Mary Schroeder | Designer, Photographer, & Occasional Airstream Dweller.

Branding, Retail & Lettering

When possible, I prefer to work on complete branding systems vs. only a logo mark, but am happy to contribute whatever part is needed. I also enjoy picking up branding elements where they left off, and creating menus, new cards, web graphics, packaging, etc. I’ve also been working on a lettering project; lettering snippets of overheard conversation. (They are all vectors.)

Branding

Logo marks, business cards, and other branding elements.

Retail & Promotional

Implementation of existing brands, mostly print work.

Hand Lettering

Sketches of overheard conversation, brought through to vectors.

Web & Mobile

Would be great to get as much time as possible before a due date, but understand urgency happens. I prefer a set hourly rate, usually to be determined once and then set from there on, set up as either an contractor through payroll or can send invoices; both involving some painless tax paperwork. Dropbox works great for passing files, always up to review a non-disclosure, and ask before including something in the portfolio. I always try to deliver a file cleaner than when it came to me.

Password Protected

Infographics & Wireframes

Large graphics, charts, fancy wireframes, vector renderings, and diagrams.

Creative

Creative comps built from scratch or additions to existing sites.

Production

Mostly spec and font sheets and building pixel-perfect .png's in a variety of sizes for mobile.

Personal Projects

Sauces on the Side

Photography

My husband, Joel, and I document people and things with fancy cameras; usually during weddings. We use Canon, and some janky film cameras that are fun to play with.

Overheard Type Project

I eavesdrop on strangers, and make pretty hand lettering out of what they don't know I'm overhearing. Keep Me Whole, Enjoy the Day, A Real Mix of Shit, and I want to be in love with the process, are a few current faves.

An Airstream & Other Small Living Experiments

Sometimes, I live with Joel in an Airstream on the side of a mountain near Santa Cruz, CA. We shower outside and have an analog hammock. (No electronic devices allowed.) We also lived in 150 sq ft apartment over the summer, and bought a small patch of land on the coast to put a 13' Garway trailer we're rehabbing.

A Cat Named Goat

We found our third cat on the side of the road at a vista point in Big Sur. (She is currently 80% fetch-trained.) She is missing a front toe, and named Goat Bixby.

About

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My student loans tell me I have a BFA in graphic design, but have never made strides to get the piece of paper printed. I’ve enjoyed freelancing on “ghost” mode* for a few years, and before that worked for creative groups. (With anywhere from 2-50+ co-workers.) Making quality work, amongst good people is a high priority for me.

*Ghost Mode – Do the work for an agency, get paid a set hourly rate, client doesn’t know I exist, and now I have to make blurry things in parts of my portfolio and avoid keywords so the Google doesn’t know. Hence, the pesky password protected pages.

Sometimes I think "Cmd Z" in real life.

Shortly after, I'm disappointed.