Calendar of The Blog
☑️ Making your business manageable
Free + Easy
💔 Those two things don’t always show up on your dates … but in this Notion template, they do! ❤️
Ever been caught in a hall convo with the boss? Had an idea you wanted to get down quickly and send out to the team? Or organize concepts on the fly to send an appropriate msg to management? My ‘pocket notes’ in Notion allow me to have a solution in hand.
Free +
Easy
💔 Those two things don’t always show up on your dates …
… but in this Notion template, they do! ❤️
Ever been caught in a hall convo with the boss? Had an idea you wanted to get down quickly and send out to the team? Or organize concepts on the fly to send an appropriate msg to management? My ‘pocket notes’ in Notion allow me to have a solution in hand — and you can have the same solutions for FREE.
Acronym
PANTS = Projects And Notes Totally Scattered
Don’t get caught with your PANTS down 😳
With the Event & Creative Project Management Dashboard, every task, vendor, and deadline automatically shows up on your project timeline. No ghosting, no missed connections — just smooth scheduling. And of course, you can customize to your heart’s content!
Summary
Event vendor management and creative project dashboard for crystal clear cost control. 💎 Welcome to your all-in-one dashboard for managing creative projects, events, deliverables, and budgets.
This dashboard is intentionally flexible, helping you manage everything from branded print materials to digital productions and onsite logistics. Whether you're planning a campaign or a company-wide event, this tool keeps everything on track — and on budget.
Features + benefits
By combining tools, you can move away from scattered docs and finally manage your events in one streamlined workspace.
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Track contacts, contracts, and status deadlines in one view.
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View estimates vs. actual spend at a glance, highlighting overage costs for easy reporting and management.
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Organize creative requests such as event design, video production, and track shipping deliverables.
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Never lose track of event milestones. The tracker automatically highlights if a deadline has been missed or a cost has gone over the original estimate.
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Your team can see which vendor is responsible for a task and explore any details related to the vendor.
Get the Event & creative project management dashboard now!
➡️ To get access to the template:
Click on the image or link above to go to the template page.
Click the ‘Get template’ button highlighted at the top of the page.
☑️ You should now have a duplicate template added to your Notion workspace that you can customize for your event needs — add vendors, assign tasks, and start planning with confidence!
Don’t have Notion?
Don’t worry! It’s free to get the Notion app. Click the ‘Get Notion’ button at the top of the template page to create your workspace and begin effectively organizing your tasks and your team today!
📕 Read how other companies are integrating Notion as an everyday solution, giving people the power they need to succeed.
✔️ If you’d like to explore additional tools or templates, check out my Linktree here.
🪽Stop winging it: what a real designer does for your brand
Your brand doesn’t start with your product. It starts when someone sees your logo, your packaging, your site header, your social post — before they know what you do, they already have a sense of who you are. If your visuals feel thrown together, they will assume the same about your business. But if your brand looks confident, they stay curious. They read more. They remember you. That’s what a professional designer helps you build — a visual language that communicates trust before you’ve said a word.
Seriously!
Your brand doesn’t start with your product. It starts when someone sees your logo, your packaging, your site header, your social post — before they know what you do, they already have a sense of who you are.
If your visuals feel thrown together, your customers and clients will assume the same about your business. But if your brand looks confident, people will stay curious. They read more. They remember you. That’s what a professional designer helps you build — a visual language that communicates trust before you’ve said a word.
Photo via Adobe Stock
Cohesion that doesn’t break down
Branding fails fast when it’s inconsistent. A different font here, a slightly off-color there, a stretched logo on your invoice — it chips away at trust. A professional designer puts an end to that by locking in core assets and making sure everything feels like it came from the same brain. The result is a kind of invisible glue that keeps all your materials aligned — web, print, social, email, and beyond. That tight coherence helps your business look prepared, intentional, and reliable. When you increase credibility and professionalism through visual unity, it shows up in how people respond.
First impressions that stick
If someone lands on your site or walks past your booth and sees a half-baked logo or poorly composed banner, the damage is instant. Whether fair or not, people equate design quality with business quality. A clean, striking identity helps you get taken seriously from the start. You’re not playing catch-up after a bad first look. You’re already ahead. How branding shapes customer perception often determines whether that second look happens at all.
Visuals that speak for you
Design isn’t decoration. It’s communication. Colors, layout, and typography are how you show your personality and values without needing a paragraph to explain them. A good designer builds in that clarity from the start, so your brand speaks for itself across every touchpoint. That kind of visual consistency builds recognition fast and keeps your message from getting muddied. The best brands establish a professional brand image that tells the truth at a glance — no pitch needed.
