Topics discussed in this episode with time stamps

00:00 – 00:53 “Having inspiration pictures is great because a lot of people don’t know design terms or they don’t know how to express or communicate what they want.” — Christy Hudson

00:54 – 01:12 Welcome to Peppershock Media’s Marketing Expedition Podcast

01:13 – 02:09 About Christy

02:10 – 08:37 Marketing Essentials Moment: How to work with a Graphic Designer

08:38 – 10:41 Welcome to the show, Christy!

10:42 – 14:50 Favorite Projects at Peppershock

14:51 – 18:46 Social Media and Web Design Projects

18:47 – 20:39 Team Building and Company Culture

20:40 – 21:31 Personality Assessments and Team Dynamics

21:32 – 22:08 Poderific, baby! Whether you’re looking for a podcast studio to rent or need help with the entire production and distribution of your podcast, we gotcha covered.

22:09 – 25:59 Client Expectations in Graphic Design

25:58 – 28:03 Inspiration and Design Preferences

28:04 – 30:40 The Importance of Simplicity in Design

30:41 – 34:39 Using AI in the Design Process

34:40 – 36:09 Client Collaboration

36:10 – 36:40 Thank you so much, Christy! Share this podcast, give us a review, and enjoy your marketing journey!

36:41 – 37:27 Join the Marketing Expedition Community today!

Like what you hear, but need more information?

Meet with Rhea Allen

Full Transcript

Episode 265 — Mastering Design and Client Collaboration

Christy Hudson: One thing I always do—whether someone has worked with a designer before or not—is ask if they have inspiration photos. That helps me understand what they’re drawn to, even if it’s outside their industry.

Christy Hudson: Then I can break down why they like it: the shapes, layout, colors, fonts, or overall style. Inspiration images help because many people don’t know design terms or how to describe what they want.

Intro

Welcome to the Marketing Expedition podcast—an auditory journey through the latest in marketing, branding, and advertising. Now, here’s your Marketing Expedition guide, Rhea Allen.

Rhea Allen: On this episode of the Marketing Expedition podcast, I get to speak with one of our own—Christy Hudson. She’s a passionate, creative graphic designer with a keen eye for detail and a flair for visual storytelling.

Rhea Allen: With over 10 years of hands-on experience, Christy has developed a strong aesthetic and a deep understanding of visual communication. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Boise State—go Broncos—and has helped many local companies bring their design dreams to life.

Rhea Allen: Her skill set goes beyond design into photography, video filming, illustration, and marketing. You’re in for a treat—talking with our own Peppershock team is always fun, and we’ve got stories to tell.

Marketing Essentials Moment: How to Work With a Graphic Designer

Rhea Allen: Right now, it’s time for your Marketing Essentials moment—the basics you need to build your brand and your bottom line.

Rhea Allen: Today we’re digging into how to work with a graphic designer—or in our case, a creative production house. Christy is our senior graphic designer at Peppershock, and I want to share a few ways to prep yourself for working with a designer.

Rhea Allen: Whether you’re going through a rebrand, creating a brochure, building graphics for animation, designing a website, or developing marketing assets—good collaboration makes everything smoother.

Rhea Allen: First: show, don’t tell. We love mood boards. Even a Pinterest board helps—things you love, and even things you don’t love.

Rhea Allen: Also remember: you’re not always your own target audience. Getting input from the people you’re trying to reach can make a big difference.

Rhea Allen: Next: understand what you need and learn a little terminology. Educating yourself on the process helps you get better results.

Rhea Allen: Another tip: start by agreeing on details and answering the questions your designer asks. If you need time, say so. Some of your best ideas show up later—after a walk, a drive, or sleeping on it.

Rhea Allen: Feedback is a gift. Don’t tell us what you think we want to hear—tell us what you actually think. If you don’t like something but can’t explain why, that’s okay. We’ll dig deeper. The “why” helps us design for your brand, your goals, and your audience.

Rhea Allen: Be open-minded. Don’t dismiss an idea too quickly. Sometimes a “crazy” idea becomes the best direction once the team collaborates.

Rhea Allen: And don’t worry about overexplaining. Chances are, it’s exactly the right amount of detail. We want to understand your vision.

Rhea Allen: One more: write a synopsis—what will eventually become a creative brief. Use adjectives. You can even use AI tools like ChatGPT or Sintra to help you find the right words.

Rhea Allen: We’re not using AI to create the work for us—we’re using it to ask better questions so we can communicate ideas more clearly.

Rhea Allen: Now, let’s get into the interview.

Interview

Rhea Allen: Welcome to the Marketing Expedition podcast. I’m your host, Rhea Allen—co-founder and CEO of Peppershock Media, and founder of the Marketing Expedition Community. Today’s guest is Christy Hudson. We’re going with Hudson now. Have you officially changed your name yet?

