By Liz Farano, VP & Creative Director
Douglas Marketing Group is celebrating 35 years this year, and I’m reflecting on my own twenty-year journey alongside it. What follows is a perspective shaped by design, change, and the constant need to evolve.
Twenty years is a long time in any industry. In marketing and design, it’s an era. When I started at Douglas Marketing Group in 2006, the work was primarily print and traditional media. Websites were still optional, social media didn’t exist in any meaningful way, and campaigns lived in binders and on bulletin boards, not dashboards. What hasn’t changed is the need for clarity, intention, and trust in the work, in the process, and in each other.
What I couldn’t have predicted was just how much change would define the next two decades. Not only within marketing, but within my own life. I’ve grown my career through the recession in 2008, a global pandemic, becoming a mother, and more than one office move along the way. Those experiences didn’t just test resilience, they changed how I see the work. Economic uncertainty forced a different kind of thinking. The pandemic required learning how to adapt quickly, how to work and lead remotely, and still maintain productivity, connection, and trust across teams and clients. Becoming a mother reshaped my perspective in ways I couldn’t have anticipated, bringing greater focus, empathy, and clarity to how I show up every day. And changing office locations taught me something just as important: a company isn’t defined by a building. Whether we were working side by side or collaborating remotely, the work remained strong because the culture, values, and commitment to our clients never changed.
I came to DMG as a designer with a strong design education and an instinct for visual thinking. Everything beyond that was learned through opportunity. Client conversations taught me how businesses work. Project management showed me how ideas move — or stall — depending on process. Exposure to industries like manufacturing, healthcare, education, agriculture, and nonprofit work forced me to understand audiences, motivations, and constraints far beyond visual branding. Over time, my role expanded because the work demanded it.
One of the most defining moments in my career came when I recognized a recurring disconnect: marketers and designers naturally understand how strategy, brand, messaging, and execution must align, but clients often don’t see the full picture. Not because they lack intelligence, but because strategy is usually explained, not visualized. I recognized that gap as a challenge and as an opportunity to use design to make strategy clearer, more accessible, and easier to act on.
That frustration led to the development of what became the DMG Big Picture Landscape®. A visual framework designed to map branding elements, marketing tactics, and organizational touchpoints into a single, cohesive view. It allowed clients to see their roadmap instead of trying to interpret it through presentations and jargon. It changed the way conversations happened. It also set DMG apart. What started as a visual strategy tool evolved further into a digital marketing asset system, a software that helps clients organize, access, and manage their brand assets online. That evolution reflects something I strongly believe: good design scales when it solves real problems.
As the industry changed, so did my role. I moved from designer to art director, creative director, VP of Marketing, and now Vice President and Creative Director of DMG. Each transition required letting go of being hands-on in the way I once was, and learning how to lead, to guide teams, set standards, and align creative with business goals. Marketing today is fully integrated. Nothing exists in isolation, and leadership means understanding how every part connects.
In 2017, I was honored to receive the St. Clair College Alumni of Distinction award. It remains a defining moment, not only professionally, but personally. Having my family there to share that accomplishment made it especially meaningful and is something I’ll always value.
None of that growth would have been possible without trust. Kay Douglas, who is the president of DMG, believed in me early on and continued to create space for me to grow. That kind of leadership shaped how I lead today. The same is true of our team. DMG’s success is the result of talented leadership and people who care deeply about the work and each other. Creating a positive, collaborative, and supportive environment has always been central to how we do our best work together.
Looking back, I’m proud of the clients who have stayed with us over the years, some from day one. Long-term relationships teach you how to navigate challenges, adapt to change, and deliver value consistently. We don’t just provide services; we become extensions of our clients’ teams. That trust means everything.
Twenty years in, I’m still a designer at heart. I’m inspired by people, by art, and by the environments we help shape. This reflection makes my heart smile because it reminds me why I chose this path and why I continue to evolve within it.
If there’s one constant across DMG’s 35 years and my 20, it’s this: survival and success require adaptation. The industry will keep changing, and technology will keep advancing. Our responsibility is to keep learning, keep listening, and keep designing for what comes next.
And that’s exactly what I intend to keep doing.