For the majority of my career (four years and 2 months), I worked for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis. I arrived at Habitat with less than two years of work experience under my belt, but I immediately had an impact on the agency -- not because I was so great at my job, but because every voice mattered. In that work environment, my confidence grew, and I was encouraged to develop and implement branding and collateral materials, social media marketing, email marketing, website content, logo design, signage design, t-shirt design...the list goes on and on. Photographer? Check. Event designer and event planner? Check. I worked closely with the executive director, staff directors and dedicated volunteers on many of the projects, and to this day I consider them mentors and close friends. To call my Habitat experience life-changing is not an exaggeration. It was my life (and in many ways Jonathan's life as well) for so long, and it taught me so much. When I accepted a new job in April 2012, I was excited to start a new chapter in my career, but in my heart I felt as though I was leaving my home and family. As it turns out, I was.
Life is full of twists and turns, but I've learned that the people who truly matter stay in our lives regardless of the paths we take. In August, my former Habitat supervisor commissioned Gerald and Joan to create Habitat's 30th Anniversary Photo Book. To say I was thrilled to take on this project is the understatement of the year. Few projects fit Gerald and Joan better than creating a book collection of photos, and this project allowed me to do that while working with my Habitat family. Can you say dream collaboration?
For the project, we started by sorting through thousands of images from Habitat's physical and digital photo archives. After we had selected the photos that best told the Habitat story, we scanned and edited all of the final images and organized them by decade. Next we designed a custom layout that allowed us to have complete control over image, type and graphic placement, as well as the number of images on each spread. The custom layout also meant we could create special timeline pages and several pages with inspirational pull-out quotes. Once the pages were approved, we ordered a proof so that everyone could see and feel the finished project before we placed a bulk order. The books debuted at Habitat 30th Anniversary Gala last night, and they will be on sale via the Habitat website for the next few weeks.
It fills my heart with pride that I was able to help the Habitat team create something that will be a permanent part of the organization's history. I feel inspired and encouraged, and I will definitely be adding photo books to Gerald and Joan's current offerings!
Thank you, Habitat...for everything. You are my extended family and dearest friends, and I look forward to working with you again soon!
I also want to give a shout-out to Artifact Uprising, the Colorado-based company we used to print the photo books. In addition to using 100 percent recycled paper, their quality was impeccable and their customer service was amazing. I will be using them again soon. Love them!
P.S. Custom photo books and photo book gift certificates make great Christmas gifts. Contact us below for details!
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