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miaevalyn studio

intentional design • thoughtful planning • story-led creative

Wooden Surface

my portfolio -
a collection of stories I’ve helped shape

Each project started with a question, an idea, or a goal, and became something real: visual identities, event experiences, websites, campaigns, and content crafted to connect and linger. Everything here is stitched together with intention, curiosity, and a little magic.

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The Guild of Artists & Artisans

The Guild of Artists & Artisans

The Guild of Artists & Artisans

The Guild of Artists & Artisans produces some of the most beloved art fairs in the Midwest, and I was originally brought on to support gallery operations. But when I offered to take a shot at designing the Ann Arbor Summer Art Fair poster, they liked it so much that I was given full creative responsibility for the Guild’s seasonal campaigns. That included all art fair posters, signage, and supporting visuals across digital and print. I also took on exhibition posters and social media content for the Guild’s contemporary gallery space, Gutman Gallery.

Each campaign had its own tone and aesthetic, but all were built with consistency in mind. Posters matched social graphics, signage reflected the fair’s vibe, and event materials stayed accessible, branded, and beautiful. I developed visual systems that helped the Guild promote their mission while keeping each event fresh and distinct.

Highlights
- Full visual systems for four seasonal art fairs
- Posters, social templates, and digital ads
- On-site materials: vendor guides, schedules, signage, and wayfinding
- Custom product design (Holiday cocktail can)
- Event aesthetic development and cross-platform cohesion
- Light event logistics support for signage, printing, and layout
- Exhibition posters and digital content for Gutman Gallery

Process & Notes
This was some of my favorite kind of work: designing for events that bring people together, where every detail counts. I loved balancing brand consistency with room for seasonal flair. From warm fall palettes to winter sparkle, I made sure each fair had its own feel while staying rooted in the Guild’s identity.

Gutman Gallery projects ran alongside the fair work, where I designed exhibition posters and social graphics with a separate voice, but just as much intention.

The Holiday Artist Market was a particular highlight. I designed both the poster and a custom cocktail can, and worked directly with the team at Ann Arbor Distilling Company to help test and refine the drink itself. I loved the energy of these events: the collaboration, the community, and the chance to design pieces that people could actually hold, sip from, or spot across town.

GSFCD Final Score

GSFCD Final Score

Gold Star Football Club Detroit

Gold Star FC was a brand-new professional soccer team entering their inaugural season — and they needed a visual identity that could keep up. They gave me the essentials: a logo, two fonts (Kanit and Futura), and two core colors — black and yellow-gold. From there, I built a full-scale social media system to carry them through their first year with style, clarity, and momentum.

Coming from the arts world, I was a little nervous to take on a sports project. But it quickly became one of my favorite design challenges. I created bold, flexible templates that felt consistent without getting stale — everything from match day posts to goal graphics, roster drops, and beyond. The look was dynamic, clear, and ready for fans to rally behind.

Highlights
- Graphic system for player spotlights, match announcements, scores, and birthday posts
- Templates designed for Instagram feed and Stories
- Two-font, two-color system: Kanit, Futura, black and yellow-gold
- Schedule graphics, starting lineups, and post-game results
- Photo editing and consistency across all visuals

Process & Notes
This project let me stretch in a new direction — high-energy design with a fast pace and a strong audience. I handled the full visual system from top to bottom, creating assets the team could use throughout the season. It was a shift from my usual work, but one that felt exciting and rewarding. Some of my favorite work ever.

PCAS Minor Library Ad

PCAS Minor Library Ad

Program in Computing for the Arts & Sciences

PCAS is a new interdisciplinary program at the University of Michigan that needed to introduce itself in a way that felt clear, exciting, and completely unlike traditional academic advertising. I was brought on by the department’s chief administrator — the same person who oversees Philosophy— and asked to lead the full visual direction for the launch.

I pitched a comic-book-inspired identity designed to be eye-catching and student-friendly: bold colors, halftones, speech bubbles, layered shapes, and a fun tone that didn’t sacrifice clarity. I handled every part of the branding — font choices, color palette, type hierarchy, layout templates — and rolled it out across campus screens, flyers, bus ads, advising tables, and social media.

