote your work? Nothing special. 9. Please describe your typical work day. I wake up in the afternoon, stretching, check emails, RSS reader and some social websites. Giving advices to kid’s homework. I watch DVD, then maybe work. 10. What is the design industry like in Japan? Not exciting. Many clients are too conservative to build a new direction in their business. So they want designs as just good appearances. Politics are bad, mass media’s worse. We must reform them all for kids. 11. If you weren’t designing, what would you be doing? I would sing a song, or work as a ninja. 12. What do you do in your free time? I watch movies, study programing and study English. _________________________ ありがとう Naoki!

12 Questions: Meet Tiffany Silverberg (USA)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:03:11 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Tiffany Silverberg (crowdSPRING username: TiffSilverberg ) today. Tiffany lives and works all over the United States. 1. Please tell us about yourself. I’m a marketing writer and consultant – which means I work with small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them develop their brand and tell their story. I work from home, for myself, which frees me up to travel and explore! I move often with my husband’s job so I love having the chance to get to know new communities and the businesses that drive the local economy. 2. How did you become interested in writing? I’ve always been completely obsessed with languages and the ability to communicate. I grew up moving a lot – much as I do now – and had the chance to learn Cantonese and Spanish. When I went to college, at the University of California Berkeley, I studied linguistics, with research in language development among Deaf children. I also took Danish linguistics, Latin, conversational Spanish, and of course American Sign Language classes. All that random knowledge sort of coagulated into my job now – which to me is still all about communicating. 3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing? All the great copywriters that produced the retro magazine ads of the 1960’s and 1970’s really inspire me. It was an age when words were respected and manipulated to say the cleverest things. I keep old ads all around my desk. On a more philosophical level, I’ve always adored Jane Austen’s ability to draw out the nature of women in her books in a way that we fellow women can both appreciate and learn from. I want my story telling to be the same way. Lighthearted, but thoughtful. 4. Please tell us about your favorite projects. Really practically, I love doing projects that force me to pull out a few thesauruses and dictionaries and delve into the etymology of words. I love to swim in words. But from the clients’ perspective, if I had to choose one project, it would probably be bios. I love helping my clients see themselves in a new light. 5. What types of writing interest you the most? Copywriting is probably one of the most fascinating to me. It’s so full of spark and creativity – and yet at the end of the day, it’s about selling and you have to stay within the parameters. It’s like a puzzle. 6. Do you do your best writing in a Porsche 911? Well, I think everyone around me would prefer that I keep my eyes on the road, rather than on my paper..

12 Questions: Meet Catherine Faletanoai (New Zealand)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 19:00:48 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Catherine Faletanoai (crowdSPRING username: Catalyst) today. Catherine lives and works in Auckland, New Zealand 1. Please tell us about yourself. Ok, sure, or should I say ‘surrrrre’… I grew up in Wyndham, Southland, New Zealand – and we Southlanders are know to roll our ‘rrrs’ I live at the other end of the country now, Auckland, New Zealand and often get asked with questioning looks… “where ARE you from??!” So apart from rolling rrrs Southland is a beautiful piece of New Zealand, perhaps the most beautiful….yes. I was raised on a sheep farm with my 3 sisters, Mum and Dad. Great times, great childhood. I completed high school at Menzies College with Dux in my final year and went on to study at Otago University. I completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Design with my main focus being on Design and Communication. Fast forward a few years of working for Woodworx Design Agency, Chipmunks NZ Ltd, Kiwi Mortgage Market…. and we arrive in Auckland. I moved to the other end of the country to be with my Prince (Dwaine) and we now live here with 2 young children, (Mia, 4 and Mason, 1). Oh yea – I nearly forgot – work now?…I don’t have a lot of time for a whole lot of designing – kids have that affect on us stay at home mums! But I wouldn’t have it any other way, love being home with the kids every day and fit my work around that – when they’re sleeping, glued to the TV (I mean books) and in the evenings with a tall glass of Coke to keep me awake! 2. How did you become interested in design? I remember knowing logos – from a very young age I could remember a whole street of shop signage, logos, colours, fonts – I’m a very observant person by nature, and I see it in my daughter too. I’m also a visual person, and have always been interested in art and anything design. That’s why I love my job as I don’t really see it as a ‘job’, it’s more an outlet, a relaxing thing, entertainment for me. I look forward to evenings where I can sit down and just design, no pressing deadlines, just let the creativity happen. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn’t, and I think that’s the key to a good designer is knowing when to stop and when to go for it when you’re on a roll! I’ve learnt to trust my instincts – if something moves me, it must have value…so I strive to design with..

