Education

Mar

2025

Five tips for making the transformation from graphic designer to digital marketer

You’re a graphic designer, and want to be a digital marketing pro. This entails a transition from traditional marketing to digital marketing. I know, because I mastered the move through exploration, research, and course work.

Moving from analog to digital requires thought and planning

I did not just wake up one day, and poof—I was a digital marketing pro!

Moving from traditional print marketing to digital marketing took significant thought and planning. I had done traditional marketing communications in past job positions and was self-taught in certain aspects of digital marketing when I founded a management consulting firm more than twenty years ago. I knew how to use several Adobe creative apps and learned enough HTML/CSS to manage my Website.

At some point, I knew that I needed more formal training and found a course of study that would take me where I wanted to go. This led to a degree in graphic design. After applying what I learned through formal course work, I continued to explore new technologies and apps to provide digital marketing services.

Five tips for making the transformation from graphic designer to digital marketer

First, decide on the digital marketing services you will provide—social media marketing, content design, web design, web development, web analytics, user interface/user experience (UI/UX) design, advertising, analytics, and more.
Assess your software, IT, business, sales, marketing, and people skills. Yes—whether you work for an employer or are a freelancer, you need to use “soft” people skills to identify clients’ needs and provide the appropriate digital marketing solution.
Network, network, network! Find local digital marketing firms and identify professional organizations. Speak with people in the digital marketing industry about the required skill sets and job opportunities. Find a mentor if you can.
Make a plan to fill skills gaps between where you are currently, and where you want to go. This can entail classroom and/or online training, as well as formal and informal internships.
Finally, work your plan. Acquire new skills. Learn new technologies and software apps. Build your digital portfolio to demonstrate your capabilities, and market to potential employers or clients.

Digital marketing examples

Don't get left in the dust

Take your path to success in this exciting creative industry that hardly existed twenty years ago! You can become a digital marketer by shaping and working a thoughtful plan, through networking, and by developing a solid digital portfolio.

Digital marketing continues to morph, especially with Artificial Intelligence (AI), faster computers with more power and storage than ever, and continual changes to software and apps. Don’t get left in the dust… keep on learning new things, and stay ahead of the competition!

Dec

2023

Animals are social, too: Oklahoma animal rescue group uses social media to publicize upcoming training webinar

Grace Animal Rehabilitation Center in Sapulpa, Oklahoma rescues, fosters, and places dogs and cats in loving homes. The nonprofit engaged Jill B Gilbert to create graphic designs to publicize an upcoming webinar on social media, and also to prepare a brief presentation for use during the webinar.

The webinar presentation followed the colorful theme with images of various breeds of cats used in the social media posts.

Jan

2023

Jill B Gilbert reaches a milestone with pro bono projects impact

Volunteer work benefits a range of educational, environmental, professional development, and philanthropic non-profits in the U.S. and abroad

JIll B Gilbert recently reached a milestone: she has provided over 800 hours of volunteer work, saving non-profit organizations more than $USD 100,000. And she’s not slowing down—currently working on her next project!

Gilbert provided marketing communications, graphic design, and web design services on two dozen projects—many were multiple projects for the same client. The projects ranged from a highly-customized presentation for a sister organization to a U.S. National Park, to branding and logo design for childhood education and Head Start programs and a new high school, to custom presentations and brand guidelines for healthcare organizations.

Gilbert began working with volunteer matching organization Catchafire in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. Technology advances in the past 5 years made it possible to complete all of this volunteer work remotely—even for clients in the Houston area—with client meetings via Zoom or Google Meetings. She provided project deliverables in electronic format, using Adobe Creative Cloud apps like Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe Acrobat; Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Apple’s Keynote slide software.

Gilbert remarked, “I have enjoyed working on projects with these non-profits. I am open to paid commissions and plan to continue volunteering marketing, graphic design, and web design services to worthy non-profits so they can spend their budgets to further their missions.”

You can read more about several of the pro bono projects in our blog.

"Jill is extremely organized and creative. Her commitment to advancing causes is genuine and inspiring. Jill goes above and beyond! It was a pleasure working with her."

Rosa

Bridges to Science

"I highly recommend anyone to work with Jill. She has a wealth of knowledge, is very kind, responsive, and did a wonderful job on our visual brand guide."

Heather

Wisconsin Association of Free & Charitable Clinics

"Jill knows design! She understands principles of good design and has in-depth knowledge of professional tools to make your designs look great!"

Kerry

Many Hands

Jan

2022

Jill B Gilbert delivers stylish slide templates for The Justice Hub School

Custom slide template and presentation for The Justice Hub School

The Justice Hub School provides underserved youth in Houston’s Third Ward with academic and leadership skills to succeed in life. Jill B Gilbert was pleased to create a colorful new brand and a stylish custom presentation templates for this public charter school.

Our graphic design team created two templates aimed at different audiences–prospective donors and board members, and prospective students. Both templates employ Justice Hub’s new brand and color scheme. The image above shows the second, less formal, template on an iPad Pro.

Oct

2021

Halloween Thanks to CLHS Teachers and Staff: “No Tricks, Just Treats!”

The Clear Lake High School PTSA wanted a Halloween poster to show appreciation to the school’s teachers and staff.

Jill B Gilbert created a 20- x 30-inch poster with a black cat and pumpkins, a haunted house on a hill, and spider webs. The poster, created in Adobe Illustrator, uses various tints of purple for the background, with oranges and yellows for the pumpkins and a hint of glowing green.

Thanks to the amazing CLHS teachers and staff from the PTSA! Enjoy your treats!

Jul

2021

Eight Million Stories, Inc. selects Jill B Gilbert to create a brand for a new school

The Justice Hub School | Original Brand

Marvin Pierre is Executive Director of Eight Million Stories, Inc., a nonprofit founded in 2017 to support disconnected youth in Houston, Texas. Building upon the success of Eight Million Stories, he is founding a new school in Houston’s Third Ward. Marvin chose Jill B Gilbert to create a brand for The Justice Hub School that is attractive, edgy and has an urban feel. This project also included development of a brand guidelines document that will grow with the organization.

Apr

2018

San Jacinto College selects Jill B Gilbert’s design for Quality Enhancement Plan

On April 20, San Jacinto College Vice-Chancellor Laurel Williamson, QEP Director Ann Pearson, and the QEP Committee announced that it selected Jill B Gilbert’s design to represent the program for the next five years (see the QEP page here). The college’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), Thinking and Beyond, promotes student success through critical thinking.

The winning design for San Jacinto College’s Quality Enhancement Program

Gilbert’s design addresses the “right brain” creative and “left brain” logical aspects of critical thinking, as well as the San Jacinto Monument, topped by a star, and a USB connector to symbolize how students are always plugged in—the connection between critical thinking and technology.

Viewed another way, the symbol depicts a launched rocket, shooting for the stars, with puffs of exhaust parting as the rocket travels upward. This is an homage to Houston, aka the Space City; Jill’s Dad, a rocket scientist, and her little brother who followed in his Dad’s footsteps.