Arts, Culture & Nature-Based Projects
Community Engagement
Creative Leadership for Programs & Organizations
Public Outreach & Education: Exhibits, Installations, Displays, Interpretive Signs, Guides & Publications
Creating memorable experiences has a deep impact on story. As a creative developer, graphic designer, illustrator, and editorial collaborator, Karen works with creative professionals, community builders, publication editors, program leaders, and teams. From creative development for print publications, interpretive signs, exhibit display panels to nature-based and community-building projects and public awareness initiatives, she helps clients define stories and bring creative projects to life. Karen is an excellent communicator, highly connected to local community, and fosters strong relationships with clients and creative professionals.
Design for the Arts works with clients to provide consult, planning, and creative for programs, publications, and exhibit features. PM: Project Management for teams
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
Minnesota Humanities Center & Partners
We Are Water MN Traveling Exhibit
Audio Tour Script Writing & Display Panel Writing
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Metropolitan Council
Environmental Services (MCES)
Sustainable Landscapes Program
Template Design & Illustration for Program Materials, Signs, and Interpretive Signs, Copy Editing, Digital Accessibility
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Hamline University
Adopt-a-Drain Program
Brand Advisor, Design & Illustration,
Marketing Guide Design (46 pages), Marketing Website Design & Site Architecture, File Name Convention & System Design (this national program has an expanding library of standard and custom marketing materials that expand as more partners join from new cities and states), Multimedia Gallery consult and icon design for Adopt-a-Drain K-12
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University of Minnesota Extension
Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteers
20-Year Annivrsary Publication Design,
Illustration for a Timeline Feature, Design of Graphs, Accessibility for downloadable PDFs (archived at the University Digital Conservancy)
Hand Papermaking
Hand Papermaking Magazine
Magazine Design (2017 to present), Print Production Management, Brand Guideline Creation, Magazine Production Documentation, Adaptation for Digital PDF
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Minnesota Historical Society
Foshay Tower Museum
Interactive Kiosk Design & PM
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Minnesota Education Equity Partnership
Logo Refinement & Color Palette, Web Design, Site Architecture & PM, Higher Education Toolkit Design, Creative Direction for Key Images, Annual Report Design
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Hamline University
Center for Global Environmental Education
Multimedia Gallery UX consult and icon design, Newsletter Style & Strategic Planning
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Melinda Vaughn School Pollinator Fund
Brand Development, Web Design,
Pollinator Guide Design & Creative for Events
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Tanner Barnharst, Microbiologist
Minnesota Lichen Guide (Free PDF)
Field Guide Design & Copy Proofing —
2nd Edition (100 pages)
For over 26 years, Karen has worked with hundreds of people to plan, consult, design, and illustrate for print initiatives, publication design, and packaging as well as online and interactive projects. In publication and interpretive sign design, Karen brings awareness to conceptual theme as well as the smallest of details. Balancing visual flow with typographic and editorial knowledge, she can lead on story refinement or take great care to preserve editor or program leader wording while making suggestions for visual impact. This work extends to interior and exterior environments and exhibits—from illustration and design for outdoor interpretive signs to understanding flow for nature center exhibits within a visual and physical context.
As a visual artist and writer, Minnesota Master Naturalist Volunteer, and a member of Climate Land Leaders, Karen brings unique knowledge to arts publications and projects and environmental and nature-based initiatives.
Interpretive Sign Feature
Met Council’s Sustainable Landscape Program
Design for the Arts worked with the senior outreach coordinator to develop materials for the Sustainable Landscape Program—an initiative that extends to 7 counties throughout the Twin Cities. The vision for this project includes improving water quality and creating a more resilient ecosystem by converting lift station properties to sustainable landscapes.
My role included setting design standards for communication materials and signs, including fact sheets, postcards, event boards, boundary signs, and permanent interpretive signs. I collaborated with team members and field experts to create and refine copy with the goal of educating residents about benefits and timelines for establishing native plantings, bee lawn, and prairie, woodland, and wetland habitats. Adhering to Met Council’s brand standards, I designed templates for the Sustainable Landscapes Program that contractors will use to create materials for each installation site. One of the highlights of this project was creating a signature illustration for the program and a set of ecosystem illustrations for permanent interpretive signs that are installed at each location as they are completed.
Met Council’s Sustainable Landscape Program Signature Illustration: American goldfinch, rusty-patched bumble bee, big bluestem, wild geranium, butterfly weed.
As a Minnesota Master Naturalist volunteer, I referenced trusted resources for Minnesota native plant and flowers. Our team met with local landscape installation team leaders and we received guidance from an expert in the nation’s largest ecological restoration company to ensure that themes, messaging, and installation details aligned with the overall vision of the project. The interpretive sign highlights how plant diversity and native plantings contribute to clean water and ecosystem resiliency and marks the establishment of each landscape.
Trumpeter swans, American goldfinch, rusty-patched bumble bee. Prairie: Purple coneflower, big bluestem, wild geranium, butterfly weed. Bee-lawn: Dutch white clover, creeping thyme. Wetland: Sensitive fern, horsetail, ostrich fern. Woodland: Red oak, white oak.