Amber Leaf Creative :: Design

See samples of my ALC copywriting projects »

Design Freelancing, 2006-present

In 2006 I relocated and started my own creative agency called Amber Leaf Creative (ALC). For the first few years, I continued to work full time in parallel as a UI designer for a mortgage processing web application, but when the bottom fell out of the housing market, I ramped up my freelance work. Even as I found another full-time position as at a specialty pharmacy software company, my freelance projects peaked around 2010. While I currently hold a rewarding position at Thermo Fisher Scientific, I continue to take on a select few passion projects as well as writing fiction.

While freelancing, I designed strategic creative direction for nearly 20 clients, including brand identity, website design, and marketing materials such as promotional items, banner ads, social media presence, and e-newsletters. For each of my clients I managed website development through all stages, including estimate creation, project scoping, contract negotiation, domain setup, and site maintenance.

I specialized in developing WordPress websites for fellow authors. A few of my clients included NYT and USA Today best-selling authors Tawny Weber and C.L. Wilson, as well as cross-genre author Leslie Dicken a.k.a Jordanna Kay.

Additionally, I created two resources for other writers: The Write a Novel in Ten Weeks course and also an outline of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. The materials I created for the Hero’s Journey have been used in high school and college literature courses and also has been utilized by Zappos Insights in their corporate culture-building curriculum.


“I highly recommend Lisa as a web designer. Her graphic skills are superlative, her knowledge of wordpress detailed enough to accomplish even complex design projects.”
—C.L. Wilson

“Lisa is an expert at taking an idea and transforming it into a viable website. She was able to come up with a solution for my complicated needs, while making it seem effortless on her part. I have used her more than once to design my websites and each time I’ve been immensely pleased with the results.”
—Leslie Dicken

“Lisa took my website ideas and turned them into an incredible design. She worked with me through the entire process, making sure I not only loved the results, but knew how they worked. Every time I’ve come up with something new I’d like added to my site, she’s found a creative, appealing way to make it happen.”
—Tawny Weber