ABOUT
Sarah Stover began her creative career working at a floral shop. She initially began designing floral arrangements but then ventured into other creative avenues at the florist shop with web design and original photography.
She later worked at a home building company where the lead designer recognized her gifts in design and
requested Sarah work in the department of design.
Later, she worked for organizations and individuals helping them with their graphic and branding needs.
The Roadblock That Led to an Open Door:
Sarah graduated with her Psychology degree with the goal of achieving a career in social services or as a professional counselor. But numerous infections attacked her body in late 2014 leaving her wheelchair bound and bedridden.
After months of laying in bed feeling miserable, she realized she would not be able to obtain her original careers desires, but she could place a laptop on her fragile body and endeavor to learn something new.
She created a website blog devoted to helping others who were in despair find hope. In this time, she learned web design, aspects of social media, creative content including content writing, and email opt-ins which led to thousands of subscribers. During this time, she had viral posts with thousands of shares.
Others saw Sarah’s capabilities which is how she started taking on creative freelance projects creating social media graphics, social media campaigns, web design, a workbook project complete with original copy, and an original cover, and other creative content projects.
Sarah’s Test Results for Strong Interest Assessment:
Artistic
Artistic types thrive creating art from various mediums from physical to digital.
Investigative
Investigative types are data driven and enjoy researching and using logic.
Social
Social types enjoy teaching, training, counseling, and developing people.
Enterprising
Enterprising types are achievers who enjoy business and marketing endeavors.
Sarah’s Highlights:
Sarah graduated with a B.S. in Psychology in 2009 and also holds certifications in Digital Marketing Strategy and a certification in Copywriting, both from Digital Marketer.
She also recently received a certification from the University of Central Florida (UCF) in UX/UI Design.
Over the past six years, she’s worked with clients including design and marketing for bestselling authors, a website and logo for a former NFL football player and professor, graphics for events, and more.
Why Dragonflies?
You may see dragonflies throughout this site and wonder why they’re in this digital space. That’s because Sarah has fond memories of watching dragonflies glide across the creek she played in as a child. Their iridescent bodies and purposeful movements remind Sarah of what encapsulates good design elements with their striking beauty and functionality.
As a little known fact, one of the leading companies that constructs helicopters modeled their aircraft after the design of a dragonfly. This proves all the more the vision of design these insects encompass.
Sarah’s Strengths:
Design
Sarah is formally trained in digital design concepts from the University of Central Florida. She has fourteen years of experience in design concepts and seven years of experience in digital design.
Empathy
Sarah has a Psychology and Social Work background. This allows her the ability to place herself in the shoes of her proto-persona to hone a product and creation to their needs.
Research
On the Strengths Finder, Sarah’s number two highest strength is Intellection with her third highest as Connectedness. She loves conducting research and finding the connections needed to format information that is easily accessible to stakeholders and team members alike.
Ideation
Sarah’s highest strength on the highly acclaimed Strength Finder’s Test is Ideation. One of her favorite things is to cultivate creative ideas and solutions.
Copywriting
Sarah is a certified Copywriter. She writes original copy on the websites she creates utilizing proper sequencing. Sarah also has the capacity to condense dense information for easier readability.
Technology
Sarah is proficient in Figma, Invision, WordPress.org, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Wondershare (video editor), Canva, and working knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite.
Visual Timeline of Sarah's Work History:
2005 Sarah works at InBloom Florist (Design and Empathy Developing)
Sarah starts work at InBloom Florist designing floral arrangements, listening to the customer's design requests, and implementing their desires. (Original photo from Sarah.)
2009 Graduates with a Bachelor's in Psychology (Developing Research & Writing)
Sarah graduates with a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology with a minor in English.
2009 Social Worker (Empathy & Research Developing)
Sarah works at a physical rehabilitation facility in the short-term care as a Social Worker. It is there where she honed her empathy for her patients as well as her research skills by gathering necessary documentation together from patient files. Sarah was also involved in diagnostic procedures and conflict resolution. Her supervisor affirmed that every decision Sarah made was the same set of actions her supervisor would have made.
2009-2012 Sarah Continues Work at InBloom Florist (Design, Empathy, & Ideation Building)
Sarah continues work at InBloom Florist, designing floral arrangements and attending to customers, but also taking original photographs of floral arrangements for publicity and designing their website.
2012-2013 Sarah Works as an Activities Coordinator (Design, Ideation, Writing, & Empathy Developing)
Sarah works as an Activities Coordinator honing her abilities with creative organization by planning themed events, decorating for the events, writing content for a publication distributed to the entire community, and leading structured talks surrounding a specific subject matter.
Sarah developed deep connections with the residents to the point where many cried when she left. Her boss said he had never witnessed this with previous workers who left--even ones who worked there for a decade.
2013-2014 Design Assistant at Lifestyle Homes (Design, Ideation, & Empathy Building)
Sarah began working the front desk of a home building company. The lead designer saw potential in Sarah's design abilities and requested she join her as the designer's assistant.
Sarah helped clients choose the appropriate selections for their home based on their input from Sarah's questions coupled with design theory.
2015-2023 Blogging, Freelance Graphic Design & Web Design (Digital Design, Writing, Branding, Content Creation, & Endurance Building)
This was a major pivot time for Sarah. At the time, Sarah became wheelchair-bound and bedridden. But it was also in this time that Sarah created one of her first websites and used the medium to encourage others. Onlookers saw her digital creations and requested her assistance in creating websites, social media graphics, logos, and other content creations.
Her doctor was shocked at her ability to press on through her challenging physical hardships and said that given her state, she shouldn't even be able to write.
The first several years was physically challenging, but Sarah realizes that without becoming bedridden, she would have probably never have discovered her love for digital design and content creation.
2020-Current, Creative Lead at Valor Media
Sarah has been creatively leading at Valor Media with web design, social media graphics, promotional material, advertising, video editing, content writing, conducting interviews, and managing volunteers. She has also helped with branding efforts to distinguish the non-profit wing from the business entity.
2022-2023 Graduated from University of Central Florida in User Experience User Design
Applying the principles of the Design Thinking Process, User Experience Research, Insight Synthesis, Prototype Creation, and Usability Testing.
Graduates also displayed proficiency in UI Design Fundamentals by creating responsive interfaces across mobile and desktop platforms using Figma or Adobe XD.
Graduates also display proficiency in color theory, layouts, and the fundamentals of digital design.
They are also proficient in creating web prototypes using HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, JavaScript, and jQuery. This program consists of 240 contact hours or 24 CEUs.
Continued Certifications
Graphic Design Masterclass: Covered Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Design Theory, Branding, and Logo Design.
Branding Masterclass: Covered design thinking, research, sketching, logo design, developing a brand and a brand voice, and brand assets.
Logo Design Mastery in Adobe Illustrator: Learned logo design theory and implementation in Adobe Illustrator.
User Research and Testing for UX Writing: Learned how to prepare and test UX writing decisions with user research.
Sarah Stover's Resume'
Feel free to click on the image of the resume’ image to view Sarah’s resume’ or click on the button below to download a copy for yourself.
Feel free to view some projects mentioned in her visual portfolio.
If you’re interested in contacting Sarah, click here to send your message.
