I recently started working part time as a junior designer for Free Rein Coffee Company, a cowboy themed coffee company owned by Cole Hauser that gives back to those who serve. I have learned so much in this role both design skill wise as well as real life experience applications. I have been lucky enough to get the experience of being on set for photoshoots, have final touches on packaging designs for the coffee bags and boxes, and done several website banners and social media graphics. I have learned that being a good designer means the company can count on you to fix photo imperfections, resize images to match dimensions, place a new product in an old photo so you do not have to reshoot it, and more!

Serving Those Who Serve

Free Rein “serves those who serve” meaning they give a percentage of their sales toward first responders, veterans, teachers, nurses, and even the service dogs. It feels really rewarding to have my designs benefitting the community and those who serve us. Sometimes graphic design, marketing, business, ect. can feel very shallow and sales oriented compared to other jobs like lawyers, doctors, ect. So, it is moments like these that reminds of us of the true purpose of our job and our passion of helping others isn’t different just because our career choice is different.

Medium and Dark Roast GIFS

I learned how to make a GIF in Photoshop from this project. In this junior designer position, I have had to be very independent and watch YouTube videos when I do not know how to do something. Since our team is fully remote and everyone is very busy with their own tasks, I have to be self sufficient which has grown me so much as a designer. I also learned that a GIF is a good alternative when wanting to show multiple products because the likelihood of a viewer scrolling all way through the carousel to view each product is low.

Figma Brand Library

Our creative team mainly uses Figma for digital advertising and social posts, so I created a brand library with all of our typefaces, logos, colors, and decorative assets to make it easier to apply the brand to each project. This helps the team with efficiency, consistency, and organization.

Flavor Overview Stories

The purpose of these stories is to advertise one flavor of coffee whether it is a new flavor or a flavor that needs more sales. It was fun to play around with how to visually portray its roast type and flavor profile.

Photo Retouching

In this position, I have become very comfortable with Photoshop. I have learned that a good designer can really save the day. Our shoot for the Get Up product did not turn out well, so instead of spending more money to reshoot, I edited old pictures to feature the Get Up product. I have familiarized myself with recoloring, retouching, adding artificial light and texture, and editing text on a product within Photoshop.