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Taura Hanson
Creative Director at Swidget
Professional Background
Taura Hanson is a highly skilled graphic designer with extensive experience in web and print design, visual content creation, social media marketing, and branding. With a career that has spanned several years in notable positions, Taura has made significant contributions to the design and advertising industries. Her career began taking shape during her time as a student at the Vancouver Film School, where she pursued a Diploma with Honours in Digital Design, laying a solid foundation for her artistic capabilities and technical skills.
After her studies, Taura embarked on an impressive journey that included a four-year tenure in Dubai with one of the world's leading advertising agencies. Here, she honed her craft and learned the intricacies of creating captivating visuals that not only meet client expectations but also connect with audiences on a deeper emotional level. Her experience in the dynamic Middle Eastern market allowed her to embrace diverse design techniques and adapt to different cultural aesthetics, ultimately enriching her portfolio.
Upon returning, Taura transitioned to a Senior Art Director role at a local agency, specializing in web design and online learning platforms. This position further enhanced her ability to create user-friendly designs that engage and educate users. Taura’s creative vision, paired with her strategic thinking, provides local businesses with the design support they need to stand out. Recently, she decided to embark on a freelance career, allowing her the flexibility to offer high-quality design solutions tailored specifically for each client.
Education and Achievements
Taura's academic journey began at the University of Manitoba, where she studied Arts & Sciences. This multidisciplinary education not only sharpened her artistic skills but also enhanced her critical thinking abilities, which are essential in the design process. Following her time at the University, she pursued a Diploma with Honours in Digital Design at the Vancouver Film School, a decision that proved pivotal in her professional development. The hands-on curriculum and industry-focused training at VFS equipped Taura with both technical expertise and artistic insight.
Additionally, she complemented her formal education with a Certificate in Photoshop from St. Lawrence College. This focus on software proficiency has allowed her to excel in creating visually compelling graphics that communicate ideas effectively. Each educational experience has contributed to her skill set, arming her with the tools required to excel in today’s digitally dominated landscape.
Professional Experience
Taura's professional experience is marked by a variety of roles that demonstrate her versatility as a designer. As the Creative Director at Swidget, she was responsible for leading design projects that required innovative solutions and strategic thinking. Taura's creativity and leadership capabilities flourished in this environment, allowing her to guide teams in producing exceptional outputs that resonated with clients.
Prior to that, she worked as a Freelance Designer, where she built a reputation for delivering exceptional design services to a broad range of businesses. Her passion for visual storytelling shone through in every project, and her collaborations with firms across various industries strengthened her understanding of brand strategies.
Taura’s role as a Digital Art Director at All Roads further solidified her reputation in the industry. Here, she skillfully combined art direction with digital marketing, ensuring that the visuals created not only looked stunning but also aligned perfectly with client objectives. Her adeptness at using data-driven insights to inform design choices was a game-changer, leading to improved campaign outcomes.
During her tenure at Leo Burnett in the MENA region, Taura refined her skills even further while tackling diverse projects that challenged her creativity and strategic approach. This position allowed her to work alongside some of the industry’s best talents and to forge connections that have proven beneficial throughout her career.
Currently, as the Small Business Owner of Art By Taura, she focuses on providing tailored design solutions to local businesses. Her mission is to help these organizations find their unique voice through effective branding and engaging visual content. By working one-on-one with clients, Taura ensures that their brand personality is captured beautifully in every design she creates.
Notable Achievements
Throughout her career, Taura has achieved numerous accolades and recognition for her work. Her designs have not only been celebrated within the industry but have also significantly impacted the businesses she has worked with, demonstrating her ability to create results-driven solutions. Taura’s portfolio showcases an impressive range of projects across different sectors, proving her capability to adapt her artistic style to meet varied client needs.
Moreover, Taura's commitment to continuous learning and growth allows her to stay updated with current design trends and software advancements. She regularly participates in workshops and training sessions, which not only keeps her skills sharp but also inspires fresh creativity in her work.
Outside of her design work, Taura is passionate about mentoring aspiring designers in her community. She frequently shares her knowledge and experiences with students and young professionals, helping them navigate the complexities of the design field. This dedication to giving back reflects her belief in the power of creative collaboration and the importance of fostering future talent in the arts.
For businesses seeking professional designs that capture their brand personality and resonate meaningfully with stakeholders, Taura delivers a high level of craftsmanship combined with strategic insights. She can be reached via her email at taurahanson@gmail.com, where she is ready to discuss how she can help bring your vision to life.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
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Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
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