12 Questions: Meet Vinay and Asha (India)

Audree Rowe — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:13:58 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Vinay and Asha (crowdSPRING username: Knifeonbutter) today. Vinay and Asha live and work in Goa, India. 1. Please tell us about yourselves. We have traveled around the world, working in places as far and diverse as Fiji Islands and Dubai, not to mention all the cities across India. We now reside in Goa, dream beaches, sun,sand, coco feni, and like to pretend to work hard. Ideas fortunately , winning ideas save the day for us on sites such as yours. We just love crowdSPRING. 2. How did you become interested in writing? We are both writers from the day we left college, and have worked with top 10 ad agency networks. It all started in school, when the teachers noticed we had a flair for writing, however, the idea lightbulbs started glowing, later on, after 3 years of hard, rigorous college education in disciplines as strange as physics and home sciences. 3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing? David Ogilvy for sure. He was the greatest at one time. We never studied literature, so we can’t quote Shakespeare. We are more fascinated with Adworld writers, Paul Hegarty, and creators like the Saatchi brothers. 4. Please tell us about your favorite projects. Oh, its a long list, right from brand names on your site to tag lines to hold your breath, selling a premium burial space in Trinidad and Tobago (seriously, and we actually did it – it was fun). 5. What types of writing interest you the most? Anything and everything, our niche is travel and we have a long running blog for a UK client. We also did some nice work on Indian destinations for a US travel company. Love doing brand names, tag lines too! 6. When working as a team, what is your creative process? Read the brief, sit under the hot sun, reach out for a cold beer, wipe the sand off your feet, and go to sleep. Wake up with a day to go for the deadline and let the creative juices flow. 7. What kind of on-line resources do you use? Not much, except admiring the canners gold winners for their outstanding work – it’s good inspiration for us. We are sure there are tools to spinning and sharpening brand names and tag lines, but we never got down to discovering them – which is a pity. 8. How do you promote your work? We really don’t promote our work – you folks promote it for us! its word of mouth, honestly. Apart from your site, we sit pretty on elance under the..

12 Questions: Meet Roman Faiman – Northridge, CA (USA)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:31:48 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Roman (crowdSPRING username: Romasuave ) today. Roman lives and work in Northridge, California. 1. Please tell us about yourself. My name is Roman Faiman, I am 37, husband to a wonderful woman and father to 2 amazing children, Ben who is 7 and Olivia, 4. We reside in Northridge, a suburb of Los Angeles and I do all of my designing from the comforts of my home studio/Kids play room. I have a full time job, an Art Department Manager for a printing company, I handle all of the work that comes in and I prep it for printing, which is at times an arduous task since many so called graphic design gurus don’t really know how to set up their files for proper printing. On top of that I also spend a good 30-40% of my day creating designs for our clients. Our biggest account that I am involved in designing is The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, for whom I have designed anything from brochures to presentation folders to event books. After my work day is over it’s time to work for my company, 4-8 Designs, my main focus at the moment is photo retouching, with print design, including logos, stationary secondary. My website is www.4-8designs.com 2. How did you become interested in design? I actually never had any formal training in design, but I always had fun using graphic design software to create. I remember first using photoshop around 1995 and all I did was cut and paste people’s heads and paste them on other people’s bodies, that made for some very interesting company posters around christmas time, most memorably all the women at work posing in scantily clad outfits for a Lowrider Auto show. After starting in the printing industry in 1994, it took 3 years for me to be placed in the art department and I had to learn the software on the fly, from practice, to training to reading literature I became very interested and comfortable in my line of work. Even though I’ve been doing this for a while, I started designing logos around 5 years ago, and in that time I developed a keen sense of a clean and visually appealing style. 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? I have many designs I like, however I narrowed them down to 4. Equitas Media might top them because I like the symbol I created and the type treatment is one I am proud of, notice the fusion of E and M and the creation of an Equal sign in the negative space...

