2016 keeps moving along, and signs of the fall season are everywhere you look, from autumn leaves and pumpkin everything to Halloween costumes and apple picking.
Each month, one of our talented designers creates a new Facebook cover image and answers a few questions for our blog. Our latest Designer Series subject is Element’s Director of Publications, Ann Behling.
Ann has worked at Element longer than the vast majority of us. In fact, she started here in 2003, just a few months before the ad agency switched from River North Communications to Element Creative.
(Get more fun facts about Element here on our blog)
Ann is a big fan of this time of year, so she seized the opportunity to design a seasonally themed Facebook cover image!
Ann’s Facebook Cover Image Design
Q: Tell us how you came up with the idea for this design and what technique you used to create it.
Ann Behling: I love everything Halloween and fall. Witches, scarecrows, costumes, caramel apples, spiced cider, the changing colors of the leaves … so I was excited when I found out I struck the month of October.
I started my design with sketching a font treatment for Element, which led into my idea of making it into the vine of the pumpkin. I used a thin black marker for my technique. Then, I filled in the art with color using some crafty Photoshop paintbrush techniques.
Q: What’s your favorite way to keep the creative juices flowing and come up with new ideas?
AB: I’m going to go with retail therapy. Packaging that catches my eye gets my wheels turning, and seeing a well-branded package makes me want to buy the product, even if I don’t need it. (I’m such a sucker for it!)
Also, I can barely walk into a craft store without my mind going crazy with ideas and wanting to make something with my hands, whether it be sewing interesting patterns of fabric, making a new wreath for my front door, or redecorating something.
Q: What’s one of the scariest parts of your job at Element?
AB: Cleaning the refrigerator on Kitchen Duty Week.
Q: Finally, if you had to pick just one … Pumpkin Beer or Pumpkin Spice Latte and why?
AB: Tough decision, but i’m going to go with Pumpkin Beer. What’s better than sitting around a fire on a cool crisp fall evening with a fall flavored beer!
(Did I mention I love fall?)
Watch a Halloween Classic
If Ann’s awesome October artwork doesn’t have you in the mood for Halloween, maybe this video will do the trick.
Behold … the dance scene from Thriller!
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Learn more about the people who work at Element on our Culture page.
