happily never not creating something

lisa zak

multi-passionate designer

the inevitability of zak creative

Growing up in the 1980s, being raised by two parents who were in the same public-service career from the time they left university to the time they eventually retired, it wasn't always obvious what types of not-so "A-to-B-to-C" jobs existed in this world; I never thought of anything to do with art and creativity as being a path toward what I would want to do with my professional life. But I was a kid who loved to draw and to build things and to design spaces, and I liked spending time alone; our dad was an early adopter of computers and, later, the Internet. These things, combined with my affection for a certain Canadian actor, eventually lead me to teach myself html and Photoshop, and to put up my first website at the age of 14 (largely a tribute to Ryan Gosling - the only blonde man I have ever loved #kenergy).

 

Having grown up dyslexic and with the odd combo of a love for both art and math, it was a blessing to have found my way to the earliest iteration of my professional life - interior design. I have since built my life, family, and business in Vancouver, British Columbia, where I draw inspiration from the vibrancy of our city and the stunning nature that surrounds us here. (If you're familiar with the view of the north shore mountains from our west-side beaches, you probably clocked that as what inspired the original artwork you see on my Services page.)

skills

After taking a History of Modern Art course at Camosun College, I found my way to the Art Institute of Vancouver for an education focused on interior design and received courses in drawing/rendering/perspective, AutoCAD (2D and 3D), Illustrator, and Photoshop. Through the course of my solopreneur journey I continued using all of these programs and skills, taught myself SketchUp, designed all my own visuals for my business, built and maintained my own company website, and enrolled in online courses and in person seminars to continue building up my skill set.


This is a quick-view list of the tools and programs that I currently use most commonly in my day-to-day:

  • Illustrator

  • Canva

  • Tailwind

  • Trello

  • Flodesk

  • Google Docs and Google Sheets

  • Shopify

  • Printify

  • Etsy

  • ChatGPT (mainly for research purposes)

zak creative for you

In my current work with Little Crab Educational Press I am responsible for all our social media images and web graphics, our website, the translation of our product concepts into physical goods (via print-on-demand through KDP and Printify), the design and creation of our digital products, blog editing, collaboration on marketing and product brainstorms, podcast co-production, and for reining in Rebecca's wild brain (she is my business partner - and my sister). What excites me most about what my sister and I are doing now is I get to be both creative and logical, pulling from my love of written and visual communication and my DNA as a child of teachers, to do something that aims to make people's lives easier and more fulfilling.

 

These are themes I find popping up throughout both my work and personal histories: I love problem solving, and it's all gotta be done with levity. In that vein, I see myself as someone you will contract to bridge the gap between going it alone and hiring staff; my work is to support your work. In the current incarnacion of Zak Creative, my ideal client is a mum starting up a side-hustle or barrelling head-first into her next adventure where I can help either kick-start or refine how she wants her business to be presented to the world.

 

Here is a small sample of the people and companies I have had the privilege of collaborating with in the past:

All prices provided in CAD