Design Spotlight: Patty Cimlov-Zahares

We’re putting the Design Spotlight on Patty Cimlov-Zahares today – thanks for the smiles, Patty!

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Like probably most of us here at GCU, I’ve loved creating art since I first picked up a crayon. As a kid, I was always making greeting cards for friends and family. I can’t imagine doing any other kind of work for a living, although I don’t consider what I do as work, it’s more like a hobby where I get paid to do what I love.

This is my Mom in the early 50’s, striking a dramatic pose. She was actually imitating my grandmother (her mother-inlaw) who was a bit of a drama queen. My Mom loved spoofing people. The photo was taken by my Dad and I added the vintage background and photo corners to give it a nostalgic look. The Academy Awards came to mind when I found this photo, so I thought it would be a fun and unique way for a woman to send a thank you card to someone. I work in Photoshop and/or Illustrator and layout my cards in InDesign.

With my warped sense of humor and wild imagination, I love that I can do just about anything with Photoshop. To create this fun birthday card, I photographed the pansies and took some self-timer shots of myself. I exaggerated my features with Photoshop and laid out this card in Indesign.

I’m a native Californian and live in Discovery Bay with my husband, Mike and Riley, our spoiled Golden Receiver. I’ve been a graphic designer and art director for various ad agencies since the early 70s. In 1980, I started freelancing full time as Patty Cimlov-Zahares, Another Artist, designing everything from logos to ad campaigns, annual reports, brochures, point-of-purchase displays, web sites, etc. for large high tech companies and retail accounts.

After winning a few Hallmark Card contests, I got hooked on creating my own line of greeting cards, so I opened a store at GCU in November 2011. I have so much fun creating cards now, I sometimes  have a tough time focusing on my advertising accounts. For fun, I also wrote and illustrated my children’s book, “Ugh! I’m a Slug.“

I love seeing everyone’s creations here at GCU and honored to be in the spotlight. Thank you! You guys are great!