In today's visual world, a message is so much more than words, it's media and - ideally - it is consumed in many different ways on many different platforms. Enter our lead graphic designer, Laura Podewils. We sat down with Laura to pick her brain on all things design. Check out what she had to say and
drop her a note
to say hi!
Tell us about what you do here at Mueller?
I think Mueller has always been known for really great written communications and PR, so my job here is to bring the visual element into the great work we're already doing. I look at it kind of like peanut butter and jelly - they're really great separately, but it's even better when you put them together.
How do you get inspired?
It's so easy to be creative here at Mueller because I'm surrounded by so many different creative people who inspire me in different ways. When I'm really stuck, even just walking through the neighborhood surrounding Mueller inspires me. The architecture, the signage - it's hard not to be creative!
How does the work you do enhance the end product for the client?
Every communication space is so crowded - whether it's digital or print, if you don't have a visually engaging element, someone is going to scroll past your message, or flip the page and miss out on something they really need or may want to hear or see.
How can a client best work with you as a designer?
Creative is very subjective, and I'm kind of old school. I like to sit down with a client and have a face-to- face conversation about what they're looking for. They can bring in tangible examples of things they like, and don't like and we can start the creative process together.
What do people most need to understand about design at Mueller Communications?
People tend to put PR in a box, and think of it as a finite list of services, but what's so great about Mueller Communications is we think beyond that. We're bringing in digital, we're bringing in design and we're doing it as part of one cohesive process, collaboratively. It's really a 360-degree perspective on communications and it's really unique here in Milwaukee.
