Hello fellow lovers of the arts, friends, clients, and anyone brave enough to follow along in my adventures. Welcome to my new blog.
Through these stories I'll be documenting my process as a Designer and Digital Marketer, sharing tips and tricks of the trade, and also sharing authentic stories of my own journey and how it connects to my creativity.
So, sit back, relax and enjoy the content to come.
You might be wondering why I've chosen the name and tagline for my blog, "There Is A Light: Creating With Empathy". What does that mean and how does it relate to me and to you? Well, first off, the real truth about what a creative brings to the table is that it is our ability as creators to be visual story-tellers. Whether its through design, content creation, or Social Media Management, my job has always been to tell and sell a story. And let me tell you.. You can't even begin to do that well if you don't have a high level of empathy.
How does empathy affect my work?
Well, being highly sensitive and empathetic means that I'm able to tap into my clients' personal aesthetic and brand whether they've identified those things yet those things or not. When I was in school learning how to become a User-centered designer (User-Interface Design, to be exact), we had to create imagined stories and User profiles for people that were an amalgamation of our target audience. So..in laymans terms..this meant that we made up pretend people just to fully imagine and solve their problems and pain points.
Every business, band, and brand has pain points. These are areas in your work where there is room to grow or there is a problem that needs to be solved. By imagining just who someone in your audience might be, that allows me to create designs and digital solutions that fix any problem that might arise for them (and you), before it even becomes a problem. If you have an existing brand this means that I can easily pinpoint your existing problem areas and imagine exactly what roadblocks and frustrations your target audience might experience.
All of my work is created and implemented with your target audience in mind. And any imagined problems or pain points they might have greatly influences how I build your story and brand.
So, you see, its impossible to be good at what you do as a creator without having a deep sense of empathy and the ability to tell compelling stories even through something as simple as a graphic.
Why this name for my blog?
Well, you might have noticed through my work and my page that I'm quite the U2 fan. I've been lucky enough to work at many U2 shows, be behind the scenes, and even follow them around to film a documentary about the band and their fans. "There is a light.." is a reference to one of their songs about both being the light and holding onto it for dear life.
13 ( There Is A Light)
"If there is a light you can’t always see
If there is a world we can’t always be
If there is a dark that we shouldn’t doubt
And there is a light, don’t let it go out"
Through this blog I'll be sharing not only a glimpse into my work and tips and tricks, I will also be sharing my personal "pain points" and how they affect my creative process. You can expect true transparency and authenticity from me. And that might not always be pretty. But as someone who is extremely outspoken about mental health issues, I feel that its my duty to heal out loud as well as to dream out loud. I'm going to let my light shine for my readers and clients while I continue to cling to it when I need it most. Because with without darkness there can be no light. And you might say the same about the creative process. Without some level of high empathy, a bit of struggle, and vulnerability you simply can't tap into the creative spirit. And so I will continue trying to lasso the light for myself and others.
There Is A Light. Don't let it go out.
-Gina Cloe
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