Graphic Designer and Illustrator
Name: Lucy Manning
Summers as a Camper: 4 summers
Years as a Staff Member/Positions held: 2 summers
- Junior Counselor, Motorboating Staff
Current Profession:
- Graphic Designer, UNC Health Foundation
- Graphic Designer and Illustrator, Lucy Manning Designs
Overview of career path and professional passions:
I work full-time as a graphic designer in university development, while also maintaining a freelance client base for graphic design and illustration work.
My primary responsibilities at UNC Health Foundation are to design external, donor-facing materials such as proposals, impact and annual reports, events materials and direct mail solicitations. I am also in charge of maintaining brand standards and managing brand assets (logos, photos, etc).
I am passionate about art and entrepreneurship, and working as a freelance illustrator and designer has allowed me to scratch that creative itch for the past several years. I’ve created illustrations for several local NC companies and organizations, including Piedmont Pennies, Two Roosters Ice Cream (in Raleigh), NuBlue Service Group and Downtown Chapel Hill Partnership, as well as individuals for weddings and special events.
What do you believe have been some of your greatest personal and professional accomplishments?
Selling my artwork to Two Roosters (to use on merch) was a really cool accomplishment. At that point in time I had been focusing my illustration work on the local food/beverage scene, so it felt like my effort to drill down on a specific market paid off. Seeing my artwork for sale in their shops has been a dream come true.
I’m currently working on building a portfolio of pieces for licensing, which means that companies could “rent” my artwork to use on any number of products, from napkins to notebooks to wrapping paper, that are then sold in stores.
I love working with clients (including Camp Seafarer, who I’ve worked with a few times!) but I’m excited for the opportunity that art licensing gives me to create for myself again.
How do the values or skills you learned at Camp show up in your everyday work and/or personal life?
Camp was hugely formative for me. I’m really grateful for an environment where goal-setting and achievement was celebrated, but also where one of the highest honors you could receive (Character Counts) is solely based on who you are as a person. As someone who is building her own business and maintaining a day job, it’s easy to focus heavily on the output and the goals and whether I’m hitting certain benchmarks. Camp taught me that goals are important but it’s even more important to treat people well and celebrate others’ achievements as much as my own.
Also, interestingly enough, one of my first “client projects” years ago when I was in college was a set of hand-lettered Camp 4 cards for Annie Phillips who was an assistant head in Camp 4 that summer. The Seafarer network is powerful, and I am still close with friends I made at Seafarer.
Is there a person or a situation that had a huge influence on you while you were at Camp? How and why did they/it impact you?
Two of my counselors in particular - Anna Christian Allen (in 2008) and Stewart Long (in 2009) – were incredibly intentional. They were both really fun, positive, encouraging and great role models.
I actually reached out to them a couple of times after Camp when my family would come to Chapel Hill for football games and they were students at UNC. The fact that they both made time to meet up with us in Kenan Stadium or stop by our family’s tailgate speaks volumes (especially looking back knowing how many other social gatherings college students have to choose from).
Their intentionality showed me how small acts of kindness can really make the biggest difference in a young person’s life.
Favorite Camp Meal: It’s a tie between cookouts on Wednesday nights and grilled cheese & tomato soup.
Favorite Mess Hall Entry Song: Come Clean by Hilary Duff
