Cormier Creative crafts logos for budding businesses

Some people work four 10-hour days for perks like saving on gas and three-day weekends. Others, like Sara Cormier (pronounced “cor-me-YAY”), cram in a second job on the side.

Until last April, Cormier was juggling a design gig with Cincinnati Magazine and healthy freelance traffic. When her daughter, Carmen, entered preschool, however, she decided it was time for a change. “I was kind of going crazy,” she says, noting that she doesn’t regret those hyper-scheduled days: “At least for me, I couldn’t quit my job without having built [my business] up. I wasn’t financially in a place to do that.”

Cormier, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning in 2002, launched Cormier Creative in April, and specializes in helping small businesses with branding, logos and promotions. Her services can help young companies, or those without a budget for an in-house designer, she says.

“I’ve always really liked working with a business that’s just getting off the ground and starting from scratch. Once they invest in that initially, then they’re really excited about how their stuff looks,” Cormier says. She encourages businesses not to wait to start branding themselves. “You need a logo right off the bat. It doesn’t take long to get one, and I think the sooner, the better.”

Because she’s worked with so many newly launched businesses, Cormier has curated a few tips for proprietors, too.

Along with advising that any business that is doing business needs a logo immediately, she advises businesspeople to find a designer they trust and then relinquish control. “You’re not hiring a professional designer to recreate your sketch so much as to help you with the entire identity.”

Cormier offers custom design services for all sizes of businesses as well as custom stationary – she calls herself “a paper snob” – that’s popular among local brides. Her design aesthetic favors clean lines and clever graphics.

"I love all my brides, they’re really really fun," Cormier says. "We try to come up with something really custom."

By Robin Donovan