12 Questions: Meet Svetlana (Sofia, Bulgaria)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:37:55 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Svetlana (crowdSPRING username: Allmond) today. Svetlana lives and work in Sofia Bulgaria. 1. Please tell us about yourself. To be honest I don’t have the slightest idea (how I happened to be in the spotlight) why I am in the spotlight. It’s nice to meet you. My name (translates into) means “light”. There are scattered letters in my left hand, and northern wind in my hairs. I imagine the light, I spend my time playing the space clockwise and back, searching for the meanings, reaching for horizons, wondering why do we alibi only for what we’ve done, and not for what we never dare to do. I live in Sofia | Bulgaria | (Southeastern) Europe. 2. How did you become interested in design? Do you remember the magic of the dark room, the way the images appear on the white paper…? I was in love with photography since I was13. As I graduated MA in Fine Art Photography, I was flying for a private air company, and working as a TV presenter for a photography edition. A teacher of mine used to say that living on a peninsula we’re (torned) torn between the water and the land. My heart was torn in few directions and neither of them was enough for itself. I think that the design gives the best opportunity to (see in your mind’s eye) envision in the most creative way ideas, visions and traveling … of brain mind, a perfect (symbiosis among) connection between water, land and air. 3. Which of your designs are your favorites and why? First of all I have 2 favourite design projects – my daughter Ema (8) and my son Dimiter (almost 6). They never stop inspiring me, teaching me, (ushering me into the land of creativity) showing me how to be more creative. It’s amazing how we can discover the world through the eyes of the children. About my graphic design projects – certainly I try to give my best for every single design, and I feel happy and satisfied when my works are appreciated. I always say to my clients that they have to be 100% happy and comfortable with the result, so this is what matters to me – when a good idea finds the right way to show off. Not everything I like is what the client likes, so what is important is that we meet in between. 4. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your design work? In my background I was lucky to work for and respectively draw on the experience of some of the top..

12 Questions: Meet Debs and Johnny (Portugal)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:50:28 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Debs & Johnny (crowdSPRING username: UsBeingUs ) today. Debs & Johnny live and work in the countryside of central Portugal. 1. Please tell us about yourselves. Well firstly what a lovely surprise to be asked to do this, we are touched and honoured – thank you – you will certainly get to see some of the diversity within your crowd 🙂 Well here goes, our story……I think it could be long, so I’ll leave our previous professional background to our own website if anyone wants to know it. But UsBeingUs started really with us finding us – Johnny & I had both previously been married and when we met we were literally start again teenagers in our mid thirties – we were living in England at the time and had very normal busy lives, however we were on an uphill climb as we were start again financially too – we were often ‘stressed out’ and to be honest not necessarily the nicest of people, we had become snappy, irritable, with little time to relax and enjoy what’s real – thankfully we recognised who we were becoming and felt it was time to try things a different way to see if we could get a bit more balance in our lives – I have traveled quite a bit previously and whilst I love my homeland, I also love the warmth and slower, more relaxed lifestyle that some other countries manage to lead – to be honest we didn’t really know what we were looking for we just knew that we wanted to experience something different, try life a different way – so we took the plunge to experience a more rural lifestyle and moved to Brittany in France in 2003. We were lucky enough to find a beautiful former farm, which we renovated together. A busy time for us as we had a big mortgage and bills to pay – but being in the countryside with space around us did give us the opportunity to experience a different way of life – we chose not have a television, which was one of the best decisions we ever made, everyone always asks us what you do??? Well we got in touch with our surroundings to begin with and we talked, we read, we surfed the net & we opened our minds to new ideas – we began finding out who we really were and discovering what felt right for us – we became vegans, our furry friends started to find us. We also took the time to teach ourselves new skills, the main ones for..

