Sometimes It Actually IS Brain Surgery
Talent Spotlight: Holly Goodrich
When I started working as an agent in Aquent's (then MacTemps') Boston market, Holly Goodrich had already been with them for four years. She did presentation work and print production and was known for her technical ability and reliable professionalism. Ten years later, we're both still here.
In a way, Holly has made a career of working for Aquent. Since she first registered with us in 1989, she has grown with the technical innovations in graphic design and production, doing time on everything from print layout to package design to web development. She has also worked in diverse roles with over one hundred of our clients in a variety of industries. We even once flew her down to North Carolina for ten 17-hour days working in a massive airplane hangar with "its own weather system."
By now, Holly has worked for "every kind of business:" financial institutions, hospitals, universities, studios, start-ups, high tech, pharma, manufacturing; you name it. She's worked for companies with one employee and for companies with 21,000. Along the way her experience has taught her, among other things, the relative benefits of working in organizations large and small, and in environments structured and chaotic.
"Larger organizations tend to have more money and so they are able to hire more people," she explains, "The drawback is that often you are brought on to do one very specific thing and nothing else. At smaller companies, the money is tighter. But that usually means that you get to do more, see more, and learn more."
Looking back on the path she's followed, Holly identifies two major turning points. The first came in her career as a graphic artist when clients began giving her more than "production stuff." "When you're first asked to make design decisions on your own," she says, "it really boosts your confidence." The other turning point came in her career as a contractor. "It was that moment when I stopped being 'the temp,' or a hired gun, and became the specialist called in to solve problems."
All the while she she's been navigating the world of creative work, Holly has, of course, also been creating things. In fact, you may have already unknowingly encountered one of her many creations. Perhaps you saw the splash screens she designed for the post office in the Mall of America. Perhaps you saw her package designs on the shelves of your local electronic game store. (Or, perhaps you saw the counterfeited version of her package design on that bootlegged game you bought at the flea market.)
But then again, maybe you just underwent brain surgery and noticed, hanging on the wall of the operating room, the laminated poster she designed, the one telling your doctor how to correctly use the latest in quick-healing brain surgery technology.
Which is another way of saying that, though the ongoing career of Holly Goodrich contains many lessons for the aspiring and the established creative professional (never stop learning; be flexible; remember that you're there to help others), the most important lesson is undoubtedly this:
Graphic design IS brain surgery.
(At least indirectly, sometimes.)
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