Kara Turner, AIGA Baltimore’s Communications Director and all-around Renaissance woman, grew up on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. She was a varsity lacrosse player in high school (“the only girl on the team”) and, between games, she acted in plays. After a few years of freelance work in Manhattan and Daytona Beach, she returned to Maryland to focus on a professional career in communications and media.

Since we’re shining the Spotlight on Kara this month, we wanted to find out what makes her tick. She says she’s has always thrived when thrown into challenging situations and prefers to work on multiple projects at a time.

“I love the process that goes into creating,” she tells us, “It could be an event I’ve organized for work or a character I’m playing on stage but I just like creating things. I like to see the results of something I’ve done that’s had a lot of hard work put into it. But I also strive to get a reaction from people.”

She’s looking forward to our upcoming events and the opportunities to network with other designers.

“Design is powerful,” she says, “Great design has the ability to add order to our lives. It can express humor. It can make people think. It can make people safer and can teach others. The design of a space, or the lack of, affects the way people feel and the way people act.”

Kara lives in Annapolis but knows her way around Charm City, seeing shows at CenterStage, having drinks in Fell’s Point, and performing in the local theatres. Since we at AIGA Baltimore are always thinking of new symbols to replace the crab, we asked her if she had any ideas. She suggests a purple and orange foam #1 finger then changes her mind.

“Baltimore has so many fantastic outdoor events,” she says, “Artscape, Sowebo, the Greek Folk and Ukraine festivals. So, I’d say a good symbol for the city would be a festival tent.” She also tells us that everyone should experience being out on a rooftop deck in Pigtown on the Fourth of July.

“There’s the view of the fireworks, of course, but you can also see all the distant ones from other towns all around you. Then, you see hundreds of car headlights creep around the highways and hear the mass of people leaving the Harbor.”

From a young age, growing up in the small town of Grantsville, MD, Michelle had a strong desire to have a career in the arts. She overcame opposition (a career counselor advised her that she had no aptitude for the arts and would be better suited as a secretary), followed her dream, and studied Mass Communications at Towson University. She went on to earn a Masters in Publication Design from The University of Baltimore.

Since graduating she has enjoyed a long career in marketing and advertising with companies including Erickson Communities, Constellation Energy and, now Millennium Marketing Solutions, where Michelle has served as an Art Director for over five years.

AIGA Baltimore’s Board gives Michelle great opportunities to meet new people and support AIGA’s mission to advocate for the use of good design. When Michelle is not working,  she enjoys painting, playing pool on her APA billiards team and, spending time with friends and family. If you’re looking to make quick friends with Michelle, consider serving her a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s Everything But the Kitchen Sink ice cream (her favorite flavor), or a glass of Captain & Diet (it’s never made her sick, so she swears by it).

And, as for her favorite font, it’s American Typewriter, a highly under-appreciated font that offers variety and many styles. For Michelle, when used with a purpose, it can bring great impact to a design.

Meet Marisa! She’s definitely the most energetic person you’ll meet today (or this month), so you know we’re super-lucky to have her as our Membership Director.

Born in Kansas and raised in New Jersey, Marisa found herself in Baltimore for college. She started out as a bio/psych major, pursuing her need to figure out how and what makes people tick. As a kid, she constantly doodled in notebooks but never thought much of it…but by her senior year, she’d found her calling in graphic design and had fallen in love with Charm City.

Ask her what she loves about design and she’ll say it’s all about the people.

“I love being able to connect with others through my work,” she says. “From designing a website to a printed piece, translating ideas into words and images, and then communicating with others through that end result, is the ultimate thrill for me.”

Marisa’s love of design and being social translates well to her role on the board. “Being on the board is great because I get to be part of a solid community of designers. I want to help change the perception of designers within society. Designers should be strategists and leaders who shape the world and make it a better place to be, not just people who simply make pretty things. With the local and national support of AIGA, I think we can do that!”

On the list of her many influences, Marisa has found both inspiration and comfort in a letter written by Jean-Paul Sartre. In this letter he writes, “There may be more beautiful times, but this one is ours. And let’s do it with everything.” It serves as a reminder be true to herself⏤to grab life by the horns and make the most out of it. She says, “You may not be in your ideal situation, but you have the power to work your way there!”

When Marisa isn’t designing, playing field hockey or jamming to music, she dreams of traveling. “I want to go everywhere and see everything. There’s no place not on my list to visit. I want to learn what makes other people tick and how they work, think and react.” Marisa’s favorite part about traveling: putting herself in someone else’s shoes and understanding how they live.

And if she had to create an ice cream flavor that captured the spirit of Charm City, she’d serve up a scoop of steamed crab Old Bay ice cream in a Berger cookie cone!