Highlights
- Comic-style branding system for PCAS launch
- Designed 8+ modular course flyers with QR integration
- Visual storytelling for themes like AI, music, justice, and creative tools
- Campaign appeared across campus screens, print ads, and advising tables
- Included large-format displays and city bus signage
- Built full brand suite: colors, typography, layouts, and graphic structure

Process & Notes
This was one of those dream projects where the creative concept matched the goals exactly. I wanted to make something bold, accessible, and genuinely fun — and it worked. Students literally told the department they saw the materials around campus and loved the look, which is almost unheard of in academic advertising. Faculty and staff were thrilled, and the campaign helped boost enrollment and visibility for the new program right away.

Habatat VIP Weekend Metro Times Ad

Habatat VIP Weekend Metro Times Ad

Habatat Galleries

Habatat is one of the leading contemporary glass art galleries in the world, and it also happens to be the reason I majored in arts management. I visited the gallery on a high school field trip and thought, how do I get into this? Years later, it became my first job out of college: a full-circle moment and a total dream.

I was brought on primarily for design, and that remained my main focus throughout: printed materials for multiple exhibitions, artist catalogs, event signage, ad campaigns, and more. I designed the full print identity for the 50th Anniversary VIP Weekend, created seasonal postcards and collector mailers, and led visual promotion for solo shows, including one for Netflix's Blown Away winner John Moran.

Outside of design, I also supported artist relations and behind-the-scenes operations: coordinating with exhibiting artists, managing inventory, formatting and printing labels, and updating the website to reflect new work and events.

Highlights
- Full print design suite for the 50th Anniversary VIP Celebration
- Invitations, schedules, signage, and guest-facing print materials
- Event design and ad campaign for Blown Away winner John Moran
- Seasonal postcards, artist catalogs, and exhibition mailers
- Metro Times print ad design and campaign coordination
- Label creation, inventory tracking, and artist communications
- Website updates and artwork management

Process & Notes
This role taught me how to design for real-world timelines, gallery pacing, and high expectations, all while staying grounded in visual clarity and care. One of the most rewarding parts was meeting international artists and collectors I had admired for years. From concept to execution, every project was a chance to learn, grow, and contribute to a space that had shaped my creative path from the very beginning.

It was a full-circle kind of job: starting as a wide-eyed visitor, returning as a designer helping carry that legacy forward.

Tanner Poster

Tanner Poster

Tanner Lecture on Human Values

The Tanner Lecture is one of the most prestigious annual events at the University of Michigan. For the 2024 program, I led both the visual campaign and event planning coordination, shaping the experience from the first poster draft to the final table arrangements. The event unfolded over two days: a keynote lecture, reception, and private dinner, followed by a faculty breakfast, academic symposium, and closing lunch.

The featured speaker, Dr. Hélène Landemore of Yale, gave a lecture titled Truth and Love in Politics — a complex, emotionally resonant topic. I created a cartoon-style illustration inspired by the architecture of a historic government building, translating democratic ideals into visual form. The entire campaign was built from scratch — from sketchpad to Adobe — and became a defining feature of the event. Dr. Landemore requested a large framed copy for her office, calling it a perfect visual representation of her talk.

Event Planning Scope
- Curated catering menus and coordinated all food and beverage orders
- Managed travel and lodging for the featured speaker
- Booked musicians for the reception (selected string quartet from submitted proposals)
- Created seating charts and table numbers to encourage thoughtful conversation
- Reserved venues for reception, breakfast, and symposium
- Scheduled load-in, managed run-of-show, and handled on-site execution

Highlights
- Original poster designed from initial sketches to final digital artwork
- Full print and digital campaign: web banners, campus screens, and regional ads
- On-site materials including speaker bios, symposium programs, and wayfinding signage
- Final poster design enlarged and framed for the speaker’s office

Process & Notes
This project was a deep dive into storytelling and high-touch logistics. I developed the visual direction independently, with full creative freedom to build something serious, grounded, and quietly powerful. Faculty approved the final concept, but the vision was fully my own.

