Miel Creative

01/31/2024

01/29/2024

It’s pretty rare that you’ll hear me take credit for all of the service work that the studio has done, however, I will allow myself to brag for a few sentences.

This past weekend I was presented with the visionary leadership in sustainable business award from the .

Awards are awards but this one meant a lot because it came from my peers and I was in such great company.

Also, it is recognition of the fact that I have had the joy and privilege to fundraise, donate, and just give away AT LEAST 3x more than my accumulated revenue over the last 19 years. All while creating jobs with living wages and real work/life balance.

And it reminded me that the whole reason why I started down this path is because the people most impacted by climate change are not the people in power. I saw that first hand in Galle. In the lower 9th. And on our own coast.

We still have so much work to do but it’s also nice to celebrate for a moment. So yes, I want to thank me, but also all of the collaborators, clients, and co-conspirators along the way. 💛

11/20/2022

I went to the today for the American Indian Heritage Festival and was pleasantly surprised to see the Pauli Murray exhibit was still up. I designed this exhibit over a decade ago (during sleepless nights when the twins were infants) and it has traveled so many places: and now the NC Museum of History. I feel grateful that I’ve been able to play a small part in sharing about the life force that is Pauli Murray. Being a part of that work changed the way I think about the world.

My favorite part of putting up this exhibit was always wandering around and hearing people marvel about Pauli’s life story. It was always incredible to hear how many people from different walks of life were impacted by then. I feel a bit sad that this is likely the last time it will be displayed but those rooms of people will continue on.

If you happened to be in downtown Raleigh, I imagine it will be there until the end of the year. Stop by and check it out.

06/08/2022

Hey. Hello.

I haven’t shared much on here lately. But I just wanted to say hi. And that I think you’re doing great.

Why? Because running a small business is hard right now.

Showing up on a zoom call as a mama. As someone with a uterus. As a q***r human. Puffy eyes. But ready to get to work.

We’ve got a planet to save. And kids to keep safe. And we’re told there aren’t enough houses for everyone.

Today one of my kids said that she is so angry. We lose 150 species a day and people still think it’s okay to use plastic bottles. “We’re just going to be left with plastic.”

And all I could say: “I don’t want that for you either.”

So tonight I went outside in my work clothes and dug in the garden. Watched the sun go down and the bats come out.

I can’t solve all the problems. But I can show up. Listen. Wait. And grow something new.

And I see you doing that too. 💛

05/19/2022

Last year, the Durham Community Safety Department (DCSD) began exploring additional opportunities to send the right response to certain kinds of 911 calls. Starting this summer, DCSD will launch its first pilots that will begin sending teams of new skilled, compassionate first responders into the community.

The department is now working with a local design firm and want your help to create a visual identity for these response teams – Please share your ideas by taking this survey in English (https://forms.gle/wQP9jXSRKRCaubj88) or in Spanish (https://forms.gle/SDUVXaQJ62VQPupq5).

04/22/2022

Earth day is every day. 💛💛💛

01/22/2022

Feeling overwhelmed by creating content for email? Learn how to maximize the efficacy of your email and streamline the work in the process.

I’m so excited to talk about all things e-mail with this upcoming Friday! Check out my stories to sign up!

01/03/2022

Happy New Year! We woke up to a snow globe this morning. Hope you had a restful holiday. ❄️ ❄️❄️

11/01/2021

We love all types of design challenges, but we really shine when we are working on long-form page layouts like cookbooks, technical reports, and facilitation guides.⁠
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In 2019, we collaborated with Croatan Institute to design Soil Wealth: Investing in Regenerative Agriculture across Asset Classes. This project presented several design challenges.⁠
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The first was that we had to get a better understanding of the material. Previous to this project, we did not have a very clear understanding about impact investing. After reading the report, meeting with the client to discuss the goal of the project, and doing some additional research, we had a better grasp on the material.⁠
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The second challenge was that the content was very dense and multi-layered. We want the reader to be able to subtly recognize patterns so we assigned a color to each asset class and developed a simple iconography to represent the different stages of development for each project included in the report.⁠
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The last and most difficult challenge was to create graphics for each asset class that quickly and clearly compared sustainable versus regenerative assets.⁠
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The final result is a comprehensive and easy-to-navigate report.⁠
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