DGPL's Style Guide started as a very basic document that was in desperate need of a comprehensive update to be more relevant and useful to staff in their day-to-day operations. Moving beyond basic color swatches, fonts, and word forms, this fully revamped style guide incorporates additional information such as logo usage, templates for signage and events, and photography guidelines. It also implements an interactive table of contents for quick access to different sections.

The DGPL Style Guide is a living document with the ability to evolve to suit the needs of staff and ever-changing procedures.

"Discoveries" is Downers Grove Public Library's bi-monthly, print newsletter. The headers feature illustrations that reflect the seasons. Each edition is typically 12 pages (with smaller versions created during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic) and features regular sections such as "Staff Picks", the Director's Note, and programming (separated by type and age group) in addition to seasonal additions such as the Annual Report (March/April), Summer Reading (May/June), and various monthly celebrations. As the content provided each cycle can vary wildly in length, flexible placement and creative organization is regularly required.

For the 2023 Summer Reading Club (SRC), it was decided that we would stray from the preset themes provided national programs like iRead. Instead, we chose the theme "Dive Into a Great Story!" As such, all the elements for the program needed to be created in-house. Besides the main text logo, a mascot was created for each reading level (Read-to-Me, Readers, Teens, Adults), and filler graphics that made the forms more fun (such as the activities on the Read-to-Me form and time marker turtles, clownfish, and bubbles on the other levels).

The Anything Emporium (AE) is DGPL's collection of unusual items including, but not limited to: VHS to DVD converters, telescopes, radon detectors, and spin art kits. It's a constantly growing collection with something for everyone!

Our original shelf packaging for the Anything Emporium, while playful, did not adequately convey what items this collection entailed. My goal was to create a design that was both more eye-catching, visually appealing, and informative. Using the existing DVD displays, I modified the artwork to tease the actual item's image on the front with more information about what's in the kits on the back along with borrowing rules about the collection in general. The packaging is now color-coded by department for easier visual sorting by staff. Due to the magnitude of the collection, this changeover is still in-progress.

In addition to graphic design duties, I am also in charge of curating and maintaining the two gallery spaces in the library, 12 months a year. The North and Café Galleries feature 6 annual, two-gallery shows with local groups (such as the Nature Artists' Guild of the Morton Arboretum, the Professional Art Quilt Alliance, the Midwest Collage Society,  the Downers Grove Artists' Guild, District 99 Schools, and the Downers Grove Camera Club) and 6 months of local artists who may be featured in one or both galleries, allowing for potentially 12 different artists to share their artwork with the community. All groups and individual artists have the opportunity to host a "Meet the Artist" program which serves as a sort of reception and a central opportunity for friends and family celebrate the highlighted artist while also connecting them with our patrons.

A handful of projects and displays that I enjoyed working on that don't quite fit the mold of the previous categories.