Merit Made Creative

09/12/2026

Seeing is believing.

From 2021 to 2023, I had the privilege of serving on the creative team for Afrikana Independent Film Festival, an organization dedicated to celebrating Black stories and the filmmakers who bring them to life.

During my time with Afrikana, I created a new logo and helped carry the festival’s visual identity across print, social media, festival materials and merchandise.

One of the things I valued most about this work was being part of an organization that understands the power of being seen. Seeing Black filmmakers celebrated. Seeing Black creativity centered. Seeing stories told through the perspectives and experiences of the people who lived them. Seeing the success and creative possibilities of others can expand our own understanding of what is possible.

Good design can help create a platform for a story. It can draw people in, create connection and help important work reach more people. But the story and the voice belong to the storyteller.

I am grateful to have played a part in Afrikana’s work and proud to have this chapter in the Merit Made story.

09/03/2026

Can you smell the campfire? 🔥

A toasted marshmallow, melting chocolate, sticky fingers…there’s something about a s’more that immediately takes you back to summer camp.

We loved bringing some of that feeling to this “S’more to Give” campaign for Camp Alkulana.

Sometimes, design gets to be pure fun. But the fun still needs to be functional.

Camp Alkulana gives kids from the Richmond area who might not otherwise have the opportunity a chance to experience summer camp time outdoors, new adventures, friendships and the simple joy of being a kid.

Compelling fundraising design has an important job to do. It needs to catch someone’s attention, make an emotional connection and inspire them to take action. For this campaign, that meant creating something playful, memorable and unmistakably camp, while helping tell a much bigger story about why giving matters.

Purposeful design doesn’t always have to feel serious. Sometimes it can make you smile, make you remember…and maybe make you crave a s’more. 🔥🍫

We’re pretty happy when good design can help create s’more opportunities for kids to just be kids.

08/27/2026

A presentation can do more than share information. It can help people see what’s possible.

I had the opportunity to work with The American Institute of Architects (AIA) to create a presentation envisioning a new chapter for The Octagon, a historic home in Washington, D.C.

The vision was to honor the architectural significance of the house while telling a fuller, more inclusive story of the people connected to it, including the enslaved people who lived, worked and helped build it.

My job was to take that big, layered vision and give it a visual voice.

Inspired by The Octagon itself, I used its distinctive geometry throughout the presentation, along with historic imagery, photography, color and typography to connect its past with its possibilities for the future.

That’s what I love about design. Helping important ideas become clearer, more compelling and easier to see.

Made for change makers. 🧡

08/13/2026

Books can be an escape. And sometimes, escape is exactly what we need.

When Worthdays asked me to create the graphics for The Book Link, I kept thinking about the young people who would encounter it - many of them living in a residential setting, separated from their families, undergoing treatment, or simply navigating some really hard things.

The Book Link gives them something simple but powerful: a book. A chance to step into another world for a little while. To see themselves in someone else’s story. To laugh, learn, imagine, or just get a break from reality.

So the design needed to meet them there.

I pulled inspiration from sticker culture. The things teens put on water bottles, laptops and notebooks to say a little something about who they are. Fun. Approachable. A little irreverent. Definitely not institutional.

Books: On. World: Off.
Ticket to: Escape Reality.
Books are my therapy.

The result is bright and playful, but the thinking behind it is serious: when design is created around the people it needs to reach, it can help important work feel more inviting, accessible and human.

And that’s the kind of work I love getting to make.

So grateful to Worthdays for trusting Merit Made Creative with a small piece of this very meaningful project. 💙📚

08/06/2026

No two people have the same handwriting.

It carries our personality, our memories, our education, our culture. It changes as we grow older. It fills birthday cards, grocery lists, love letters, journals, and notes tucked into lunch boxes. It is proof that we were here.

That's why artist Marcia Haffmans chose handwriting as the heart of her latest exhibition, DISCERNING THROUGHLINES. Her installation is built from hundreds of authentic handwriting samples created by women participating in her art offerings inside jails. Each mark on the wall belongs to someone with a story, a family, hopes, regrets, and dreams. Someone whose humanity can be easy to overlook.

The numbers are difficult to ignore. Although the United States is home to just 4% of the world's women and girls, it incarcerates 25% of the world's incarcerated women and girls, and 80% are mothers.

Art can't change those realities overnight.
But it can change what we see.
It can remind us that behind every statistic is a person whose story is still being written.

I'm grateful to have played a small role in supporting this exhibition through the environmental graphics and exhibition text. More importantly, I'm grateful for artists like Marcia who invite us to see one another more fully.

I personally invite you to visit the exhibition in the gallery at Main St. Station, with an opening this Friday at 5:30 p.m, and running through the month of August.

DISCERNING THROUGHLINES
Main Street Station Art Gallery
1500 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219
August 1–31
Monday–Friday: 6:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday: 8:00 a.m.–8:30 p.m.

07/30/2026

07/30/2026

Good design doesn't just sell products.

Sometimes it helps tell stories that are difficult to hear. Sometimes it starts conversations that need to happen.

These designs were created for an anti-trafficking conference supporting Virginia's child welfare professionals, organized by Worthdays.

Inspired by familiar "For Sale" signs and price tags, the message is simple:

Humanity is not for sale.�
Love doesn't come with a price tag.

Today, on World Day Against Trafficking in Persons, it's worth remembering why this work matters. Reports from communities across the U.S. indicate that more than 60% of child trafficking victims are current or former foster youth—a sobering reminder of the connection between child welfare and trafficking.

When design can help people see the value and dignity of another person, it becomes more than branding. It becomes part of the work of justice.

I'm grateful to have had a small role in a much bigger mission, and I'm especially grateful for Worthdays and the incredible work they're doing to support youth impacted by the foster care system. If you aren't following Worthdays yet, today is a great day to start.

07/22/2026

There’s something special about trading cards. In a world filled with screens, they still bring people together around a table to trade, compete, tell stories, and connect.

That spirit inspired the new identity for Three Point Cards & Collectibles. Drawing from the nostalgia of vintage sports pennants, the brand is flexible enough to connect with two distinct communities, sports fans and Pokémon collectors, while working seamlessly across signage, apparel, packaging, and social media.

I loved helping bring this brand to life as Three Point prepared for its next chapter in its expanded Regency Mall space. Today is their Grand Reopening - go check them them out!

The best brands tell a story, and this one celebrates collecting, community, and genuine connection, one card at a time.

📣 And a shout out to Cut Cut for the amazing vinyl and signage work!

07/15/2026

Some projects mean a little more.

I’ve called Pine St. Baptist Church home for my entire life, so creating its new visual identity was both an incredible honor and a deeply personal project.

The logo was inspired by sermon notes, conversations about the church’s heart, and the beautiful 150-year-old stained glass that has watched over generations of worship. The colors were lifted directly from those historic windows, connecting the church’s future to its past.

The pieces of the logo come together to reveal a cross—a reminder that there is room for all of us, and that we’re always better together than apart.

One of my favorite parts of the system is its flexibility. The same pieces extend beyond the logo to become graphics, signage, and icons representing the congregation’s core values: Faith, Hope, Love, and Hospitality.

The best brands don’t just create recognition.
They help tell a story.