Drew Fuller is the lead graphic designer at Athey Creek in West Linn, OR. The Oregon-native grew up with her mom, dad, and seven other siblings. Drew and her family attended church every Sunday, but it wasn’t until the age of fifteen that she found Jesus and asked to be saved through baptism. At the age of eighteen, she joined the Athey family and was drawn to their message of iron sharpening iron. She felt that God was calling her to join this family and share her skills. When Drew graduated high school, she felt lost as to which career path to pursue. After much thought and prayer, she decided to return to college. At the age of twenty-seven, Drew received an associate’s degree in graphic design at Mount Hood Community College. After graduating, Drew landed a position designing for her home church Athey Creek; this year will be her third year at Athey. Although she is rather new to the design scene, her work does a beautiful job conveying the word of God.
Drew seeks inspiration through applications such as Pinterest, Instagram, and a Facebook group called “Creative Church.” The artists that influence her aesthetic include JKY Designs and In God We Must.
When an idea arises, she takes time out of her day to talk with God and process her visions. After speaking with God she creates mood boards, a list of goals in her prayer journal, and sketches a few ideas out on procreate. When problems surface, she removes herself from the situation and takes a solitary walk with God. If that doesn’t solve the problem, she then finds people she trusts to bounce her ideas off of. As for negative feedback, she is still working on positive ways to look at their critiques because it all depends on who is providing the critique and how they word it. She listens and views the negative feedback as a learning opportunity rather than a setback. Once she completes a piece, Drew puts her name on it and sends it out into the world. She measures the success of a piece by the way it blesses people and glorifies God. She primarily uses Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Procreate, and an application called Magnet. She describes her aesthetic as masculine, industrial simplistic, “grunge,” but she says that she is still finding her style. She enjoys creating book layout designs, apparel designs, and album cover art.
The first workbook she created for Athey Creek is titled “The Way of the Word,” a Psalms focused women’s workbook. She is currently working on the second women’s ministry workbook called “Ashes to Beauty.” The book will contain writing prompts, bible verses, and images. In addition to the workbook, she is designing new cover art for the albums the worship ban at Athey Creek is working on.
When I asked Drew if there were any jobs that she would not take, she quickly answered. She said that she would not do any branding or promotional work for substances such as drugs or alcohol. She feels as though they do not glorify God and which is what she implements in her designs.
As for my own work, I found inspiration for my final project through her Psalm’s workbook. Im not gonna ruin the surprise but lets just say I was intrigued by the layout of her workbooks! In regard to her process I would like to start implicating a brain-storming journal. This will be a place where I can spend time with God and allow Him to speak through my skill set.
“Art is an incredible way to serve the Lord” -Drew Fuller