me.

Once, when I was fake sick home from school in eighth grade, I spent the day using sharpies and covering every single surface of my room with coordinated cartoon art.

My parents did not see my masterpiece for what it was.

But that didn’t stop me!

See what just happened there? When you read that?

I created an immediate emotional connection with you, dear reader, with honesty in my art and prose. In under ten seconds, you wanted to read more. You visualized sharpie drawn cartoons. Maybe felt nostalgic for your own fake home sick days.

We bonded.

And that is exactly what good design does… it creates connection.

I didn’t always know this, and I have had plenty of design flops (wanna see? Click here. It’s ok if you laugh, it was 1998, and we all gotta start somewhere!).

(And….  I did it again. We connected through humble self depreciation. Seriously if I were a package, you just put me in your shopping cart).

Now that we are shopping buddies, there is something you need to know about me.

I like to make things all the damn time, and play make believe and also sometimes I put on makeup.

For example, I make people, products, messes, music, portraits and bad jokes that you laugh at anyway.

Things like that.

I started out professionally making with makeup brushes, actually. And all things bath, body and beauty. The original company is now owned by someone else, but the vibe is the same.

Lately I’ve been working on making myself an ex wife. It’s a process . But before that, I had a vacuum company with my ex that grew from $0 in sales (and in marketing budget) to key product placement in every major retailer with nationwide press in under 18 months, until the manufacturer couldn’t perform and just like my marriage, the company went bust.

Which really sucked (get it? Because was a vacuum company?) as the design and brand story was so on pointe we won a Global Innovation Award from the prestigious International Housewares Association.

(sometimes I secretly call myself the brand psychic).

But that is not all! The ex and I, along with his brothers, also operated a lawn and garden company together for over 25 years. I was the design bitch and made sure every interaction with our products, both tangible and intangible, invoked our values and corporate mission. My insistence on adherence to brand identity would sometimes piss sales off because it meant they had to redo a presentation once (or twice, or three….) but whatever because cohesion in design is connection, and it’s why brands I created, like the scoot-n-steer and biofit, were so successful.

I also had the pleasure of designing all of our trendy planters, some by hand sketch.

You can check out a great example of how trend forecasting dramatically shapes new brands or products by taking a gander at the original EyeMax Pitch Deck here.

So let me tell you about EyeMax! Lenticular lens technology has fascinated me my entire artistic career. Lenticular lenses create optical illusions which appear to move or dance as the viewer changes perspective- a kind of living wall art. In 2016 I partnered with a lenticular manufacturer, Warner Brothers, artists and others to launch a versitle, approachable fun brand named EyeMax.

But want to know the coolest most specialist thing I’ve done? Celebrated life and love in Chicago and beyond for over 15 years as owner of an upscale boutique newborn portraiture studio in Chicago’s North Shore. Click to fall in love for a minute or two with innocent new life.

I began my photography career over 30 years ago while working with Chicago's most talented wedding and celebrity photographers of the time. Since, my work has been featured in local and national publications, as well as showcased on television. My photography has been used for licensed wall art available at many retailers, in commercial projects and is also featured in a collaborative children's book. For excerpts from my “children’s” book, Best Shoes, click HERE (coming soon).

Sure, I could tell you how I’ve won the Nickelodeon Parent’s Choice Award, Red Tricycle Best Chicago Photographer Award and the Best Portrait Studio in Chicago for many years in a row, but that would be bragging… kinda like telling you that I’ve worked with a lot of major retailers (list here), celebrities and politicians and pro athletes and even mobsters, but I can’t do that because of non disclosures and ongoing FBI involvement. But if you are into things like a list of publications that have featured my work (like FREAKING PEOPLE MAGAZINE not even kidding) click here.

Know what I do want to brag about? I have over 150 copyrights at the Library of Congress for my designs, and I think that’s really swell.

Some people are like that’s great and all, Laur, but did you go to school? Sure! I sure did. I went to DePaul University, and Ohio State University and (drumroll please…) Northwestern University. I even taught computer science at College of Lake County for a couple of years. Oh, and I was salutatorian for my high school graduating class back when I had big bad hair and terrible taste in clothes. And and and also I was certified in Hazardous Materials Emergency Response, and participated in response drills with FEMA. Betcha can’t tell which one is me!

I think all this happened because my mother gave me a head start and sent me to Kelly’s Day Camp once (that was, however, BEFORE the aforementioned sharpie incident).

So let’s see.. that about sums me up, unless you want to get all geeky about this and know what software I use (what don’t I use!?) or what my actual business skills are (HERE), other than I’m mildly entertaining. Or if you are just like personal details, you can learn about my Advocacy work fighting for human and civil rights here.

Let’s be more than just shopping buddies. You can reach me here.

Love always and in all ways,

Laurie