About Jennifer Dyer

My favorite toy when I was little was a set of brightly colored wooden blocks. They could be arranged to make any number of intriguing patterns. To this day, I look for a deeper understanding of patterns and ways of organizing and fitting pieces together that make sense. That thinking informs my approach to developing publications.

Background

I have a bachelor’s degree cum laude in studio art and graphic design from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges and a master’s in publications design — a program integrating conceptual thinking, writing, and graphic design — from the University of Baltimore.

One of my first jobs was providing tech support and writing and typesetting the manual for a project management software package. (That was back in the day when software manuals were tomes.) I love writing how-tos and tutorials. Today, I often walk clients through tech problems by producing short videos and explainers.

I’ve worked in public relations, writing and designing press releases, informational pieces, and articles for The Baltimore Museum of Art. I was Goucher College’s in-house designer and later director of graphic and editorial services with responsibility for editing and coordinating the design and production of all college publications.

I established Jennifer Dyer Graphic Design in 1988, offering expertise in publications design and close coordination of design and content.

Learn more about the services I offer and my work.

St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center

When the foreclosure crisis hit, St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center found that people facing foreclosure would turn to unscrupulous businesses because they couldn’t imagine a nonprofit might have the expertise to help with their financial problems.

A few years earlier, we had created a bright, colorful website to express the dynamism of the programs offered in St. Ambrose’s unassuming row house offices. This time, I was asked to redesign the site to project a more professional image. The redesign has helped position St. Ambrose as an established organization with a strong track record helping Baltimoreans find affordable housing and keep their homes. The site has served St. Ambrose well through the transition from the founder to a new executive director and into the organization’s 50th anniversary year.

My approach

I’m collaborative and responsive. I listen closely to my clients, translating their ideas into beautiful publications and effective messaging that connect with their audiences.

I see developing a publication as a process of refinement. You start by gathering reference materials and resources, accumulating stacks of physical and digital files along the way. As the process moves along, the piles are repeatedly condensed until you have a compact publication — hard to believe after all that work! Seeing that piece in its many forms — the printed publication, a PDF on the website, newsletter, tweets, broadcasts, collateral for conferences — is deeply gratifying. I love knowing the engagement it will generate as it reaches out into the world.