Emily Leach is currently working as a Graphic Designer for Adams Publishing Group in Greenville, NC. Emily recently relocated to North Carolina from Boulder, Colorado where she worked as a layout designer with a wonderful group of designers at Media News Group. As a teenager, Emily worked as art director, photographer, and contributing writer for a teen magazine. In college, she worked as a layout designer for a student interest newspaper. She was employed with East Carolina University’s art and literary journal, Rebel, as both a layout designer, and later as Editor-in-Chief for the 60th edition. Submissions for the publication were featured in an art exhibition that she directed her senior year in college. While serving as editor for Rebel, Emily was in charge of hiring and managing a design team, art directing a photoshoot for all the work exhibited, and managing all aspects of the publication, including communicating with a printing company, attending press checks, and signing off on proofs before the book was finalized. Rebel volume 60 was the recipient of two national awards for collegiate journalism, the 2018 Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press and the 2018 Crown Award from Columbia Scholastic Press Association. She also spent time in advertising, working for local companies including Emerge Art Gallery, and Joyner Library along with other internships and freelance opportunities.
Biography
Examples of some of the products Emily has created include the following:
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Printed materials
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Advertising & marketing materials
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Design for social media
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Animation & motion graphics
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Visually stimulating presentations
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Front end web design
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Design of event, exhibition & tradeshow displays
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Branding development
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Videography & editing
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Illustration & hand-lettering
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Photography
Emily is fluent in the
following software:
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Adobe Creative Suite
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Microsoft Office 365
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iWork productivity suite
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Méthode
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Sketch for iPad
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Adobe Draw for iPad
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Squarespace
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WordPress
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Wix
Design Statement
I have always been inspired by visual things. Lack of visual representation or poor designs always make me sad as I see the missed communication opportunities that good design can produce. This is what gave me a desire to begin a journey of learning the rules that govern good design so I could help others communicate their ideas more perfectly. I have found my calling in being the one who bridges the language gap by strengthening the impact of ideas and concepts through visual representation.
Overall Aesthetics Qualities: On a formal note, my work is largely energized by a young vibe as I tend to use a lot of bright colors and two-dimensional geometric shapes along with a strong typographical esthetic. I am an avid supporter of a strong underlying grid, especially when working with print media and large bodies of type. I believe that everything must have a purpose and that just having an esthetic quality is not enough reason to implement an element into a design.
Tools and Process: As a kid, I started out with my dad’s Flexi Sign software and CorelDRAW, back in the days when Adobe wasn’t the only player in the realm of design software. I have since used everything from Microsoft programs and Adobe CS2, all the way to the current Adobe CreativeCloud. The one question I get asked most about software, and particularly the Adobe Creative Suite, is, “What software program (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) do you like best?” My answer is always the same, “you wouldn’t ask a chef what utensil they prefer because it all depends on what they are using that utensil for.” This is exactly how I feel about software; each program has some really great feature. I personally float between InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop constantly while doing any project. It just depends on the project, and I believe in using the right tool for the job!