Alston at her standing desk at Studio Red Design

I had the honor of being interviewed by Voyage Baltimore. Follows is the article and here is the link: https://voyagebaltimore.com/interview/rising-stars-meet-alston-taggart-of-washington-dc

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alston Taggart.

Hi Alston, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

Growing up in Winston-Salem, NC, I was surrounded by the arts and encouraged to explore dance, music, drawing, and sewing by both my wildly creative mother and a lovely neighbor who is a harpist. This led me to studying Art History and Fine Arts at UNC – Chapel Hill, where I spent many long and happy nights pulling prints and painting in the art building. Upon graduation in 1994, I moved to Washington, DC to work as an assistant to several prominent local artists beginning with silk screen printmaker Lou Stovall, and then later Sam Gilliam and Rockne Krebbs. It was a dream to daily do art as a job, however, it proved unsustainable for me to pursue life on my own as a full-time artist. The opportunities were hard to come by and the pay was unreliable, particularly when starting out. Seeking a way to use art to make a difference, I went back to school at the Corcoran to obtain a degree in graphic design.

What drove me to study graphic design was the realization that I had been buying books over the course of my life based on how they looked, not necessarily on the written words therein. I realized my love of graphic design could be a viable career path. I completed my degree at the Corcoran College of Art and Design in 2000, graduating Summa Cum Laude. From there, I worked at design studios in the DC area both large and small. I moved to smaller firms where I was more connected to the clients and could better tell their stories. I found that I was able to manage the whole design process from client intake to the actual design to press management and knew I could do it on my own. Thanks to my husband’s encouragement and health insurance, I was able to start my own business. Thus, in 2006 Studio Red Design was formed!

To this day I continue to partner with my first clients (APTA and The Heights School) and my business has continued to grow through word of mouth. I like to align my passions with those of my clients, so work with entrepreneurs, change-makers and organizations that look to improve our current world. I consider myself a visual strategist. I help people grow their businesses by understanding their passions and missions and converting these into visuals that lead to tangible results.

I have always been a student of the amazing and beautiful world we live in, and of its infinite possibilities. I am the proud mother of Gemini twins, who came into our world on May 22, 2007. I have a deep fascination and awe with the magic of the human body and love learning different movement languages (studied ballet, modern, ATS and Egyptian belly dance, karate and jujutsu… even met my husband at nightclub called Tracks in SE DC in 1994). When I was introduced to yoga by my roommate Beth Clawson, I fell in love! To stay sane with the demands of motherhood and the insular nature of working solo in my studio, I decided to become a yoga teacher (completing my 200 hour training with Neva Ingalls in 2009 and have been teaching ever since).

My mission-driven and full-service graphic design firm partners with educational institutions, mission-driven organizations, membership organizations and spirituality/wellness clients—on local and international levels—to provide high quality and creative solutions to their communication needs. The work is hugely fulfilling, but I still feel the need to make art. During a visit to New Orleans, I had the chance to stop by Betsy Younquist’s beading and fine arts gallery and was completely taken with her quirky creations so reminiscent of Edward Gorey and Tim Burton. Learning from local artist Tara Shimberg, I started making my own pieces and continue to this very day.

I adore working with small beads as they always remind me of the importance of small things and they bring me peace and patience (hugely helpful to a mother of teen twin girls!). I use found/recycled objects as possible as they bring a certain permanence and history to each piece. I draw from my art history background to incorporate symbolism, archetypes, and ideas to create wearable artwork assemblages.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?

It so overwhelming to find one’s unique voice, and faith in the universe that work will come. We are bombarded by so much on social media and it’s hard to feel secure in what one does. I try not to engage much with social media (might be to my detriment!) in favor of building face to face relationships. Real and personal connections are what excites me but it has become harder to build and maintain these with the Internet and the ever-present smart devices we all carry and rely on.

When work is slow, I try to remind myself to be OK with the gift of quiet. I try to value that time as a sacred space to dream and plant new seeds. Seeds, or leads, that will hopefully grow into fruitful client relationships. I look at these times as opportunities to do more art, learn more about the body and yoga (check out the facial stretching of human garage!), make time to journal and have lady friends over for rich vegetarian meals to catch up and connect. Further, I take these downtimes as an opportunity to travel and see the rich canvas of the world.

All of my work comes from referrals, so I enjoying connecting with complimentary creatives in the industry (like photographers, editors and printers) to further expand my network.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I pride myself on my unique empathetic design approach. I spend time listening deeply to understand who my clients are and what it is that they are seeking. The final design will not be mine, but theirs — in tune with my clients and their company’s vision, their style, their personality, history, and their goals. The challenge always comes in balancing their organizational mission and the objectives of the individual piece – both need to be considered and appropriately represented.

I have devoted my career to helping individuals and organizations achieve their mission, and it is my joy to make unique voices and groups heard though inspiring, clear, and stunning visuals.

My website haiku sums it up:

giving your voice form

design speaking your passion

art driving real change.

I view all of my art endeavors as anthropological explorations of having, and being a body (both physical and emotional). I love to bring typography into my artwork.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?

For years, I have moved through my professional and personal life like the Moon—revealing myself to the world just one phase at a time.

When my children were in school, I was a mother of twins who made them wear big floppy hats to protect their alabaster skin.

My clients know me for beautiful graphic design and happy, responsive service.

My yoga students know me for my passion for movement with breath (and encouraging laughter and joy in anti-gravity yoga and aerial yoga practice).

My friends and neighbors know me as an artist and maker. They routinely answer the call to drop off broken jewelry that would be thrown away for my artistic creations.

To each group, I am a different phase: the Designer, the Yogi, or the Maker. But the truth is, I am a Weaver. I revel in bringing together apparently disparate things into a functional whole. I am excited about my next chapter where I hope to bring all of these phases, or threads, together to show the but the moon in her glorious fullness—inviting everyone into the entire studio of who I am.

Pricing:

With pricing, I strive to meet a client where they are. For large organizations, I have a standard hourly rate and can also bid on the job (but always base our estimates on how efficiently can do the work). We also offer a passion project rate that is half our corporate rate.

Contact Info:

Website: https://studiored.us
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alston-taggart-studiored/

A Weaver…

The Threshold Effect

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