April Maglothin • Designer, Leader, Process Nerd
Talent Is Not Enough:
While this business book for graphic designers may have helped April Maglothin organize her ambitions, the title of Shel Perkins’ 2014 book also reflects the theme of her career: Talent is simply not enough. Form must exist alongside function.
The creative eye to fashion beautiful things things, to appreciate form, manifested early on in April’s life, but the arty bent was enmeshed with an insatiable desire to make things that worked well, too. Growing up in Birmingham, Alabama, this daughter of an engineer and special ed teacher surprised her parents with her natural inclination toward creative expression. In fact, one of her earliest successes was winning a Crayola-sponsored elementary school contest built around designing a game.
“It wasn’t simply engaging with colors to create something pretty; the contest required me to be a problem-solver as well, to have a strategy behind my design.”
Her career aspirations came into clearer focus as the years passed. Whether making fun of a billboard font while still in middle school or winning state-wide high school journalism design competitions, April’s future livelihood was taking shape.
She moved to Nashville for college, majoring in art and landing a job with her alma mater doing graphic design and marketing. From starting out as a Project Manager, to leading as the Creative Services Director, it was a perfect combination that melded her loves of art and business, beauty and strategy, form and function. For six of those ten years, she also found herself as an adjunct professor, creating a curriculum for the Design Administration track of the university’s BFA in Design.
After a successful decade in higher education, though, April found herself needing a change. Creative Coalition was born, and for the last decade, has partnered with brands in healthcare, SaaS, non-profit and hospitality to provide design and project management consulting for global brands.
What gets you fired up about design?
“I love solving problems for people. I love helping other creatives do their work, and I love the thought of building up a team to be an invaluable asset to their marketing & design communities. You must understand the “why” for each company & their KPIs. Designers often think the big agency portfolios are their goal. But creative talent alone isn’t enough. It’s merely the starting point. Dig into the details. Design isn’t just the visuals.”
What inspires you and why?
“Travel. There’s no better way to understand cultures. You can’t help but be amazed at how insignificant you are compared to the world. It just reminds me to look around and have a broader global awareness.”
What do you do for fun?
Gardening, painting, losing at Mario Kart against my 5 year old, weekend trips in our family’s tiny camper, cheering on the San Diego Padres
