Katherine Worley

A Chicago native, or more accurately from the home of Ovaltine USA and Portillo's Restaurants: Villa Park, Ill. Farther back, my family were Slovakian immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island determined to succeed in this new land of opportunity. My family background is full of small businesses.

My design (including photography) ability probably comes from my Slovakian grandfather, Louis, but it was given shape and discipline at Flagler College in St. Augustine, where I earned a B.A. in graphic design.

In my first job as a professional designer for a large pharmaceutical company, I learned that design is the cornerstone of good communication. Although my responsibilities were limited to in-house graphic design and creating direct mail materials, this experience was great training and an important step in becoming an effective communicator.

In my next position, I learned the fundamentals of press production and different types of forward printing. This is an industry that’s reinvented itself in astonishing leaps and bounds, becoming “greener” and more cost-effective within a few short years.

I then moved to the financial sector, first into a leadership position at an accounting firm and on to serve as Vice President, Marketing for a national financial institution. I managed creative projects and programs in a variety of media.

I believe that good design communicates on its own, no matter what type of medium is used. As industries develop and grow in new directions, I’ll continue learning new ways to design my view of the world and myself. My guiding principles can be summed up in this quote from Andy Warhol:

Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.

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