Creative Freedom

Freedom of expression is a luxury most of us hold dear to our hearts. How you choose to express yourself is up to you. Kori Clark is a freedom loving graphic designer with a degree in interactive media. Her love for expressive independence and creativity is what motivated her to start Paper & Pigtails.

After working for five years in corporate design, building her skills with logo design and corporate identity work, she decided to try a freelance design career. Kori found much success in the freelance arena, but still found herself designing other people’s creative visions and not her own.

Cut to March of 2010 and Kori had started her own innovative party design company, Paper & Pigtails. Best part? She didn’t need a loan or an investor to start up!

Kori began her online store for free with Etsy.com and marketed herself by networking through social media and her personal blog. “I work with party planners and event companies all over. The nice thing about a printable business is that is eco friendly and helps local businesses. I can quickly do designs of any type for my clients. Once complete I email them straight over – no need for paper, packaging or shipping – the client then takes the design to their local print shop and has the design printed however they prefer.”

Paper & Pigtails is ahead of the competition with the idea that a client can just order the design and receive the digital file via email. This goes against the grain of other design companies where one has to order the design along with the actual product – be it an invitation, sticker-tag or cute water bottle label.

Kori actually designs and illustrates all her work from scratch. She does not use clipart or any downloadable images. All her pre-designed items have set prices and can be found on etsy.com. All her designs are customizable and you can even have her create your very own design.

While Kori’s design and over all outlook are rather cheery, she faced some obstacles during the startup of her company, “Paper & Pigtails grew but managing my time and priorities was a challenge.” She was quick to find a balance and learn what worked. Setting goals and only accepting work that was worth her time was a big feat for Kori. Her pure passion and heart for design is what drives the company. This inspired individual hasn’t let fear of failure stop her and now she is reaping all the benefits.

Written by: Bridgette

PAPER & PIGTAILS

www.koriclarkdesigns.com