Sarah Schumacher's marketing and design samples
I’m Sarah Schumacher, a designer and marketer based in Middlebury. I’ve created this specific page to highlight samples of my work.
In recent roles, I have worn many hats: art director, marketing designer, photographer, videographer, social media editor, writer, and editor. For the past three years, I’ve worked on marketing design for Healthy Living market. I’ve created environmental signage and displays at HL stores in South Burlington, Williston, and Saratoga Springs, NY. Through my digital marketing efforts, the company has built a robust trade partners program with small, local, food-oriented businesses. Through my work on signage and messaging, HL has grown its member-based program, Core Shoppers. By designing twice-monthly Core Shopper deals posters, I’ve increased brand awareness and consumer spending with discounts, serving both customers and organic food brands.
As an editorial designer, I worked for Voice Media Group, a media company with news sites in Dallas, Phoenix, Miami, and Denver. I collaborated with cross-functional teams and organized complex projects to meet tight deadlines. At the Dallas Observer, I directed the photographers and illustrators to create art for each feature story online and in print, designed a weekly newspaper, created marketing materials, and occasionally wrote stories. For Dallas Observer’s Instagram, I edited photographs, wrote content, and developed the social media community through positive interactions.
Now I manage marketing and social media for the Middlebury Ski & Snowboard Club as a volunteer. In my role, I redesigned and now update the website, manage the social media, photograph and create videos of events, create graphics for posters, fliers, design advertisements for print and email newsletters, and design swag and apparel. I love experimenting with META ads, keywords and demographics when creating ads for social media. It can be so rewarding to see a campaign succeed — like the recent ad I created for our MSSC movie night, Pressure Drop. The post I’ve created for the film screening has received thousands of impressions. My plan for the winter season is to expand our social media video coverage into weekly program recaps through first-person GoPro footage of teams on the mountain.
As requested, here are samples of professional journalistic writing. I have written a few cultural and food-related stories for the news site Dallas Observer.
Texans Stranded at the Top of the World by Coronavirus: An international story of COVID-19 panic and border closings, in which Texans Sean Starr and Jennifer Baker found themselves stranded in Nepal.
10 Must-See Architectural Gems in North Texas: A 2021 preview of the AIA curated Tour of Homes in Dallas.
Starbucks Tests Vegan Sandwich in DFW: A short news update about Starbucks’ test run of vegan breakfast sandwiches.
Big Tex: 70 Years of Questionable Fashion Choices: A light-hearted look at the couture of the giant cowboy statue at the State Fair of Texas that has served as a fashion icon since the early 1950s.
For the MSSC (Middlebury Ski & Snowboard Club)
As the social media editor for MSSC, I focus my fall pre-season social media coverage on promoting our annual ski and snowboarding film fundraiser, recruiting ski and snowboarding coaches, and increasing enrollment in our youth programming that begins in December. The MSSC social media winter coverage is all about showing off the skills of the participants and the beauty of winter sports.
Pressure Drop film screening post/ad: I wrote this post and selected the algorithm metrics to make it a successful ad.
First day of Fall: I wrote this post to reintroduce the club to Instagram followers after a summer hiatus.
Skiers and Snowboarders at lunch break: I wrote the content and took these photos of our various age groups of skiers and snowboarders in some down time between mountain sessions.
Deadline to Register MSSC post: I took this photo of our U14 alpine racers and wrote the content.
Bash at the Bowl 2024: I wrote this content and designed this graphic that also served as a print ad in the Addison Independent.
For Dallas Observer/Voice Media Group
As an editorial designer at Voice Media Group, I shot photos, hired photographers and curated photos, created graphics, wrote content, and built a fun social media persona and built community through VMG’s Dallas Observer Instagram account. For most of the following posts, I wrote the content, but hired photographers to shoot the ads or events and then selected and edited photos for use on the various VMG platforms.
Here are a few photos I’ve taken at Healthy Living stores and one from Elmer Farm of the PYO flower field on a beautiful day.
Instagram Reels for Middlebury Ski & Snowboard Club
Fall Family Weekend: I was volunteering for a few days at the Middlebury Snowbowl during Middlebury College’s fall family weekend. While recruiting college-aged ski coaches and encouraging families to consider the winter program, I filmed a reel to help us achieve the same goals but with broader reach, through social media. I filmed this with my iPhone and edited it in CapCut.
U14 Racers warming up at Saskadena 6 mountain: Take a warm-up lap with the U14 racers in this Instagram video (filmed with a GoPro). I filmed (and posted) this as a one-shot first-person POV video prior to a race at Saskadena Six, a small independent mountain near Barnard, VT.
Fun behind-the-scenes at a bakery video for Dallas Observer
This video looks behind the scenes at the Dallas-based bakery Bisou Bisou of bakers making pistachio croissants. Dallas Observer had sustained website engagement through a short form video section for a few years (2018-2021) and then pivoted those efforts to Instagram Reels. The best performing videos lift the veil on viewers’ favorite restaurants, artists, and local music scene. When I wasn’t hiring videographers to produce these stories, I really enjoyed the chances I had to film and edit the shorts.
Marketing video from Iron Fork
Voice Media Group has many marketed events alongside their news sites. Iron Fork is an annual foodie event with local restaurants bringing small plates to serve to guests. The event also has a local chef cook-off presentation. I filmed and edited video of the 2017 Iron Fork (a Dallas Observer food event).
Although portfolio images of design work were not requested, I can’t help but share the visual, physical, and digital ecosystem I’ve created at Healthy Living markets since 2022 (photos are my own):
Here are environmental displays with infographic posters and specific deal and product signage at all three Healthy Living stores.
The South Burlington store wanted to refresh exterior vinyl graphics to something more timeless and aligned with the HL brand, so I created these simple green and bright green graphic layouts for window clings.
I continually revise and redesign digital menus for the Williston deli counter. Here is a recent iteration.
Healthy Living launched a private label and I’ve been involved with the packaging design for many products, from vitamins to coffee packaging. This cold brew design is being relaunched this summer along with another canned coffee product.
I designed these web ads for Healthy Living for recruiting new employees on the highly trafficked Seven Days site as rotating “site skin” ads for the news site pages.
Mobile-first newsletter Figma graphics advertise Best Deals, HL To-Go, and offer a friendly note from the store-founding family.
As you can see, I’m a flexible and curious marketer who loves the organic grocery space, creating captivating visuals, and testing new marketing ideas. Thank you for reviewing my work!