I am creative, minimal, bold, and curious. I love to play with shapes and colors, and that has evolved into a love for design and illustration. My passion lies not in making pretty things but in communicating a message. Everyone has a dream inside of them—a vision for the world they want to live in. I am a senior Digital Design student at Liberty University. With 4+ years of experience with Adobe Creative Cloud and other popular software, as well as training with traditional media, I’ve developed my intuition and skills to best serve you as you seek someone to help you communicate your vision.
My creative process has 4 phases to it: learn, dream, create, and inspire.
- Learn: before diving into any project, I do as much research as I can through creative briefs, interviews, and personal study. Understanding the goals is just as important as anything else, and my research informs my decisions throughout the rest of the creative process.
- Dream: I give myself space to let possible solutions come together in my mind. This may look like going for a walk, creating a mood board, reading my research notes over lunch, brainstorming, etc. As ideas come to me, I make a note or a quick sketch in a small notebook I keep with me during this phase.
- Create: This is the fun part. I take some of the best solutions from the dream phase, and I begin turning them into functional designs. Each step in the create phase brings an idea closer to reality. This may take some time as I review each progression in the design either with myself or with a client. At the end of this phase, I have created final deliverables that communicate the vision set during the research phase, expounded on ideas from the dream phase, and brought them to life in the create phase.
- Inspire: Lastly, after every project, I walk away with new insight. Perhaps I hit a snag in the process that I learned how to approach. Maybe I found a faster way to work. Sometimes I walk away with the feeling that I could have done better with the knowledge I have now, something we all feel when we look on the past. But each project brings new inspiration for the next one. I am thankful for the inspiration I gain from my creative process.
My personal style is constantly developing and evolving with me. I have learned some things about myself that I feel bleed into my work. I am passionate about authenticity and bravery. These two attributes flow into my work in bold, unapologetic marks. I am curious, and I never want to stop learning. This presents itself in organic shapes and weaving layers. I value relationships and experiences over material things. Less sometimes says more. This minimalism is evident when I create silhouetted designs and more stylized illustrations.
Elizabeth Stambaugh Creative Design 