Nice to Meet You
As Brand + Creative Design Strategist for ElectriCities, I create visual pieces that help convey the message and value of public power. ElectriCities and NC Public Power encompass a great deal of detail and information. It is our team’s duty to collaborate, visually support that message, and present things in ways that are easy to comprehend – all while staying within our brand guidelines. Based on the need, that could be anything from creating print/web/branding materials for member cities and towns to graphic support for our in-house departments.
Visual Thinking
Lori Patterson is a visual thinker. As ElectriCities Brand + Creative Design Strategist, she does graphic design work on all sorts of collateral, such as bill inserts, brochures, event programs and signage, PowerPoints, the annual report, and of course, those beautiful social media images we all love to post and share. (She also designed the Weekly Wire you’re reading right now!) It’s probably no surprise, that when Lori shuts down her work computer for the day, she taps into her inner artist. “It’s nice to do something creative but not on a screen,” Lori says.
Lori’s main pastime is painting, something she’s dabbled in since college. “When I’m out and about, I’m always trying to see things that I might paint later,” she says. Whenever inspiration strikes, she takes a picture to refer back to when she gets to her home studio. “Landscapes, florals, and sunsets are my favorite.” Recently, Lori’s paint of choice has been gouache. “It’s a very versatile medium because you can mix water into it to dilute the opacity.” This gives her the flexibility to create a piece with solid saturated color or one with a lighter watercolored effect, all with the same paint.
Over the years, Lori has played around with different mediums, including acrylic on canvas. A decade ago, she even created custom colorful pet portraits for a Raleigh boutique. “Pets are fun to do,” she says, because you almost always have a happy customer — and “I like seeing the pet pictures that people send me.”
And speaking of pets, Lori’s dog Waffles once inspired another creative side project: a children’s book, illustrated by Lori. She printed only a couple of copies for herself and close family members, including her then-young niece and nephew. “It was a knick-knacky, rhyme-y thing, but I enjoyed making it.” Enjoying the maker process seems to be a common theme in Lori’s life, both at work and at play.
We Want to Hear from You!
We want to shine a light on the folks who keep the lights on, the faces behind the public power that drives our communities. We’ll be sharing a few stories about our team here at ElectriCities, from what inspires us to some of our favorite hobbies.
But this isn’t just about us. We want to hear from you! Do you have an employee who goes above and beyond? What about a team member or leader with an impressive extracurricular accomplishment? Let us know by sending your stories and ideas here.