One of my favorite elements was the seating chart. Each table was designed to foster interdisciplinary conversation and connection. From the poster to the music, every detail helped shape an experience that felt cohesive, thoughtful, and memorable.

Instagram Feed

Instagram Feed

THE COMMA FINE ART GALLERY

THE COMMA FINE ART GALLERY originally opened in East Aurora before relocating and relaunching in Orchard Park, NY with a new co-owner, a new direction, and a need for a fresh, intentional public presence. Christina H. Paul, the gallery’s founder, remained on as curator. I joined alongside Deborah R. Hill to lead a full redesign of the gallery’s identity across digital platforms — with a focus on increasing visibility, growing community engagement, and supporting artist sales.

At the time, I had just moved to Buffalo and was excited to get involved in the Western New York arts scene. THE COMMA was the perfect fit. I jumped in to overhaul their outdated online presence: building new Instagram and LinkedIn accounts, developing a consistent visual language, and completely rebuilding the website from scratch. The new identity is clean, painterly, and content-forward — easy to navigate and easy to update as exhibitions and events evolve.

I also led the gallery’s first call-for-art campaign in its new chapter. Compared to the last campaign under the previous branding, this one delivered:
8× more reach, 2× the likes, 4× the shares, and 50 new followers — while the last campaign gained none.

Highlights
- Full redesign and rebuild of the gallery website (structure, layout, CMS, copy)
- Clean, responsive layout for desktop and mobile
- Artist and exhibition pages built for frequent updating
- Event calendar with RSVP integration
- New Instagram and LinkedIn accounts with consistent branding
- Complete rewrite of all public-facing copy, including mission and exhibition text
- SEO optimization and coordinated launch plan
- First call-for-art campaign: 8× reach, 2× likes, 4× shares, 50+ new followers

Process & Notes
From day one, I approached the project with an eye toward consistency and long-term clarity. I built a modular visual language that could evolve with the gallery while staying cohesive and recognizable. The new Instagram strategy brought THE COMMA’s feed to life, helping shift perception and generate real engagement.

The website mirrored that energy: simple, flexible, and designed to let the artwork shine. This project was about more than a refresh. It was about giving a small-town gallery a strong, contemporary presence — and the tools to keep growing.

WGS Graduate

WGS Graduate

WGS Graduation Reception

Each spring, the University of Michigan’s Women’s and Gender Studies and Gender & Health departments host a graduation reception to honor their seniors. For the 2023 event, I was given full creative control with no preset template and no art direction. I developed the entire visual and event identity from the ground up, drawing on my personal design sensibilities and a deep understanding of the department’s tone, values, and community.

I chose a soft, impressionist-inspired style paired with traditional serif type to strike a balance between elegance and warmth. The goal was to create an experience, not just a document, that felt celebratory, story-rich, and thoughtfully crafted.

Event Planning Scope
This wasn’t just a design project. I also led event logistics and planning, including:

- Venue selection and layout
- Catering and brunch menu planning
- Seating and name display logistics
- Run of show and timing coordination
-Faculty speech and segment structure
- Custom graduate gifts: I selected and branded Carhartt fanny packs with the WGS logo, which were a huge hit with students

Highlights
- Multi-page printed program with welcome, awards, thesis abstracts, and graduate names
- Visual system rooted in Monet-inspired imagery, floral textures, and subtle vintage detail
- Clear typographic hierarchy for accessibility and legibility
- Handled all formatting, production, and print delivery

Process & Notes
This project was a dream. I had full freedom to create something beautiful and tailored, and the trust of the department to make every design and event decision. I used that opportunity to lean into painterly layouts, layered typography, and details that would resonate with students and faculty alike.

The final program was deeply well-received. Faculty shared it with pride, students saved it as a keepsake, and the event itself ran smoothly from start to finish. From the paper textures to the fanny packs, everything reflected care.

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