Now introducing… Jessica Pace!
Updated: Jun 22, 2021
We are so excited to welcome Jessica Pace to the Impressions Marketing and Events team as graphic designer! Jessica has been a part of the team for a few weeks now, but it feels like she has been with us for years. She is talented, creative and ready to provide incredible design for our clients. As you’ll see below, she has a heart for working with organizations in the nonprofit and education sectors… and so do we! Learn more about Jessica in the Q&A session below.
What are you most excited about doing within your role as Graphic Designer?
My favorite projects always end up being the things I get to make for kids! I love it when something I create helps a young person get curious, messy, and excited about learning and creating. I am also absolutely gleeful about the variety of projects we get to do at Impressions, I’ll never get bored and all the clients are organizations I’m proud to contribute to!
Can you share about your past work experience?
I earned a Bachelor’s in Education during my first college experience, and have been a part-time educator for the past 10 years, working as a tutor, substitute teacher, and teacher assistant. I pivoted a few years ago to pursue my degree in Graphic Design and had two amazing jobs during my second time around the old college block. I worked for two semesters as a staff designer for The Washtenaw Voice, my college’s student-run newspaper, where I got to do everything from infographics to video graphics to social media to editorial illustration. I’ve also spent the last year volunteering with a local non-profit called 826michigan, designing some of their publications of kids’ writing from the free writer’s workshops they organize for K-12 students here in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, and Detroit, Michigan.
What is something you are proud of?
I’m really proud to have earned my degree during a pandemic while homeschooling my kids and working part time! I am proud of my kids and what awesome, kind, adventurous little bookworms they are. I’m proud of my husband for pursuing his PhD while still being an amazing partner and parent. I’m proud of myself for facing old fears and losing limiting beliefs and going after what is important to me.
Who/what inspires you?
Travel! Experiencing places, art, architecture, and nature I’ve never seen is the most inspiring thing for my creative work! I also find a lot of inspiration in plants and birds, and I love to explore them with my family, learning their names and attributes and where and how they live. We hike together and keep nature journals of all our discoveries.
What five words best describe you?
Bookish, Sincere, Creative, Optimistic, Resilient
What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?
When my most admired and favorite instructor said she was proud of my work and had a lot of confidence in my ability to get a job that I would love!
What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on?
You might as well ask me to pick a favorite child! There are so many I’ve loved, but they usually involve making things for kids and/or designing some kind of book-shaped publication. I think I especially loved the results of the Black Men Read/826michigan Collaboration I worked on, and the Roald Dahl book cover redesigns and illustrations I created for a portfolio class project. Both were really challenging for me in multiple ways, so to end up with a good result has special significance.
What’s your favorite thing to do in your free time?
I love hiking, reading, drawing, printmaking, and playing Minecraft with my kids.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Fast Questions:
Early bird or night owl?
Early bird!
Beach or mountains?
Mountains!
Favorite vacation spot?
Florence, Italy!
Welcome to the team, Jessica!