CQ Press' Elections in West Europa
Elections in West Europa is an online political simulation for students which provides a hands-on approach to learning the electoral processes. For this project, The Art Monkey delivered an engaging student-friendly design which is fully scalable to accomodate different user types and product packages.
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American Health Care Association Grassroots "Call to Action" Newsletter Insert
With healthcare reform a hot topic in Congress, AHCA needed to get their message out to their members quickly. The Art Monkey worked with AHCA to design a grassroots "call to action" four-page insert for their monthly Notes newsletter that grabs reader's attention quickly to ensure a prompt response. AHCA used the insert to urge members to contact their Congressmen regarding the effects of the proposed health care reform bills on medicare, assisted living, and nursing home facilities with the bold tagline, "Save Our Seniors!".
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Independent Sector 2008 Annual Report
Independent Sector's 2008 annual report, titled Our Hopes, Our Voice, Our Future, serves as a state of the union and call to action for the organization's members—nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs—during a challenging economic time. Independent Sector's existing logo and photography, as well as the idea of working together to promote the common good, provided inspiration for the design of the report.
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CQ Press Mass Communications Textbook Companion Website
The Art Monkey works closely with CQ Press' College Division on numerous textbook companion websites, which offer additional learning and teaching resources for students and professors.
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Independent Sector 2007 Annual Report
Independent Sector's existing logo and photography provided an inspiration for the design of the 2007 annual report, which features profiles of their members' successes to highlight key members and engage the audience.
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American Health Care Association's National Nursing Home Week Promotional Materials
The Art Monkey designed a logo, planning brochure, advertisements and other promotional materials for AHCA's 2007 National Nursing Home Week.
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- "Lynne is a superb designer. Creative, conscientious, and timely."
Alexis Starkey, Formerly of American Health Care Association - "Lynne is as reliable as the sunrise and creates designs as stunning. With minimal input from me, she invariably nails the look and feel of a concept on the first try. I've been using Lynne's services for six years, on dozens of projects, and couldn't be more pleased with the results."
Jerry Orvedahl, CQ Press - "Lynne worked closely with us from the start of our business to create a logo that embodied our vision and a site that reflected our core values. We provide healing services to people experiencing stress, so her ability to create a welcoming, easy-to-navigate site was essential. We have received numerous positive comments about the professional look and comfortable feel of the design."
Tracie Nichols, The Resiliency Center - "Since we were a growing business at the time we first hired Lynne, website flexibility was critical. Lynne created the initial design when we were only two people strong—and then found ways to reorganize the site as we grew to fifteen strong—so that visitors could find information easily."
Tracie Nichols, The Resiliency Center - "She was always a step ahead of us in brainstorming ways to improve the site and in finding cost-effective solutions (e.g. online calendar and newsletter programs) to meet our needs. Thank you for your wonderful design and your ongoing partnership as we continue to grow our organization!"
Tracie Nichols, The Resiliency Center - "We have a small shop with a large amount of work. Lynne is an indispensable extra set of hands for us. She is talented, flexible, and has learned our system. We use her for both graphics and coding. Our clients like her ability to get jobs done on time. Our IT staff appreciates her tidy code and positive outlook."
Steve Fuchs, Voice of America / Broadcasting Board of Governors - "The Art Monkey gets straight A's in their service, creativity and pricing. They are a dynamic and integral part of our success and an absolute pleasure to work with."
Glenn Hefferan, Atlantic Metropolitan Hockey League - "Lynne Venart is truly wonderful to work with! She is very professional, creative and completes the jobs quickly. She also goes above and beyond which results in wowing our customers."
Abby Kirsch, Red Bull North America
ABOUT: PRINCIPAL BIO
Principal and Creative Director Lynne Venart wears many hats.
She's the one who answers the phone when you call, emails you about an upcoming project, prepares your proposals, and of course, designs and produces your creative print and web design and development projects.
Background
A Pioneer of Web & Multimedia
Back in 1997 when Lynne graduated from Penn State University with a Bachelors degree in both Advertising and Integrative Arts, there was only one web design and one multimedia design course available, and you can bet she took them both, along with a full curricula of traditional graphic design, advertising, media, and arts courses.
Upon entering the working world, she dove head first into web and multimedia development, spending the first five years of her career as a designer at two now-defunct web and multimedia firms, a direct mail advertising agency, and a non-profit medical publisher. During this time, she broadened her skills to include print and information design, and completed work for clients such as Nextel, Fleet Bank, Network Solutions, AltaVista, PBS, and the American Productivity and Quality Center.
With the dot-com bust in 2001, Lynne, like many of her colleagues, found herself out of a job. She embraced the opportunity, seeking freelance work from her many connections.
A Continuous Search for the Latest & Greatest
Eight years after founding The Art Monkey LLC, business is booming and Lynne's skill sets are continuously expanding. Design and web development (not to mention owning a business) don't allow one to sit on one's laurels, and that's perfect. Lynne thrives on new experiences and variety in her work, looking at each project—whether it's an annual report, an online research tool, a brochure, or a marketing website—as a challenge, a problem to solve.
In order to better serve the plethora of non-profits, associations, and government agencies headquartered in Washington, D.C., Lynne began studying Non-Profit and Arts Management at George Mason University in 2005, and graduated in January of 2009 with a Masters degree in Arts Management. The graduate program's focus on the business of non-profits, including courses in marketing, internet strategies, development, budgeting and policy, could not be more relevant to the D.C. region. While some designers yearn for the excitement of Los Angeles or New York, Lynne loves the District and the socially conscious organizations that thrive in it, many of whom are her clients.
When she's not busy working on graphic design and web development projects for The Art Monkey, researching the latest design and tech trends, or keeping her creative side ticking by painting and drawing, Lynne writes about Arts and Events for DCist.com, and helps to organize, curate, and promote the annual DCist Exposed Photography Show, which welcomed over a thousand visitors at this year's opening.