Ditch Daisy Design

It’s always Amazing when I look out the window and see a hot air balloon flying over! What is it about your town that you find amazing?

Embrace what makes your town unique.

Philipsburg, Montana. Population 850. When we first drove into Philipsburg, we were immediately charmed by the painted Victorian buildings. The unique architecture. We immediately had to stop and explore. That's the power of showing what makes you different. Philipsburg could have blended in with every other small Montana town. Instead, they leaned into those bold colors, that Victorian character. They made a choice to stand out. And it works. We stopped. We explored. We spent money. And we've made it a destination when we visit that area. Your town has something that makes people pull over too - you just have to be brave enough to show it. Stop hiding behind beige. Stop playing it safe with templates that look like everyone else's. Find what makes you unforgettable. Then shout it from the rooftops (or paint it on your buildings). Wildcraft your town. What makes YOU stop in a small town? Tell me in the comments. #ditchdaisyinthewild #PhilipsburgMontana #SmallTownMarketing #MontanaTravel #AuthenticBranding

The Christmas Stroll + first snow of the season = pure Hallmark movie moment.

Downtown Sheridan, Wyoming delivered pure magic Friday night—historic Main Street, twinkling lights, falling snow, and the whole community out celebrating together. My husband and I walked through it all, and honestly? Seven years here and this place still surprises me with moments like these.

This is small-town Wyoming at its best.

I almost gave up on this spread. 😂
The “Warmth of Scandinavia” story for Down Country Roads came with the HARDEST photos I’ve worked with in a while. A close-up troll face—all texture, all personality, zero white space for text.
Where do you even PUT the headline?
This is the reality of publication design—you don’t get to choose your photos. You get what the story needs, and your job is to make it work beautifully.
I tried everything. Moved text around. Adjusted opacity. Considered just... not designing this story. (Kidding. Mostly.)
Then came the font challenge: How do you find a typeface that complements a quirky handmade troll without competing with it? Too decorative and it fights for attention. Too plain and it feels disconnected from the story’s warmth and character.
I tested fonts. A lot of fonts. I needed something with warmth—Scandinavia isn’t cold and sterile, it’s cozy and handmade. But it also needed to stay readable against those textures and not add MORE visual noise. The right typeface had to feel like it belonged to the same world as the troll without trying to BE the troll, you know?
Then something clicked.
I stopped seeing the troll as a problem and started seeing it as the CHARACTER of the spread. Those quirky textures, the handmade roughness, the painted details—that WAS the warmth of Scandinavia.
That’s what I love about magazine design—it forces you to design FOR the story, not despite it. The content leads, the design follows, and when it works, they’re inseparable.
So I leaned into it. Found a typeface that felt warm but didn’t compete. Adjusted the leading to give the layout breathing room. Let the troll be the star. Made the text work AROUND the personality instead of trying to cover it up.
Now? It’s one of my favorite spreads in the issue.
The lesson: Sometimes your biggest design challenge becomes your best work—if you stop fighting it and start working WITH it. 💚
Swipe through for more Nov/Dec spreads where text becomes design element, typography does heavy lifting, and every page tells its own story.
What’s a project that frustrated you first, then surprised you?