Christy Hudson: Not yet, but you can still call me Hudson.

Rhea Allen: Are you going to do a hyphen?

Christy Hudson: No, I’ll switch it to Hudson. I just haven’t done it yet.

Rhea Allen: It’s a process. I’m glad to have Christy here—she’s our graphic designer at Peppershock. I also kind of forced her into this.

Christy Hudson: It’s a good experience for me.

Rhea Allen: That’s what I tell my students: get comfortable with the uncomfortable. We’re here to have a conversation—don’t pay attention to the camera.

Christy Hudson: There’s no camera there.

Rhea Allen: Christy, start with your background. What got you interested in graphic design? Where did you go to school? Walk us through your path.

Christy Hudson: I’ve always been interested in art. I did well in art classes all through school, and I decided to continue that in college.

Christy Hudson: I didn’t know how to make a career out of art unless I went into illustration, which I wasn’t interested in. That’s when I started learning about graphic design.

Christy Hudson: Graphic design wasn’t available to me in middle school or high school—there weren’t classes for it then. I went to Boise State and graduated in 2013 with my degree in graphic design.

Christy Hudson: Since then, I’ve worked in-house at companies, done freelance, and taken on a variety of projects.

Rhea Allen: And you’ve been with us a couple years now.

Christy Hudson: Almost two and a half.

Rhea Allen: You’ve worked on a lot of fun projects. What’s been your favorite so far?

Christy Hudson: That’s tricky. I love the variety. One of the first big projects I worked on here was the Ripley Doorn logo. That was fun—and it was an icebreaker project where I could show my talent and work with the client one-on-one.

Rhea Allen: We brought them into the 21st century.

Christy Hudson: We did. They hadn’t updated their logo since the ’90s, and it showed. Now we’re hearing feedback that they’re attracting a wider pool of candidates.

Rhea Allen: Their goal was to hire younger accountants and CPAs.

Christy Hudson: Right. We went through the full process—color, font choices, and keeping emerald green because it signals money, finance, and growth.

Christy Hudson: They did an internal poll between blue and green, and green won.

Rhea Allen: That kind of participation helps people feel ownership in the final decision.

Christy Hudson: Exactly.

Rhea Allen: You also did mockups—t-shirts, trade show booths, job fairs.

Christy Hudson: Yes, and we redesigned their website too. It was great to see how the branding system extended from the logo into the rest of their presence.

Rhea Allen: Shout-out to Ripley Doorn.

Rhea Allen: What other projects have you enjoyed?

Christy Hudson: I enjoy social media design for clients. I’ve also been working more on web updates—mostly through WordPress. I’ve learned a lot, and I really enjoy it.

Christy Hudson: I update the Adams Gardens website often. It’s fun because I get to use the photos we take and apply them across the site and social accounts.

Rhea Allen: You learn about plants too.

Christy Hudson: Definitely. Every client is something new to learn.

Rhea Allen: Adams Gardens might be our longest-running client.

Christy Hudson: They’re great—Neil and Jamie are wonderful. I work mostly with Connie on social and website updates. They also have shop cats and foster cats, which is fun.

Rhea Allen: Wineries have wine dogs. Nurseries have cats.

Christy Hudson: They keep the mice away.

Rhea Allen: We’ve also been getting fur samples in the mail. Tell us what that’s about.

Christy Hudson: That was a first for me. We have a client called Courage to Connect. It’s a group of nonprofit organizations in Adams and Valley County.

Christy Hudson: It started around opioid use awareness and getting help, and it’s expanded into broader mental health support for youth and adults.

Christy Hudson: They have a mascot, and we designed him. They named him Zeb the Yeti. Zeb is on the website, stickers, banners—and we recently ordered a mascot costume for their events.

Christy Hudson: We’ve been reviewing fur and felt samples to confirm colors and materials. It’s been a very educational process.

Rhea Allen: We kept getting packages addressed to you.

Christy Hudson: Every delivery was a surprise.

Rhea Allen: We’ll show Zeb in a case study.

Christy Hudson: I’m excited to see the costume. We should get it around mid-June.

Rhea Allen: And we have socks in the office.

Christy Hudson: Those are for YAC—the Youth Advocacy Coalition. They’re partnering with Hope Squad in Valley County. They’re doing school fundraisers.

Christy Hudson: The socks say “We’re better together,” with fun icons. It’s for a fundraising event.

Rhea Allen: Swag is always fun.

Christy Hudson: They call it “educational materials.”

Rhea Allen: Right—grant language.

Rhea Allen: As part of the Peppershock team, what activities stand out to you culturally?

Christy Hudson: Our Palooza events. We do one in January and one in the summer.

Christy Hudson: It’s business planning plus team building. In the summer, we usually do a camping or cabin trip. I’ve gone on the last two, and they’re a lot of fun.

Christy Hudson: In winter, we do an after-Christmas party. It’s a great way to connect.

