... a few kind words from people I've worked with.

"Sarah's completed many designs for me and my clients, from brochures to catalogs to web sites to thank-you cards to stationery and more. She is a gifted designer with a creative and artistic mind and has the ability to combine a client's vision with her own talents to create a final product that is unique and effective. Her designs capture the intent of the piece with a subtle beauty and lasting quality, often a "hang-it-on-the-wall" effect."

Colleen M. Story
Storyworks Communications

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"Sarah Benson, a former employee, is someone I would love to rehire. She began as one of the junior members of the design team, and almost instantly became one of the senior members because of her skills, dedication, great attitude, and consistant results. She regularly delivered beyond what was expected and did it with such speed and accuracy there was only one place for her to go, and that was up. She was promoted quickly, then was instrumental in helping the rest of team elevate their performance."

-DJ Calderwood, Idaho

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“Though Sarah enjoys experimenting in her artistry, one of her greatest assets is her belief that the company’s message is equally as important as her artistic vision. Sarah has shown herself to be a devoted team player, committed to finishing a product in a way that showcases her skills, as well as satisfies the company’s communication needs.”

–Jenny Miller, Florida

 

About the Writer & Designer

Hi, Sarah Benson here to tell you a little about myself. First and foremost, I'm a SAHM (stay at home mom), mother to three kids who keep me running, and married to the love of my life. In my spare time I run a freelance graphic design business. I've been designing professionally for about 10 years, but it wasn't until two years ago that I started scrapping digitally. I had tried scrapbooking before, but it didn't stick. My sister introduced me to digital scrapbooking and it was like, yeah, I like doing it this way.

For years, several people (especially women) had expressed an interest in graphic design and running a home-based business. When people would find out I could scrap digitally, they would pepper me with questions, like—How do you get started? How do you make your layouts look so good? How do you adjust your images? How do you make your papers and digital products? I remember one meeting I was at (that was completely not scrapbooking related btw) where the subject of digital scrapbooking came up and the lady sitting next to me got so excited she literally trembled in her seat as she asked where she could learn. Of course I had a few ideas :).

I scoured the internet trying to find resources for myself and others. I wanted something that taught good design principles (theory) but also gave a solid how-to with instructions how to make papers and products. As you've probably figured out by now (if you've researched digital scrapbooking online), there is A LOT of information. Some of it's good, but a lot of it's poorly written or missing important steps, or is outdated. After exhaustive searching, I realized there wasn't anything out there quite like what I envisioned, something that not only taught how to create digital scrapbooking supplies, but also how to use them from a design standpoint, all in one convenient place.

I saw a real need and decided perhaps I could help. That's why I created Secrets of the Designers. There are a lot of scrappers out there who want to know how to scrap digitally, but it can be frustrating trying to piece it all together on their own by going from one website or resource to another. I thought why not make it easy to figure out? The idea seemed simple, but in reality this process has been maddening, illuminating, humbling, overwhelming and amazing (sometimes all in the same day), but in the end I believe deeply rewarding. My hope is that through this training, digital scrappers will be able to gain the skills they want, get a solid foundation they can build on, and hopefully share that knowledge with others.

What are my qualifications? I have degrees in graphic design and journalism. After college, I worked at a Fortune 500 as a graphic designer where I got good experience with a variety of design projects, meeting deadlines, working with printing companies and directing photo shoots. After I had my first child, I quit corporate life and started my own freelance company, lining up my first job with the real estate agent who sold us our first house. Since then I've freelanced for over 20 clients, including fashion designer Nicole Miller.

I've created a variety of projects, including brochures, magazines, catalogs, logos, business cards, letterhead (identity systems), newsletters, websites, wedding announcements, CD labels and covers, multimedia presentations, trade booth displays, white papers, bumper stickers, posters, symphony and play programs, business kits, mailers, books, advertisements, packaging and more.

I currently work as a part-time design consultant for a $300 million company and train their creative folks on the Adobe Creative Suite (which includes Photoshop). I also do freelance work for them, as well as other companies. Yeah it's fun. But my real love is designing layouts about my family.

I am excited to be involved in the scrapbooking industry and hope that I might be able to use my experience to educate and inspire others on their design journeys.