Category Archives: Work Life

Helping Marketers Create Fab Content… One Strategy at a Time [Cartoon & Contest]

Posted in Cartoon, Content, Content Marketing, Creativity, Doodle, Drawing, Drawings, MarketingProfs, My Life in General, Social Media Marketing, Work Life by

dream-team-gals-ver2

The above cartoon was for a MarketingProfs special offer. Folks who registered during a special promo also received a special offer of meeting the “dream team” of content marketing, which is (from left to right), Corey O’Loughlin (social media superstar and premier tactician), Ann Handley (of Content Rules fame) and, well, me (the “visual voice of MarketingProfs”).

When I started sketching the gals in the above cartoon, I found it ridiculously easy to come up with an idea for Ann and Corey. We’ve teased Ann about Wonder Woman for ages, so she got a WW-like outfit in MarketingProfs colors. Corey is known for her great love of lime green and pink (a Lilly Pulitzer thing, I’m sure) and her eye rolls (I gave her long, lovely lashes instead). But to draw oneself?

Egad.

I’ve been told that what I see when I look in the mirror and what my friends and husband see when they look at me are very different. But rather than wrestle with that conundrum, I decided to focus instead on basics to define my cartoon self:  a love of colorful hair (my own hair is red and black), all things purple, and art supplies. The cartoon Veronica is modeled very loosely after Batgirl, but instead of bat ears, I have pencils. Of course.

When I turned the assignment in, I told Corey, “It’s me, so the superheroes are quirky.”

And she just laughed.

(I think she already knew they would be.)

Five Fantastic Reasons for Using Storyboards When Creating Visual Content

Posted in Creativity, Drawing, Drawings, MarketingProfs, Work Life by

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If you attend conferences and seminars regularly, you may notice that many presentations seem hastily put together. Rather than the presentation telling a story, it seems to tell bits and pieces of stories… like a visual version of MadLibs. If only those presenters would have storyboarded their presentations first!

A storyboard is a graphic representation of elements in sequence. Creative folks use storyboards to plan presentations, videos, comic books, and whenever they’ve a story to unfurl.

If you don’t use storyboards when creating  your presentations or videos, I highly recommend that you start using them. As a visual storyteller at MarketingProfs, I rely on storyboards to create illustrated slides shows.

Today, on the Daily Fix, I’m discussing the five reasons why folks should consider using storyboards.

Read more.

You Know You’re a Marketer When Your Family Thinks You ‘Do Facebook’ for a Living [Illustration]

Posted in Art, Creativity, Marketing, MarketingProfs, Work Life by

My MarketingProfs Facebook drawing for Monday was this…

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For inspiration on what kind of gal to draw, I recalled a few Portlandia episodes.  (I wanted to draw what people think a marketer on social media does… not what one really does, so I didn’t want to model her after anyone I know.) The illustrated gal is a rarity in that she’s a blonde. I usually don’t draw blondes, favoring reds, oranges, blues, and purples for hair. I’ve nothing against blondes—one of my kids is sandy-blond—but yellow is difficult to capture well on-screen. At least, I’ve not been too satisfied with what the yellows I’ve used look like on screen.

Who knew yellow would be the difficult color? (And now, you know why my illustrated people always have the craziest hair color.)

February 2013: A Quick Review of My Completed Art Projects

Posted in Art, Creativity, Drawing, Drawings, Illustration, Illustrator, Monthly Review, My Life in General, Sketch a Day, Work Life by

parisI liked the idea of “A Sketch a Day” in theory. Draw something—without worrying about its imperfections or purpose. Just draw. And then, I’d share each day’s sketch on my blog or Instagram feed. When I considered this goal for February, I thought participating in A Sketch a Day would help me to play more with my art supplies, branch out, and continue unfurling my art-freak flag.

What I realized is this: I don’t need to participate in A Sketch a Day just for the sake of making myself draw something. I’m already in the habit of drawing daily.

That said, I want to point out the importance of habit when practicing your craft. The Sketch a Day idea is terrific for someone who has not yet gotten into the habit of drawing regularly. If you want to draw but can’t find the motivation, a plan such as sketching once a day, can be helpful. Or if you haven’t drawn in a long time, A Sketch a Day can get you back on track.

The point of A Sketch a Day is to get your motor going… It’s like training wheels to get you started… then you need to find the fuel and passion to keep yourself going.

I had the tank filled up with fuel and passion in February…

February 2013: Completed Art Projects

48 illustrations in February… not bad considering I was almost a plague victim for two weeks.

Yep! I think I did complete the Sketch a Day plan. Just, you know, in my own way!

15 Buzzwords You Need to Stop Using [Illustrated Slide Show]

Posted in Art, Creativity, Doodle, Drawing, Drawings, Illustration, Illustrator, MarketingProfs, Work Life, Writing by

Recently, MarketingProfs said to its Facebook group, “Let’s talk buzzwords—what marketing buzzword is your *least* favorite?”

The answers that came in were clever and fun. My imagination glommed onto some of the phrases. So, I reached for my Sharpies, Ciao pens, and colored pencils, then drew up the following slide show.

In drawing the slide show, I approached it as a picture book. Doing so lets my imagination fly and approach everything with a playful spirit. An octopus, a snake in roller skates, smiling box, and a thought bubble in a saddle shoes can then emerge. For example, the words “thought leadership” can be difficult to draw…. How on earth do you draw a thought?… but the drawing ended up being one of my favorites in the slide show. (I drew a thought bubble and gave him a swell mustache, a striped shirt, bright-green pants, and blue-and-white saddle shoes. )

Enjoy the following slide show, “15 Buzzwords to Stop Using.”

Event: Crowdsourced from a MarketingProfs Facebook Wall question
Illustrated by: Veronica Maria Jarski
Production notes: The slide show reached more than 20,000 views in fewer than two days. It became a “Hot on Twitter” presentation, “Most Downloaded” presentation, and “Top Presentation of the Day.”

11 Foolproof Ways to Ruin Your Presentation Slides [Slide Show]

Posted in Content, Marketing, MarketingProfs, Work Life, Writing by

I rarely share the writing I do for MarketingProfs and the Daily Fix here on my personal blog. (I don’t like to double post.) However, I had so much fun writing the following tongue-in-cheek presentation slides about bad presentations that I had to share it here.

Enjoy!

Production Notes: This slideshow went popular fast (20,726 views in a day) and made SlideShare’s “Hot on Twitter” page. The piece was written to create interest and awareness of MarketingProfs University’s Presentations Unleashed course.