Last month, the Customer Service department, in collaboration with MacPherson’s Fun Committee, led a sign-painting activity! These monthly activities, dreamt up by various team members, are part of a concerted effort to connect with materials we work with, learn from each other and express ourselves.
Category Managers Jessica Green, Krystel Mendoza and Valletta Lewis with Creative Manager Krystal Willis, showing off their creations!
Customer Service provided a nice packet of hand lettering exercises to get us warmed up and acquainted with some basic techniques. Images from Pinterest featuring different styles and quotes were displayed to help people brainstorm. There were materials to support everyone’s level of comfort, from working totally free-form to having a bit of structure. They provided letter stencils as well as various patterns and shapes, which made it easy to add embellishments.
Customer Service provided a nice packet of hand lettering exercises to get us warmed up and acquainted with some basic techniques. Images from Pinterest featuring different styles and quotes were displayed to help people brainstorm. There were materials to support everyone’s level of comfort, from working totally free-form to having a bit of structure. They provided letter stencils as well as various patterns and shapes, which made it easy to add embellishments.
Web Content Specialist & Graphic Designer Hannah Reineck casting spells; Iqvinder Singh, Digital Assets Manager flexes his lettering skills.
Materials
- Manuscript CalliCreative Duotip Sets
- Crafter’s Workshop Stencils
- Art Alternatives Dual Tip Brush Markers
- Derwent Line Makers
- Tombow Brush Markers
- POSCA Markers
- Art Alternatives Creative Surfaces
- Art Alternatives Wood Panels
The pressure was off and the creativity was flowing! Everyone appreciated the open feel of the event. Some people (like Victoria Rollison in Human Resources and Isaly Murrell, Assistant Category Manager) decided to just do painting or create designs without lettering. Tips included using pencils or a real brush with small, lace-like stencils because markers will bleed through. Mistakes, rewrites or do-overs were widely accepted: the team assured us that once our creation was dry, we could cover anything we wanted with POSCA anyways!
Taking time to make something creative together and enjoy each other’s successes propels us forward in other avenues of our work. For different teams, there are different approaches. Yours might look like a staff training, happy hour or trying out a new product as a group. What kind of activities does your team enjoy doing together?
