little ole' me?
Woo. First blog post. That is a HUGE accomplishment considering I've had internal battles for the last four years wanting to get this started. If you are here, thank you for tagging along.
I'll start this off like every other blog – a little about me. But, beware - I like to talk.
We'll get all the basics out of the way. I am Marissa – I also go by Riss, Maris, and Aunt Rissa. Twenty-six years young. Small-town Ohioan. Creative strategist and designer. Dog mom, fiancée, sister, daughter, aunt, best friend, double Virgo, ENFJ, enneagram 2w3, DiSC - Si, Big5 (empath, optimist, believer, analyst, philomath), lover of personality tests.
Did I mention I love personality tests? I've spent a lot of time dissecting myself and what makes me who I am. What I wake up for in the morning and what helps me sleep at night (aside from my dogs). My core reason for being boils down to one thing...no, it's not Adobe Illustrator even though that is definitely up there. My core reason for being is helping others. I'm the advice friend, the cheerleader, the tutor and mentor, the one you go to when you need to look at something logically or you just need a pair of ears to shit-talk to without judgement. I find value in myself when I am useful to others, which results in my constant drive to do better and be better and continute to learn everyday.
I am a designer and creative strategist. I have worked at multiple marketing/PR agencies and currently work for one of the largest banks in the world. My professional life often seeps into my personal life as I often can't help but work until 3am when I am excited about a concept. Branding is my love language. More than just a nice logo, digging into the core values of your brand and being able to convey those values in multiple forms is my fuel. I'll find that one simple trait that makes you different from your competitors and rocket-shipping it to the moon (is rocket-shipping a word?). I get goosebumps when a beautiful, articulated brand guideline crosses my path. Outside of branding, I love turning boring data into something you actually want to look at and playing around with social media trends.
Out of the office, I am a very dedicated dog mom. My fur babies Remi (F, JRT mix) and Quen (M, Doxie mix), are quite literally the reason I breathe. You can often find us taking a walk, checking out all the local dog parks or wearing matching sweaters. My fiance, Daniel, is also pretty cool. He is currently in culinary school and working for a corporate culinary kitchen. We met at a bar a few years back and I old-school 'slid in the DMs'...aka I actually handed him my number on a napkin. Shoot your shot, ladies. Now, he cooks for me, AND does the dishes and I can't really sell him anymore than that. We love cooking together, making homemade pastas, soups, cheese, and bread. You name it, we've made it. We also love spooky season, spending lots of nights at haunted houses or watching old and new horror films.
Okay, I swear I am almost done. Like I said, I talk a lot.
Lastly, I am a BIG friends and family gal. My family is my whole world. I am the youngest of three, with a big sister and a big brother, who I am very close too. I have two of the greatest nieces in the world and a nephew on they way. My brothers wife is my best friend and her sister is also one of our best friends. I'll have to explain the dynamic another time. My fiance’s family is also a huge part of my life - Dan’s cousins are more like siblings and best friends and allowed me to step into the aunt role to my beautiful nieces. On top of my blood family, I have 5 best friends who I have been friends with since the 1st grade. They are truly family, as well. Out in very small town Ohio, where we grew up, we are a close-knit community. In fact, a lot of my friends grew up and married my brothers best friends. Another dynamic I will explain another time.
Now you must be wondering "Okay, thats all nice but why are you starting a blog?" and I'm glad you asked. I've have a strong passion for creativity and writing. I want to implement that into my every day life. I love what I do and I want to do more of it. Starting with this, I will be sharing BTS design edition, best practices and tips, design resources, maybe a few one-off topics that have nothing to do with design and just really anything that fuels my fire in the moment. I hope you enjoy :)