Founder and Freelance Writer & Designer at Carrie Cousins LLC

Carrie Cousins has more than 15 years of experience in media, design, and content marketing In her day job, she's the senior digital strategist for LeadPoint Digital, a digital marketing agency. She’s also a freelance writer and designer, specializing in creating amazing experiences online for small businesses. Her work has been featured in publications such as Design Shack, Webdesigner Depot, and Fast Company. She's an avid runner, which comes in handy with a trio of Australian shepherds at home. To learn more about Carrie's work, visit carriecousins.com.

Brand Consultant

Jacob Cass is a prolific brand designer & strategist who runs JUST Creative, an award-winning branding & design firm that doubles as an industry leading blog. Jacob helps brands grow and get results by crafting distinctive logos and brand identities that are backed by strategy. He recently rebranded San Francisco and Puerto Rico, and also branded New York's Digital District. Other clients have included the likes of Disney, Nintendo and Jerry Seinfeld. Jacob has spoken at TEDx, been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur and has been awarded LinkedIn’s “Best of” for branding. For him, design is a lifelong journey of continuously honing his craft, as well as educating other fellow designers and business owners to build on theirs, which has allowed him to build a large and loyal following, including his website which has been viewed over 50 million times. Jacob is an avid traveler and has traveled to 88 countries.

Illustrator & President-Elect of the Graphic Artist Guild

Liz is a freelance illustrator specializing in children’s picture book illustration, though she also creates for video and board games and other commissions. Despite her current work, her long-time background has been in association management and social media marketing for both large and small companies, and not-for-profits. She's active in a monthly illustration critique group and a weekly writers' group.

Liz is the president-elect of the Graphic Artists Guild where she's served on their advocacy committee, social media and advertising committee, and automation and operations committee. She's a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, the American Society of Association Executives, and an active streamer on Twitch with a growing community of fellow creatives. Check out Liz’s website here!

Creative Director of YKMD Visual Communication & National Treasurer of Graphic Artist Guild

Yanique DaCosta was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University and Full Sail University with BA Fine Arts and MFA in Media Design respectively. She is the Creative Director and Owner of YKMD, a graphic design firm headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

With 12+ years of design experience, the United States Department of Labor recognized her as an expert in Brand Development and Graphic Design by engaging her as a consultant for the federal O*Net program.

She currently sits on the Executive Board of the Graphic Artists Guild where she was elected National Treasurer by the organization's membership. She is also the International Council of Design delegate, representing and teaching graphic artists at varying international conferences and meetups. She is an acknowledged contributor in the 15th and 16th editions of the Graphic Artists Guild’s Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Handbook, a national reference book for professional graphic artists and agencies.

She has been a featured speaker at conferences like FUSE and HUE Design Summit. Check Out Yanique’s website, or connect with her on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Brand Designer + Design Educator

Todd M. LeMieux is a nationally-recognized graphic designer and design educator. His focus is on identity + branding, design for higher-ed, and for social causes…good design, for good causes, with good people.

Todd has received numerous local, regional and national awards for his design work, and has been published in several books including: the LogoLounge series, Master Library series, American Graphic Design, as well as a feature in the Graphic Designer's & Artist's Market directory.

He has been an active member of Graphic Artists Guild for 20 years, and has served on the national board's Executive Committee as well as on the Advocacy, Communication and Education Committees, and also served as the New England Regional Representative. Todd is currently the Guild’s Communication Chair. He was a founding member of AIGA-CT, and served as the Education Director for that chapter at its inception. Previously he served as Vice President, and then President, for the Ad Club of Western Massachusetts.

Todd has worked on a diverse range of design projects for a wide variety of clients including: Warner Music Group, Lego, Connecticut Lottery, MassMutual, City of Springfield, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, Northampton Chamber of Commerce, Sodexho, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Mount Holyoke College, Springfield College, Hampshire College, Yale University, AGFA Medical, Dr. Hauschka Skincare, and the Organic Trade Association.

Outside of his design projects, Todd enjoys travel, photography, and live music—he will likely win any 80s new wave music trivia game he plays.