Frances Eugenia Design

09/09/2026

One of the things that bothers me about the word inactive in email marketing is how definitive it sounds.

A person misses a few emails, and suddenly, we act like we know they’re gone.

Usually, we don’t.

Clean List 2026 // 02 looks at what “inactive” actually means before you start archiving people.

Inactive Is Not the Same as Gone.

Before you start archiving people, make sure you know what “inactive” actually means.

09/04/2026

The holiday season starts earlier than most organizations think, and by November everybody is asking for the same thing: ATTENTION.

Your Audience Is Tired is the first piece in Clean List 2026. It is about planning earlier, sending with more intention, and not confusing “people are overwhelmed” with “we should stop trying.”

You still have to show up.

Read Studio Dispatch at franceseugenia.substack.com.

09/03/2026

AI is complicated. This is not.

Child sexual abuse material is evidence of abuse. Calling it data does not change what it is.

If there is one place where the answer should simply be no, it is the exploitation of children.

AI is powerful, but some lines should be absolute. Frances Eugenia Collazo examines AI, child sexual abuse material, training data, and responsibility.

09/03/2026

Vibrant. Charming. Hidden gem. Something for everyone.

That language leaves every town sounding the same.

Destination branding gets stronger when it uses details only one place can claim: the landscape, history, habits, people, seasons and the reason someone returns.

What destination word should be retired first?

09/02/2026

The public doesn’t see departments. They see one organization.

They don’t know who owns the website, who approved the notice, or which department was supposed to send the update. They just know they couldn’t find what they needed.

If that sounds familiar, I made a free Communications Systems Diagnostic to help find where the process is breaking down.

Download it:
franceseugenia.com/communications-systems-diagnostic

09/02/2026

Download the Communications Systems Diagnostic.

12 questions. 5 core areas. Free printable writing exercise.

Print it. Write through it. See what keeps repeating.

franceseugenia.com/communications-systems-diagnostic

08/30/2026

If the same communications problems keep showing up, this is for you.

Free Communications Systems Diagnostic.
12 questions. 5 core areas. Printable.

franceseugenia.com/communications-systems-diagnostic

08/25/2026

When a resident opens a city notice, they should not have to understand how the department works to understand the message.

Start with what happened. Then the date. Then what changes. Then what they need to do.

The technical explanation can follow.

Plain language respects the reader and makes public information usable.

08/24/2026

I have talked a lot here about public information: what people need first, what supports it, and what gets in the way.

Museum communication brings those same questions into a physical space.

A museum visitor is reading while standing, walking, listening, looking, and deciding where to go next.

Every panel cannot carry every fact.

Interpretive design chooses what leads, what supports it, and what belongs deeper in the experience.

The history gets space for interpretation and understanding, so the visitor can absorb and retain it.

The visitor gets a way in.

07/16/2026

FIELD NOTES // 003

Every PDF you upload
is another webpage you have to maintain.

Every document you publish becomes part of someone's experience with your organization.