Time, efficiency, and knowing when to upgrade
Every DIY detour — every Canva panic late at night, every logo tweak that throws off the layout — costs more than you think. Designers give you time back, not just by building better assets but by preventing all the bad ones. The tools work better. The output stays sharp. You avoid the mess of mismatched colors, stretched files, and assets that don’t scale. That kind of design system can save you valuable time and money, especially once you're growing. If you're launching a new offer, expanding your market, or feeling like your current visuals can't keep up — that's your signal. It's time.
DIY-friendly tools for day-to-day visuals
Once a designer hands off your brand system — logo files, color codes, templates, type hierarchy — you can do a lot on your own without compromising quality. The trick is using tools that let you apply their work, not dilute it.
If you ever need to crop a product shot or logo out of a busy photo, the ability to isolate your logo or product photos helps you stay on-brand without going back to your designer.
Want to turn a long article or internal report into something visual? You can generate clean infographic layouts in just a few clicks.
Need to build a pitch deck or training material without messing up the format? Slide formatting options let you apply your brand visuals smoothly.
And for everyday promos or event posts, it’s easy to stay visually aligned without relying on templates that don't match your look.
Get a signature look that stands out
If you're ready to stop duct-taping your brand visuals and start looking like the business you’re becoming, consider working with someone who does this daily. A signature look that stands out isn’t about looking fancy — it’s about looking consistent, clear, and credible. When you’ve got the right designer, they don’t just hand you pretty graphics. They build a system around your brand. One that saves you time, boosts customer confidence, and holds up everywhere you show up. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s cohesion. And cohesion makes you unforgettable.
Hiring a graphic designer isn’t a luxury. It’s a multiplier. It takes everything you’re already doing — selling, marketing, building relationships — and puts it in the best possible light. When you look professional, you’re treated like a professional. You stop having to over-explain what makes you legit. You’ve already proven you’re worth it — visually. That’s power. And in business, power gives you options. More leads. Better referrals. Higher pricing. All because you decided to stop winging your visuals and start owning them.
Want brand visuals that people instantly trust? Work with Allison Clark to build design systems that make your business unforgettable.
This post is sponsored by Adobe.
🥚From static to story🐥
Using two simple graphics (a toolkit of design icons and a wordmark for "DeskUnMess"), I built a looped animation using After Effects. This execution allowed me to explore foundational concepts within my work. I also explore digital “Easter Eggs” from Coursera that prove, if you know your audience you can implant marketing techniques from the back-end to the front-end of your technology.
Being a continuous learner, I have decided to dust off my technical skills and continue learning valuable tips and tricks that bring a new level of professional execution to my product delivery.
The Animation Process
I animated this conceptual design piece using Adobe After Effects as part of School of Motion’s Animation Bootcamp. It transforms two static graphics into a looping animation that explores additional illustrative concepts throughout the timeline. Brushing up on my skills through School of Motion - intense!
The concept: Bringing order to a chaotic desk using motion in Adobe After Effects.
Using two simple graphics (a toolkit of design icons and a wordmark for "DeskUnMess"), I built a looped animation using After Effects. This execution allowed me to explore the following foundational concepts within my work:
Improving motion hierarchy and concept execution.
Vector layer manipulation and shape creation tools.
Testing various easing and timing principles using the Graph Editor.
Final animation
Original still graphics used to animate
Still image 1 — A toolkit of design icons.
Still image 2 — A wordmark for "DeskUnMess".
Fun fact: Adobe After Effects' code name for the first version was originally "Egg" — Happy Easter! 🥚 ... I'm rolling with the egg theme ...
Peeping
for qualified Easter Eggs
What easter eggs bring back nostalgia? Digital or IRL?
What easter eggs bring back nostalgia? Digital or IRL?
🐣
Does this shape remind you of
Brach's Wrapped Marshmallow Easter Eggs?
🥚🐣🐥
Does this shape remind you of Brach's Wrapped Marshmallow Easter Eggs? 🥚🐣🐥
🥚
🥚
Have an Easter story? Share in the comments.
🐥
Dream it
🥚 Have an Easter story? Share in the comments. 🐥 Dream it
Where does branding stop and technology begin?
While poking around the developer console on Coursera, I stumbled across this gem: “Passionate about education? Come work at Coursera!”. It’s a subtle recruitment message—embedded where only the technically curious will see it, on the back-end of a technology website. It reminded me that small details can carry big impact when it comes to branding and voice. It also sparked a thought: how might I embed moments of meaning into my own work? Have you ever stumbled across an "Easter Egg" like the image below while working online? Let’s celebrate the hunt for curiosity!
✖️ Read about digital “Easter Eggs” and their history here 🧠
You can check out my LinkedIn post as well to find out more about how I found this surprise. I encourage you to be curious and explore today! You never know what you might find that will expand your ideas for tomorrow. 🥚
I have more to say, but I'll see you on the other side of the post—be curious!
Continuous learning | Enrolled in JavaScript Programming, part of the Meta Front-End Developer Certificate | School of Motion Courses including Kickstart and Animation Bootcamp
