Maura McMahon

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The Women’s Business Initiative

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I’m super excited to be working with a brilliant group of professional business women (and a few select men) on a new business development project in Tacoma, WA. Currently under development in a local business incubator called RAIN, we’re pulling in the expertise of all who are interested. We’re collaborating with everyone from city & county people to politicians to independent business owners to retired professionals. The vast knowledge base is humbling.

Our goal is to provide women who have entrepreneurial inclinations – the resources, education and business support they need in developing their own businesses. It’s time to start to even out the scales a little bit…

Studies show that women lag behind men in creating entrepreneurial ventures and receiving funding. Only 11% of US firms with venture-capital backing have been founded or led by women, and women-led ventures have received only 7% of all venture funds.”

From Forbes, What’s Gender Bias Got To Do With It? Almost Everything For Women Seeking Venture Funding (Read the full article here)

After establishing the mission statement, the next step was developing a new logo design (one of my favorite things to do!).

The graphical concept is breaking down growth to a base level – everything is created from cells/dna/genes.

The graphic is the shape of a cell, with another shape breaking through that, and could be a stylized strand of dna or a “W” (for Women). The linear structure of the cell is the base level structure from which we create. The breakthrough shape is the organic flow of creation, women, growth – we all know there’s nothing linear about that.

To join our newly formed public group on FaceBook, click here.

RedBubble Preview

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Waaaaaay back when I was deciding what do with my life, I had a really hard time choosing between graphic design and photography. I ended up choosing graphic design and went to art school for it, but I’ve always had a soft spot for photography. Over the last few years as my kids have grown into young adults, I’ve had a lot more time to explore different creative pursuits. So, of course, I’ve been revisiting my love of photography.

Now there are all these great interactive websites that are making access to art so easy. After a little bit of research I found out that RedBubble is one of the top websites for selling art online. They offer a variety of products for you to apply the art to, then do all the production, payment processing and shipping so I can just focus on creating. I’m experimenting over there with some of the photos I’ve taken over the past few years, along with lots of new images.

If you’d like to check it out, just click the image above, or this link: RedBubble

 

Moving From ZenDezignz to “MauraMcMahon.com”

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From Business Brand to Personal Brand

In the world of branding and business development, moving from one business name to another can be both risky and challenging – you don’t want to lose your tribe. And when you’re a solo pro, there’s an eternal question about using your own name to develop a “Personal Brand” OR using a business name to develop a “Business Brand.”

I’ve spent the last 10 years developing ZenDezignz into an international business brand. And then it lost it’s sparkle. I outgrew it. It fell out of alignment. In the interest of business evolution I’m moving it all over to my personal brand “MauraMcMahon.com.” Because we all know – if you don’t evolve you wither.

This move is giving me more freedom. Freedom to pursue my passion and clearly focus on creating; along with the freedom to keep the flames of creativity burning.

I hope my tribe from ZenDezignz will evolve along with me and stay connected.

Here are my new social media channels to make it easy:

FaceBook •  Twitter •  Pinterest • LinkedIn • Instagram

As my personal brand launches, I’m looking for agencies and individuals to contract with. Agencies that have established relationships and need efficient & inspired freelance creatives to make their clients happy. That’s where I fit in. I’ll also continue working with business owners who are savvy enough to know they need professional creative help to build strong & memorable businesses.

If you’re in the market for unique & original illustrated logo designs, print media designs that will convey the key points of your business brand, packaging and/or label designs that will help sell more of your products, need a WordPress website for your service-based business, or digital graphics for your online presence – we’ll have a lot to talk about. I hope you reach out to chat!

Top 5 Questions to Ask a Graphic Designer

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The design process is a focused collaboration between client and designer, producing materials that further the vision of the client. At it’s worst, it’s an expensive frustration producing ineffective materials that are a waste of everyone’s time & money. So you don’t fall down the rabbit hole of countless revisions and unexpected, increasing costs consider approaching your next design project with these specific questions for your designer:

  1. Can you give me a written estimate?

Once you have communicated to your designer about the specifics of your project you must get a written estimate before you begin. This keeps both parties clear on expectations and costs – which are the root of all evil when not communicated clearly.

  1. When can I expect to see something?

After you have agreed on what needs to be done and how much it costs, make sure you let the designer know what your time frame is. If you don’t have one, the designer may take heart and not produce anything for quite some time. Clear deadlines keep everyone on track. The creative mind is never bored and your designer may just wander off if you’re not helping to keep them focused.

  1. How do you like to receive feedback?

Designers NEED feedback from the client to produce materials the client will be happy with. Being clear on how that happens is crucial to a successful project. Establishing your method of communication – whether phone, email, text or recorded video chat – will help facilitate positive results and keep the project moving forward.

  1. Is it ok if I give you some of my ideas?

There is a difference between wanting to see your ideas and telling your designer how to design. Designers LOVE to show people their ideas – it’s what we do. A good designer will want to help you out, so they will be happy to show you some of your ideas along with some of their ideas. That way the best possible outcome is most likely to develop. In many cases the designer will come up with something you’ve never thought of and you’ll see that thing you thought sounded really cool looks terrible.

  1. Is it ok if I just let you be creative?

Remember that you’ve hired a designer to bring her skills of creativity to the table. Good designers are well trained and have spent years honing their craft. The worst possible thing to do to a designer is to tell them how to design. If you can do it yourself, then you should. Save everyone from expensive therapy and don’t hire a creative person to be creative if you’re not willing to give them the freedom to create.

As a client, your responsibility is to communicate clearly, set expectations, be open to possibilities and expect amazing results!

 

Fire Brew Co. Logo Design

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New logo design for a local startup microbrew business!

Working with groups of people and trying to get everyone on the same page with design can be really tricky. I approach design from a creative & artistic perspective – which means everything is open to interpretation. Everyone will have a different viewpoint, and the same design can illicit completely different reactions – which it did in this case.

The initial design was exactly what the client wanted. We discussed it at length and he provided sample photos of badge images we used as inspiration. The first round of logo designs turned out pretty great:

Except the client was the point person for the GROUP. And the group had other ideas. They insisted on a different design direction. So we switched design directions, I integrated feedback from the group and presented 3 different design variations:

Many times people just need to ‘see it’. The clients really wanted the flaming sun image with the horizontal text in the middle, so I provided it (Even though I didn’t think it was the best design direction). But I also provided a sleeker, more contemporary & hand crafted variation that I thought would work well for their vision. Once they were able to see the possibilities, they were on board with the design.

I’m really excited for them to launch their new business in hand crafted microbrews, sounds like they have a fabulous IPA, which is my favorite!

If you or someone you know & like is interested in collaborating on a logo design for your business, I hope you’ll reach out!