Behance

For those of you wanting to view my latest work as I continue to work on my new website, please visit my Behance profile at http://www.behance.net/karawheat.

Thanks!

New Website

Dear clients and followers, 

I wanted to inform all of you that I am in the process of creating a brand new website for Sweet Wheat Photography and Design! 

While this is happening I won't be able to commit any time to my current blog. However, don't hesitate to look around and contact me with any questions! 

Sorry for the inconvenience.

-Kara Wheat

Achieve Banner #1

Here is my latest piece! If you would like to know more about it just visit my design tab. You can also visit the Achieve website to view the banner and my newest edits to the Achieve Access page. Thanks for stoping by!

Here are three different website banner designs I made for the Achieve website today. Which one if your favorite?

Surprise Birthday Party!

This last weekend was a special one because it was the first time I was able to be there for my husband's birthday. We have always had a long distance relationship and so we had a lot of celebrating to make up for lost time. I threw him a surprise birthday party and had a lot of fun designing the invitations. It feels weird to be designing for yourself for once! 

Showing Your Nonprofit Personality Through Social Media

Back when I was in school Facebook was known for its capability to successfully delay homework and to help pass the time.  I would see students on it in class, lectures, and even their breaks. Sometimes they would even be as sneaky as to check it through their phones because they just couldn’t wait one more moment to see what ‘Johnny’ has written on their wall. The same thing applied to me, unfortunately. I thought that Facebook could only be used for catty gossip and meaningless ‘likes’ of statuses. However, as I entered the professional world my eyes were opened to the potential this social media tool actually had.

On my first day at Achieve a coworker asked me if I had twitter and I replied “no.” I had never felt compelled to share my nonsensical thoughts and wasn’t sure why the rest of the world would care. I was then recommended to create myself one because I would be using it for work.  So I did.

As time passed I started to develop an understanding of the purpose of social media in the workplace and how best utilize it. I could see how politicians and celebrities had used social media to tell the world their thoughts, opinions, and just random information. If celebrities can use social media to educate their followers why can’t our business?

In early August I attended Blog Indiana, a social media and blogging conference. I was then addressed with the same train of thought as I attended the first session about how visual content and social media can work together. The speaker, Allison Carter, discussed how to tell your story through an image because images get higher traffic than just links. She made a good point that Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook are all incredibly popular due to the fact that images are constantly being posted. According to a PsychologyDegree.net infograph about 250 million photos are updates daily on Facebook alone. That is a lot of images!

 As you can see in these two Oreo advertisements they both have the same exact objects in each image. The only thing different is the placement. Even though these two images have almost no text they still tell two completely different stories. The Top makes me think of eating Oreos for breakfast while the bottom makes me dream of snacking on milk and Oreos on some exotic island. What does it make you think of?

She went on to discuss how businesses should not be afraid to show who they really are. She explained that you don’t have to just post things about what your business is doing but maybe some interesting links of some fun photos from around the office. I was very excited to hear her discuss this issue because just the week before I had started working on the Achieve Facebook page because I thought it was missing a touch of personality. I posted pictures from a company party and of our leaving interns just to let our clients and followers know that we are fun people and we are fun to work with. The point was to add a bit of a human atmosphere because it seemed very sterile and a bit serious prior to that. So, naturally I was excited when Allison discussed this.

Later that day I attended another session by Ryan Brock. He talked on a similar topic about how companies are afraid to look wrong in front of their followers so they filter themselves down way too much. He gave the great example of Kanye West and how he never filters himself. Even though many people don’t like him they know what he stands for and what he thinks. He has no filter! He shows his true colors and does not hide his emotions. I am not saying that you should tweet about that awkward dream you had last night or post a picture of you in your newest pair of jeans you got on sale at Kohl’s. But just don’t be afraid to show some personality in your posts and images.

Show your volunteers a more personable side of your nonprofit. This way they can connect and relate with you through your pictures and status updates.  Take advantage of this social media opportunity to appeal to your volunteers in a different ways. You might find that you both have more in common than you thought. 

This was the my first blog post on behalf of Achieve! I am not an experienced writer so any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Check it out on the Achieve website here!

Millennial Case Study

I finished this slide just a little but ago. This slide is for Case and their presentation about targeting Millennials and what drives them to make decisions on social media websites.

Blog Indiana

Today I am at Blog Indiana with my coworker Justin Brady. I am representing Sweet Wheat Photography and Design as well as Achieve!

Action For Healthy Kids E-Newsletter

I love what I have been working on for Action For Healthy Kids. Visit my Design page to find out more! If you want to take part in The Action For Healthy Kids challenge visit their website! While you are there you can sign up for their e-newsletters and you can look forward to receiving one of these e-newsletters designed by yours truly. 

Humane Society of Boone County

MCON12

Tomorrow is MCON! It's not too late to sign up and learn all about social media, blogging, fundraising, and Millennials of course!

Millennial Impact Report

For my first job with Achieve I had the honor of getting to design the Millennial Impact Report.
Check it out here!

I am now on the Achieve website!

Working at Achieve

My experience over the past 2 1/2 weeks at Achieve has been amazing! My office is right downtown above a restaurant so I have an amazing view and am in a great location to experience Indianapolis to the fullest. Currently, I am working on my first project which happens to be the biggest one of the year. I am designing the Millennial Report. This report is an extremely in depth analysis of the millennial generation when it comes to helping nonprofits. So far the report is almost 40 pages with MANY graphs. I am working on some infographs right now which is by far my favorite part yet.

I have some amazing coworkers, with an amazing view, in an amazing, working an amazing job. I can't wait to see what else Achieve has in store for me.

Here is a sample of just one of the infographs I have designed so far for the report.

 This is the view from my window! I am so lucky.

 My desk :)

 The building I work in. Indianapolis is so beautiful.

Salvation Army Internship

Today is my last day working as the marketing and design intern at The Salvation Army Indiana Headquarters. It was an amazing experience. The people there are amazing and incredibly friendly. I have never worked at a place quite like it. Everyone there was like family and had such great attitudes. My boss, Brian Smith, is by far the best boss I have ever had. He gave me this wonderful opportunity as well as freedom to work on my own and completely trusted me. Not only was he my boss but he is my friend. Thanks Brian! Without you and The Salvation Army I would not be working for such a wonderful place as Achieve Guidance!

Here are the last things I designed for The Salvation Army. These are just some ideas for creating T-shirts for kids who join the Bite Back Brigade, which is a fight against hunger and homelessness. The new theme for The Bite Back Brigade is "Be a Superhero!"