DESIGNERS toolkit
Explore the essential tools and resources that support my graphic and surface design creations. From physical materials to digital tools, these are the items I personally trust and love. Scroll and click through my favorite recommendations to enhance your creative journey!
ART supplies
paints
TECH
MY TOP 3 PICKS + SOME STAPLES
EPSON PERFECTION V39 SCANNER
Why I love it: The EPSON Perfection V39 Scanner offers exceptional scanning quality with ease of use. Its compact design fits perfectly in my smaller workspace without taking up much room, making it convenient for my busy creative process. The V39 delivers high-resolution scans that capture every intricate detail of my artwork, ensuring that digital reproductions are as vibrant and accurate as the originals. Its user-friendly software makes it easy to edit and enhance images, while the quick scan speeds save me valuable time. While digitizing sketches the EPSON Perfection V39 consistently provides reliable results, making it an indispensable tool in my creative arsenal.
WACOM CINTIQ 16
Why I love it: The Wacom Cintiq 16 has a high-definition display provides stunning color accuracy and clarity, allowing me to see every detail of my work as I create. The pressure-sensitive pen feels natural and responsive, mimicking the experience of drawing on paper, which enhances my creative flow. The customizable shortcuts work directly with Illustrator and streamline my workflow. Whether I'm sketching, illustrating, or refining intricate patterns, the Wacom Cintiq 16 elevates my creative process, making it an essential tool for any professional designer.
REMARKABLE tablet
Why I love it: I am through and through a pen and paper gal and this tablet perfectly bridges the gap between traditional note-taking and digital convenience. Its paper-like feel provides an authentic writing and drawing experience, allowing me to sketch ideas and jot down notes with the same satisfaction as using pen and paper. The BIGGEST thing this tablet provides is it eliminates distractions because there are no additional apps or messages breaking through, helping me stay focused and productive. Its lightweight and compact making it incredibly portable, so I can carry it with me wherever inspiration strikes. The seamless synchronization with cloud services ensures that my work is always backed up and accessible from any device.
CREATIVE BUSINESS essentials
MUST-HAVES FOR CREATIVE PROFESSIONALS
SQUARESPACE Websites
If you've been here a while, you know I’m a huge fan of Squarespace. I've been using it in my graphic design business for years and have built templates specifically for you, too. It’s incredibly user-friendly for the creatives I work with, and it keeps getting better! From e-commerce and email marketing to monetizing your blog, offering memberships, and even hosting courses—it has everything you need to grow your creative business.
FEELING OVERWHELMED BY YOUR WEBSITE BUILD
Snag the Stress-Free Website Checklist is a simple guide to help creatives confidently build a beautiful, functional website without the overwhelm
DOWNLOAD THE CHECKLIST
SHOP THE SQUARESPACE WEBSITE TEMPLATES
Squarespace templates are designed specifically for surface designers and artists, offering beautiful, easy-to-customize layouts to showcase your work and launch your website with confidence.
SHOP TEMPLATES
TEMPLATE BONUS! As a Circle Member I am able to pass along to you an additional 20% discount on your first year of website hosting (what makes your website live to the public) and extended 6-month free trial period to give you time to get your site ready for the world!
THE CONTRACT shop
Wish you had a lawyer friend to help you with your business? The contract shop has been selling legal templates, workbooks, and courses for creative entrepreneurs, online course creators, consultants, family businesses, coaches, and more.
Their company mission is to give every small business owner the tools that they need to confidently manage their business, since everyone should have the opportunity to pursue their passions without legal problems getting in the way. They offer the legal resources, documents, and agreements to help you start your business off right. Here’s all the deets!
FLODESK emails
While Squarespace does have a wonderful email marketing system that they just launched, I have been using Flodesk for my emails leading up to that. It’s incredibly user friendly and is perfect for creatives. There are some robust systems and it grows with you! So if you don’t have a Squarespace site, or even if you do and choose to have you’re email system under a different umbrella, Flodesk is a really good option and you get the first year for 50% off - unlimited emails and subscribers for life!
QUICKBOOKS
This is what I use to keep track of the dollars! It’s been be user friendly, you can add you accountant so they’re able to help sort and get everything in order for you come tax season.