12 Questions: Meet Dragan Lonar (Belgrade, Serbia)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:09:59 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Dragan Lon?ar (crowdSPRING username: draganfly) today. Dragan lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Hi everybody! I am Dragan. I finished graphic design at Belgrade University some fourteen years ago and ever since this is mostly what I’ve been doing, getting to the level of jobs like Art and Creative Director. Apart form my inherited immediate family, I have another family, consisting of my fellow human rights defenders, and the youngsters that need some support in building self-esteem and major encouragement, since it is very difficult to be gay in Serbia. I also have enemies, but I assure you that I never did anything to turn them against me, except for my liberal sense of humour and their unfounded envy. I lived almost a year in Helsinki, Finland, and over six years in London, UK, where I had various experiences in fast paced market, even to the point of being a Creative Partner in my own company that was buried after several unpaid pitches, just after a half million pounds budget branding and launch campaign. Somebody would say that I was never bored in my life as sometimes I cannot recall all the details. Also, because my design interests and experiences are so diverse. I practice Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism as the tool of global peace movement through the SGI organisation, changing my karma and doing something what is called ‘the human revolution’. I am one of the leaders in SGI Serbia. I love cooking the mix of Mediterranean, Scandinavian, Japanese and Thai food, and love swimming and jogging. All of that, of course, when I can grab some time from super needy clients and horrible socio-political situation in Serbia. Currently I count 38 years of age, but who’s counting… I intend to stay forever young! 2. How did you become interested in design? When I was a child, my parents were not really poor but we lived very modestly. I was never bribed with toys, or I always wanted the most expensive ones which they couldn’t afford. I was always inclined toward quality rather than quantity. Since my sister is much older than me, I could be considered as a single child who was often alone. So I spent time making castles of playing cards, or I would recycle any packaging that would come into my hands, and make furniture, cars, or anything that I could resemble or that took my fancy at given moment. Later, I don’t see if I really had a conscious choice. It was more an inclination that had to be fulfilled. 3. Which..

12 Questions: Meet Grace Conlon (USA)

Audree Rowe — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 03:39:58 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Grace Wall Conlon (crowdSPRING username: gracewc) today. Grace is from Brooklyn, New York and currently lives and works in Provo, Utah. 1. Please tell us about yourself. Date of Birth: December 7, 1921 (I am in my 90th year and still working as a free-lance writer. I do not ever plan to retire.) Although I’ve lived and worked in many other cities and states, I still consider Brooklyn to be my home town. I’ve lived in Wantagh, L.I; Boynton Beach, FL; Greenwich, CT; the Hamptons, L.I. N.Y.; Westport, CT; the Upper East Side of Manhattan, N.Y.; Bountiful, UT; Salt Lake City, UT; Orem, UT; Spanish Fork, UT; Provo, UT (where I currently reside). I’ve written for newspapers and magazines in many of these places, e.g. as a columnist for Advertising Age in NYC; technical writer for Marketing Communications magazine, NYC; publisher/writer, illustrator for The Sandpiper magazine, Boca Raton; reporter for Greenwich Time/The Advocate, Stamford, CT; reporter/columnist for Utah County Journal, Springville, UT; reporter/columnist for Orem Daily News, Orem, UT; reporter/columnist for The Spanish Fork Press, Spanish Fork, UT; columnist for the Daily Herald, Provo, UT; contributor to Utah Business magazine; contributor to Connect magazine, UT. 2. How did you become interested in writing? I’ve been writing all my life – prose, poetry, technical studies, short stories, novels, news stories, investigative journalism – just about any form of writing you might imagine. I wrote my first poem at seven years of age and I still write both serious poetry and jingles. I’ve written three novels, one of which I self-published. I am considering doing the same for the second one. I’ve also written a screen play for an animated feature but other than submitting it to the Academy ofMotion Picture Arts several years ago during a contest, I’ve done nothing more with it. It made it to the final leg of the contest, though. The screen play was expanded from an original short story I wrote for a magazine I was publishing in Florida. I really write because I need this outlet, I guess. The business end of promoting my work leaves me absolutely cold. My published novel is “Satan’s Caravan, A Victory Over the Adversary.” I wrote it in 1978 but didn’t self-publish until 1995. This novel has a very interesting story attached to it and, if you would like, I’ll tell the background in a separate story. Some very unusual aspects prompted me to self publish. 3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing? My interest in writing continued through my school years, both in grade school and high school...