Rhea Allen: Working on the business, not just in the business.

Christy Hudson: Exactly.

Rhea Allen: We also do assessments when people are hired.

Christy Hudson: Yes—DISC and other personality tools. It helps us understand how people communicate and learn.

Rhea Allen: Do you remember your DISC results?

Christy Hudson: I’m an SC—supportive and compliant are my two highest.

Rhea Allen: I think we’re opposites, which is why we work well together.

Christy Hudson: Agreed. If everyone was the same, we wouldn’t be as innovative.

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Volunteering + Community

Rhea Allen: Christy has helped schedule our volunteer sessions. Tell the audience what we’ve been doing.

Christy Hudson: The hardest part is finding days that work for everyone.

Christy Hudson: We planted trees for Arbor Day at CWI—College of Western Idaho.

Christy Hudson: We did a zoo cleanup day. It was raining, but we got a lot done.

Christy Hudson: We also volunteered at the Idaho Botanical Garden. That was fun, and we got a tour afterward.

Christy Hudson: We have Idaho Shakespeare Festival volunteering coming up—dates in August and September.

Rhea Allen: I’m excited for that one because we get to watch the play too.

Christy Hudson: I’ve never volunteered there, so I’m looking forward to it.

Rhea Allen: We also boxed food for seniors.

Rhea Allen: Giving back matters, and it’s also good PR. Those community photos usually get the most traction on social.

Christy Hudson: Get involved in your community.

Working With Clients: Expectations + Best Practices

Rhea Allen: You’ve worked with a lot of clients. What should people expect when they hire a graphic designer?

Christy Hudson: Ask for inspiration photos. They help me understand what you want—and why you like it.

Christy Hudson: Also share what you don’t want. That can be just as helpful.

Rhea Allen: Sometimes we have to remind clients they’re not their own target audience.

Christy Hudson: Right. If that’s their starting point, we can explain why it may not match the audience they’re trying to attract.

Rhea Allen: Less is more. Some clients want to cram everything into one design.

Christy Hudson: We try to simplify and create space.

Rhea Allen: Versatility matters—mobile, billboards, embroidery.

Christy Hudson: Gradients can be hard to embroider. Sometimes we create a solid-color version.

Rhea Allen: And sometimes clients bring Canva designs.

Christy Hudson: Canva files aren’t vector, so that can be tricky.

Rhea Allen: We also limit revisions and options to avoid analysis paralysis.

What’s Next + Tools

Rhea Allen: What’s on your design bucket list?

Christy Hudson: Packaging design. I’ve done it in the past and really enjoy it—structure, layout, and how everything fits together.

Rhea Allen: That blows my mind. I could never do those folding-and-unfolding puzzles.

Christy Hudson: I like the structure.

Rhea Allen: What’s your favorite program?

Christy Hudson: Adobe Illustrator. I use InDesign and Photoshop too, but Illustrator is where I’m most proficient.

Rhea Allen: How are you using AI in your process?

Christy Hudson: Mostly for writing support—social captions, quick titles, short paragraphs. I’m a better editor than a writer, so it’s a helpful starting point.

Christy Hudson: For design, it can help with inspiration—along with Pinterest and Google.

Peppershock’s Future + Mixers

Rhea Allen: Where do you see Peppershock in five years?

Christy Hudson: I think we can do more video shoots and commercials—especially streaming ads.

Christy Hudson: Anyone can shoot video on a phone, but the quality difference with professional equipment and expertise is huge. Brian and Drew bring a lot to that.

Rhea Allen: More streaming ads, plus landing pages, QR codes, and all the fun stuff.

Rhea Allen: You’ve also helped with our Word-of-Mouth Mixers.

Christy Hudson: I’ve enjoyed it. I like running registration because I see familiar faces returning and I meet new people.

Christy Hudson: When I make name tags, I can spot opportunities—how we can help them, or how they might help us.

Rhea Allen: And you were the one who suggested the name “Word-of-Mouth Mixer.”

Christy Hudson: It flows, and people immediately understand what it is.

Wrap-Up

Rhea Allen: Any final thoughts for people considering hiring us for design?

Christy Hudson: We’re collaborative and flexible. We want to work with you, get your feedback, and understand what makes your company tick.

Christy Hudson: We’ll also share recommendations based on what we’ve seen work.

Rhea Allen: You also participate in our marketing audits and empathy maps.

Christy Hudson: The empathy map helps me most. It clarifies the target audience and how to design for them.

Rhea Allen: Thank you, Christy. I know this was outside your comfort zone, but you did great.

Christy Hudson: Thank you.

Rhea Allen: If you found this helpful, share it with someone who needs to learn how to work with a graphic designer. And leave us a review—reviews are gold for podcasters.

Rhea Allen: Until next time, enjoy your marketing journey.

Outro

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