Well, more like 2.75 years but time flies when you’re having fun!
In my time since joining the YMCA of Muncie, my career and understanding of marketing has truly transformed. Originally, I wasn’t sure how my life would change, but it has been for the better.
By working at the YMCA and also having a wonderful supervisor, I’ve been able to go through a lot of creative exploration with design and branding. The Y has a great established identity/brand, which gave me a great platform to begin my work. And I’ve come a long way from my early designs (such as the image to the left). Experimenting with color, design, the fonts, how much was too much on one item – coming from a creative writing background as opposed to a marketing background, I had a lot of trial and error. But now I design items such as the ones you see below!
On top of design work, I took on another media that I previously had zero experience with – video! In college I took Image Design, Sound Design, and Web Design. While video was an option, I didn’t figure video work would be in my future. Oh how wrong I was! Video became an integral part of my job around a year ago when we began filming videos for YMCA360, an online video-content platform produced by YMCA’s FOR YMCA’s. At the YMCA of Muncie, we focus on reading readiness. Take a look at an example of my work below!
And my video work has since evolved even more, delving into our branches to highlight our programs and partnerships. Thus far I’ve done a video for Group Exercise, putting our classes, instructors, and members in the spotlight. In the que and being edited includes a video for our Anti-Hunger program, which highlights a partnership we have with a local business.
Of course these are just some big ticket items that I’ve been lucky enough to work on and gain so much knowledge along the way. I do still manage our social media accounts and our in-house marketing materials. Creating eye-catching flyers is still one of my favorite perks of the job; after all, I have almost complete creative freedom of design (within the branding guidelines). And to have that kind of freedom to create THE LOOK for a brand-new program – a design that will become recognizable to people – that is a special kind of feeling. And that’s only possible because I work with the YMCA.
Overall, I am still so thankful that I chose to work at the YMCA of Muncie. It’s here that I’ve made wonderful friendships and developed myself in marketing and design. I’ve learned so much along the way, and I am excited to continue growing in my role.