Sara ‘Rosie’ Risk

I am the newest designer to join the By Design team. I have been living in the Des Moines area for just over a year, and I have been with By Design for about 5 months now.

I love everything about design. I mean everything! I have been designing homes and rooms for about 10 years now. About 3 years ago I added in cake designing. And now my newest design endeavor is photography. I am often surprised at how similar the skills and strategies are in all of these different design categories. The principles are all the same: color coordination, scale, balance, and flow to mention a few.

And it all starts with inspiration. Inspiration can come from a variety of things… a photograph in a magazine or online… a piece of artwork… even a napkin. I had just recently designed a birthday cake around a napkin to be used at the birthday party. All of the colors, even all of the floral design from that one napkin inspired the entire cake. So I encourage you to take a moment, look around, and see what inspires you.