November 30, 2020
I’m Lio and my mom asked Alison to draw me for my upcoming birthday.
I’ll be one on December 19th.
If I understand the family chatter correctly, I’ve helped everyone get through some ups and downs lately.
Everyone keeps saying it’s bad out there, but I feel great. Nothing’s gonna get me down.
Stick with me and you’ll be fine.
October 20, 2020
CUSTOM HOME PORTRAITS make a unique holiday gift.
I like to plant the seed in October to give me enough time to complete your one-of-kind drawing.
HOW IT WORKS: I create the high-res art in PhotoShop, and you take the digital file to your favourite local printer/framer.
That way, we avoid sending original art through Canada Post/US Mail, both notorious for their seasonal backlog.
Feel free to email me for more details: alison (dot) garwoodjones (at) gmail (dot) com
Alison
October 14, 2020
When Nargiz asked me what change I wanted to see in the world, my thoughts turned to women.
Nargiz grew up in Azerbaijan, one of many countries now in political turmoil.
____________________________________________
The following clips are from my interview with Nargiz Mammadova, the co-founder and CEO of the Destin AI app, an AI-powered virtual guide that simplifies the immigration process to Canada.
Nargiz and I met a few years ago after I delivered a talk for IABC Toronto. She came bounding up to me.
It turns out, while building the Destin AI app with her team, she was simultaneously filming a web series of interviews with creative entrepreneurs, both as a way to fuel and encourage herself through the day-to-day challenges of building something that didn’t yet exist, but as inspiration for her friends, also trying to make their way through disrupted workplaces and the evolving technological landscape.
Our conversation was shot pre-Covid.
You can check out all of Nargiz’s full interviews (including this one) at Insights With Nargiz.
Produced by Nargiz Mammadova • Videographer: Gary Chen • Video Editing: Elnur Valiyev • Extra photos and text added by Alison Garwood-Jones
October 8, 2020
As a University of Toronto (SCS) instructor in #DigitalStrategy, I like coming up with different ways to explain what it takes to build a commercial relationship with your audience, without being obnoxiously salesy or transactional. #AdBlockers
When you want something too much … it doesn’t happen. #Desperation
The art of persuasion is about laying down a string of breadcrumbs with your stories and ideas, and letting your readers come to the conclusion: “I need what they are offering.” #LightbulbMoment
It’s kind of like a marriage: sometimes you have to let the other person think that your idea is theirs in order to get what you want.
In this cartoon, I’ve drawn an imaginary conversation between Virginia and Alice. two persuasive storytellers.
Inspired by the teachings of Ann Handley, CC Chapman, Gini Dietrich, Marcus Sheridan, and Jay Baer.
October 5, 2020
In these clips with my interview with Nargiz Mammadova, I talk about:
Nargiz Mammadova, the co-founder and CEO of the Destin AI app, an AI-powered virtual guide that simplifies the immigration process to Canada. (@destin.ai)
Nargiz and I met a few years ago after I delivered a talk for IABC Toronto. She came bounding up to me.
It turns out, while building the Destin AI app with her team, she was simultaneously filming a web series of interviews with creative entrepreneurs, both as a way to fuel and encourage herself through the day-to-day challenges of building something that didn’t yet exist, but as inspiration for her friends, also trying to make their way through disrupted workplaces and the evolving technological landscape.
Our conversation was shot pre-Covid.
You can check out all of Nargiz’s full interviews (including this one) at “Insights With Nargiz.”
• Produced by Nargiz Mammadova • Videographer: Gary Chen • Video Editing: Elnur Valiyev • Extra family photos added by Alison Garwood-Jones
October 5, 2020
The soil I grew up in was planted with art, music and literature. Mind you, I didn’t start seriously reading until university. I was too busy staring at the layout of my marker sets.
The following clips are from my interview with Nargiz Mammadova, the co-founder and CEO of the Destin AI app, an AI-powered virtual guide that simplifies the immigration process to Canada. (@destin.ai)
Nargiz and I met a few years ago after I delivered a talk for IABC Toronto. She came bounding up to me.
It turns out, while building the Destin AI app with her team, she was simultaneously filming a web series of interviews with creative entrepreneurs, both as a way to fuel and encourage herself through the day-to-day challenges of building something that didn’t yet exist, but as inspiration for her friends, also trying to make their way through disrupted workplaces and the evolving technological landscape.
Our conversation was shot pre-Covid.
You can check out all of Nargiz’s full interviews (including this one) at Insights With Nargiz on YouTube.
• Produced by Nargiz Mammadova •Videographer: Gary Chen •Video Editing: Elnur Valiyev • Extra family photos added by Alison Garwood-Jones
September 14, 2020
Ok, artists and creative entrepreneurs, the ground is rumbling.
Could this be the start of the repatriation of manufacturing?
If you want to source products and services (t-shirts, totes, pins) from Canadian, better yet Toronto-based, companies, and stop relying on cheap foreign labour, please take a few minutes to fill out this survey.
I’d like to see this for my design store, PenJarProductions.
The City of Toronto’s Economic Development & Culture division (EDC) is currently examining the feasibility of a “Toronto Made” brand for locally-produced products. Such brands exist in many other cities in Canada and the US including SFMade (San Francisco), Made in YVR (Vancouver) and Made in NYC (New York City).
Thank you, Liv Mendelsohn for bringing this initiative to my attention.
Finally, I would love to see my Toronto Island Ferry Pillow made with fabric produced and printed in Toronto. It was designed in Toronto (by me) and until last February was printed in Toronto. Now let’s close the circle and have it made in Toronto too.
September 11, 2020
When Covid-19 sent us into lockdown in March, I spent the rest of the month, and all of April, endlessly scrolling on my phone, with no focus and zero discipline.
By May, I was taking notes on how the pandemic was rearranging the economy.
By June, I was ready to put myself back out into the world with freelance pitches. Using my notes on the economy, I adjusted my marketing strategy to meet the changing needs and behaviours of customers and clients. To wit: I only marketed skills that would best serve this moment (in my case, drawing), plus I paid careful attention to tone in all of my messaging and storytelling.
If you’re a freelancer and would like to learn more about my “pandemic process,” join me on October 15th from 6:30-7:30 pm for my next IABC Toronto keynote address, “Creative Ways to Market During a Pandemic.” (via ZOOM)
My title slide:
The official invite:
Bye for now,
Alison
