Dawn Sinclair onsite at a photo shoot at Ford Field.
[This bio was self-written as an exercise for a PR course in 2018. It’s a little dated but gives some good background into my creative and management thought processes.]
Dawn Sinclair, marketing and creative services manager for Grigg Graphic Services, Southfield, Mich., celebrated her 20th year with the company this past April. Sinclair leads a talented group of graphic designers and web programmers through team building activities, corporate branding initiatives, and marketing strategies. In addition, she maintains an creative role as creative director where she has the ability to show her artistic side developing designs for print, website, digital media, and exhibit display projects. Sinclair attributes her multifaceted skills to being in “an unique environment where I have the ability to flex both the left and right sides of my brain — everyday.”
As lead of the creative department, Sinclair is assigned the more challenging projects at Grigg Graphic Services, whose clientele focus on the nonprofit and healthcare industries. For her, the most enjoyable portion of a project are the problem-solving aspects — learning about the needs of her clients and understanding the varied corporate brand standards — and then developing an ideal solution that balances both creativity and proper execution of message. She feels her largest achievement to date for the company has been in helping the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the top six art museums in the United States, manage their major renovation in 2007. Acting as the sole project manager for her firm, Sinclair helped coordinate multiple vendors in the creation, production, and installation of signage for the more than 66,000 pieces of artwork for the museum during the 20-month reconstruction. She still assists the DIA with monthly signage updates and rotating exhibitions.
In 2014, Sinclair, overcame personal crises involving the loss of her home to fire and then one month later, a shocking ovarian cancer diagnosis. “The clarity I gained from these events made it evident to me that now was time to take a big leap forward,” Sinclair states. “Sometimes bad events can lead you to better things in life by forcing your hand to help make changes you never felt you could handle,” she says. Through the perspective gained from these events, Sinclair feels she was placed on a new path and made a decision to change the focus of her career by returning to school to pursue an advanced degree. More than 25 years prior to these events, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University — so deciding to return to school had previously been considered a daunting undertaking. Sinclair is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Mich., with a goal of acquiring a marketing position where she can also use her existing project management and creative experience together with her new found knowledge. And, even after having completed only two semesters of the program, she affirms that she is already reaping the benefits from her education through the new connections and knowledge gained. Sinclair looks forward to becoming a more persuasive marketer and to learning the ethics and skills of being a competent marketing professional through the IMC program.
On the weekends, Sinclair is a member of a not-for-profit living history organization where she enjoys learning about historic cooking and has held multiple organizational leadership roles — including being chapter president for five years. She happily lives in Ypsilanti, Mich., with her husband, Arthur, and their two cats.
bio
Dawn Sinclair onsite at a photo shoot at Ford Field.
[This bio was self-written as an exercise for a PR course in 2018. It’s a little dated but gives some good background into my creative and management thought processes.]
Dawn Sinclair, marketing and creative services manager for Grigg Graphic Services, Southfield, Mich., celebrated her 20th year with the company this past April. Sinclair leads a talented group of graphic designers and web programmers through team building activities, corporate branding initiatives, and marketing strategies. In addition, she maintains an creative role as creative director where she has the ability to show her artistic side developing designs for print, website, digital media, and exhibit display projects. Sinclair attributes her multifaceted skills to being in “an unique environment where I have the ability to flex both the left and right sides of my brain — everyday.”
As lead of the creative department, Sinclair is assigned the more challenging projects at Grigg Graphic Services, whose clientele focus on the nonprofit and healthcare industries. For her, the most enjoyable portion of a project are the problem-solving aspects — learning about the needs of her clients and understanding the varied corporate brand standards — and then developing an ideal solution that balances both creativity and proper execution of message. She feels her largest achievement to date for the company has been in helping the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), one of the top six art museums in the United States, manage their major renovation in 2007. Acting as the sole project manager for her firm, Sinclair helped coordinate multiple vendors in the creation, production, and installation of signage for the more than 66,000 pieces of artwork for the museum during the 20-month reconstruction. She still assists the DIA with monthly signage updates and rotating exhibitions.
In 2014, Sinclair, overcame personal crises involving the loss of her home to fire and then one month later, a shocking ovarian cancer diagnosis. “The clarity I gained from these events made it evident to me that now was time to take a big leap forward,” Sinclair states. “Sometimes bad events can lead you to better things in life by forcing your hand to help make changes you never felt you could handle,” she says. Through the perspective gained from these events, Sinclair feels she was placed on a new path and made a decision to change the focus of her career by returning to school to pursue an advanced degree. More than 25 years prior to these events, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from Bowling Green State University — so deciding to return to school had previously been considered a daunting undertaking. Sinclair is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Mich., with a goal of acquiring a marketing position where she can also use her existing project management and creative experience together with her new found knowledge. And, even after having completed only two semesters of the program, she affirms that she is already reaping the benefits from her education through the new connections and knowledge gained. Sinclair looks forward to becoming a more persuasive marketer and to learning the ethics and skills of being a competent marketing professional through the IMC program.
On the weekends, Sinclair is a member of a not-for-profit living history organization where she enjoys learning about historic cooking and has held multiple organizational leadership roles — including being chapter president for five years. She happily lives in Ypsilanti, Mich., with her husband, Arthur, and their two cats.