12 Questions: Meet MJ (USA)

Audree Rowe — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 19:00:11 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature MJ (crowdSPRING username: UpQuark) today. MJ lives and works in the desert southwest of the US. 1. Please tell us about yourself. My name is MJ (I’m a female “Junior”). Contrary to popular belief, I was not spawned, but rather hatched in the northeast region of the US. I live in the desert southwest US, and am the youngest of four girls who, oddly and inexplicably, were not hatched. The explanation is classified, even to me. Okay, so random tidbit (or is it random? We’ll see…): I’m ambidextrous. Not in a perfect-handwriting-with-either-hand kind of way, because my handwriting isn’t… oh wait! My handwriting is equally bad with either hand, so there ya have it. Clarification issue solved. I actually do believe that my ambidexterity translates into everything I do, in that my logical and creative sides tend to balance each other out, or slap each other around, depending on what’s needed. I’m often frenetically creative and possess hyperfocus superpowers (unless I see something shiny, and not in a girly way; I mean like futuristic spacecraft shiny. Or escaped mercury). My sister and I can riff on creative ideas faster than a… something really fast, or get extremely excited about something really geeky. If I get too hyped, there’s cheap entertainment to be had. Think superball let loose on a vibrating surface. So, linear background. Inside voice: I wanted to be a superhero first, then a wizard, then a land conservationist, astronaut or other off-the-ground profession, vet, psychotherapist, civil rights lawyer, music therapist, community service professional… ew. See how these just went downhill into reality? Outside voice (a.k.a. reality): I did actually go to agricultural school to study land conservation. Then I studied ethnomusicology on the west coast, moved to Boston and attended New England Conservatory of Music, decided I loved music too much to get into the business of it and went to UMass Boston majoring in human service management. Other education includes shiatsu, eastern medicine, and auricular acupuncture, and that all got woven into my human service career. No matter what the combination is at the time, I mix things I love. My days are filled with design, editing/copywriting, and working as an Apple specialist. And, in this economy, I wake up every day extremely grateful that I’m lucky enough to be working. 2. How did you become interested in design? That is really hard to pin down, since design is an integral part of daily life. I guess I got interested in applying design techniques when I started receiving requests, and it just kind of went from there. I derive tremendous..

12 Questions: Meet Keith Woodruff (USA)

Audree Rowe — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 13:52:53 +0000

In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice. We’re very proud to feature Keith Woodruff (crowdSPRING username: Dayshift) today. Keith lives and works in Akron, Ohio. 1. Please tell us about yourself. I am an ex ad agency writer and am freelancing now as gRasShoPpEr Communication. (The big and small font is an e.e. cummings thing.) My hobbies are, in this order I suppose, reading and writing, fishing, horror movies, craft beer (all hail Lagunitas) and jogging to run off the beer – and to smooth out the edges. I have two Border Terriers, Otty and Indy, and am haunted by the ghosts of my cats Katie and Paisley. My first love was the ocean, the Pacific, even though during my childhood there the Zodiac Killer was hiding down every path. One of my favorite foods is Blind Robins. I makes em and eats em, much to the disgust of everyone around. (If you have to ask you’ll be sorry.) 2. How did you become interested in writing? I would have to say reading made me interested in writing. (Have always been an avid reader.) I read Of Mice and Men in high school and was devastated, in a good way if that makes any sense. I thought, if I could ever write a story this gorgeous that would be quite an accomplishment. Then there was the whole Stephen King thing. 3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing? … Third base. I think the word play of classic comedy had a big influence on my advertising writing. I remember loving the word gags of Abbott and Costello as a kid (and still do.) as well as Laurel and Hardy and imitated their style of word play whenever I could. Later Steve Martin, George Carlin, Steven Wright, more wordsmiths. I think that that love of word play and sense of humor about language helped me with some of my best headlines and also makes it hard to get a straight answer out of me—or so I am constantly told. 4. You are a fan of comedians – do you have a favorite comedy album? Yikes. The last time I bought a comedy record (and it was a record) I think it was Occupation Fool by George Carlin. Probably would pick that as my favorite “album” though I don’t buy comedy anymore. 5. What types of writing interest you the most? Right now, I am lucky enough to be writing quite a few speeches and I really enjoy that. That’s the for pay stuff. For fun, like to read poetry, history, ghost/horror stories. Shameless plug: if you have never read The Willows by Algernon..