Q&Q: Good Creative

Good Creative is a small, but mighty, design studio guided by three core principles; Do Good Things, Make Good Stuff, and Have Good Times. Headquartered right here in Eugene, OR, Good Creative seeks to work with clients in alignment with these core principles to support purpose-driven brands and help create positive change in the world.

We want to hear the Good Creative story! How did you come about and when did you launch operations?A little backstory on me, I’m originally from Los Angeles originally, got my BA in Design and Communication from CSUN, and began my career in the entertainment industry making movie posters, ad campaigns, and websites in Hollywood over 15 years ago. It was exhausting, competitive, and stressful, but I look back now with gratitude because it sharpened my skills and level of refinement. I’ve worked with Netflix, Disney, and Juicy Couture to name a few of the big ones, and worked in nearly every angle of the industry from the agency side, to in-house for corporations, the startup life, and freelancing.

We are a small but mighty design studio guided by three core principles; Do Good Things, Make Good Stuff, Have Good Times. This simple but powerful mantra speaks to the intentionality of our relationships in the world, the quality of work we create and commitment to our client’s success, and the dedication to everyday gratitude. By working with organizations that are aligned with our values, we are creating communication tools and connecting people to purpose-driven brands. Our approach involves leveraging the power of design and marketing to advance the goals of each organization and business we work with. We believe that through collaboration and innovative design, we can help our clients create positive change in the world. After seeing the best and worst of the design world, I decided to build a better agency that was value driven. With my background in visual identity, refined graphic development and project management, I started Good Creative as a way to bring next-level quality and service to local and craft businesses in the Pacific Northwest and we’ve been in business since 2020 – honestly, the timing was great because we did a lot of internal development and story building in the beginning while the world took a pause.

What makes Good Creative unique among other design and marketing firms?
Good Creative is a design shop guided by our commitment to encouraging optimism, being solutions focused, participating in community, and building a network of collaboration. We are unique in that our core values are drawn from a triple bottom line approach; everyday we make choices of intention for people, planet, and profitability. This can be everything from visual design choices to guiding packaging clients to sustainable options, or how we approach the Good Creative internal culture of gratitude and how we interact with clients. Last, but not least, profitability is how we can continue to find ways of providing value to our clients while being financially sustainable as we grow and take on more work. The triple bottom line is our decision chart. We host creative mixers, participate in environmental stewardship like river clean up events, build graphic assets for local non-profits organizations, and work to ensure we take care of people we relate to, the planet we live on, and the profitability of Good Creative and the clients we serve.

 What are a few of the most fun projects you’ve worked on?
Yachats Brewing is one of our first clients, and we’ve continued to do their labels, merch, and now a line of fermented vegetables for the last three years. With their operations being powered by biodiesel and a hand built crafted vibe at the brewery, we are aligned with environmental stewardship and the creative process. This year, we brought on Oregon Distillers Guild as a new client and have built their visual identity branding, website with eComm and member portal and some other cool features, and established their digital presence on social media. On the other end of the spectrum, Eugene Concert Choir has been a great organization to get to work with. This is the second year we are building their concert posters and program booklets, and the process to create art together is a great collaboration.

We know that creative work is important, but your business is also clearly values-driven. What causes are you all most inspired to influence through Good Creative and why?
Great question! We are passionate about environmental stewardship and equity in food access. Many of our clients are in the craft food and beverage industry and I believe there’s an amazing opportunity to participate in discussion and guidance with for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations in this space. By helping to bring some of these orgs together, we can be a part of the solution towards sustainable practices for food production, enhancing community participation, reducing packaging (or making it better), and a societal shift towards a world of more local producers which can also help alleviate the issue of food deserts in many parts of the country. Food is something we all participate in and a sacred activity that brings people together. Tangentially, many years ago I quit an Art Director role to get closer to the land and learn how to farm through the WWOOF organization – for six months I lived under a tree in Hawaii, farming and surfing (and mostly free of responsibility as a 20-something year old), while freelancing for local businesses and farms. That experience, among other pivotal food and community moments, brought me to focus on Craft Food and Beverage as a small way to make an impact for Good in the world.

We’re excited to help you celebrate Earth Day! Tell us a bit about your event coming up and how folks can attend:
We are hosting our 2nd Annual Earth Day Open House at our new Downtown Eugene studio. We’ll be showing recent work and interactive art with casual conversations around sustainable marketing, branding, and packaging. A little bit Friday Happy Hour, a little bit Earth celebration and business networking event with sunflower start giveaways, raffle prizes, and beverages. Join us for Good Times from 5-8pm on Friday, April 21. We are located in the UO Innovation Hub at 942 Olive St – across from Luckey’s and The Davis.