leah gillet
BY LEAH S . BETHEA
Each day as Leah Gillet drives by the mural she painted on the downtown library annex in 2019 , she feels a sense of fulfillment .
“ It is so satisfying to see students at prom or at homecoming or people [ who are ] visiting go and take pictures by it …,” Gillet says . “ Three days of work for people to use it as a landmark literally every day or as a backdrop for pictures is totally worth it .”
It ’ s the same feeling of accomplishment she earns now as a graphic and web designer at Goeble Media . It ’ s there that Gillet uses digital art to make an impact for clients while fulfilling her need to create .
“ I do enjoy doing things like that in the community ,” Gillet says of the mural , “ and my job now feels like the way to do that but without having to go out and physically paint on walls .”
Gillet has been with Goeble Media for a year now , and she spends her days designing , whether it be building websites and developing brand themes for new clients or creating social media ads for local small businesses .
Originally from Roswell , Gillet moved to Milledgeville in 2012 to attend Georgia College , where she earned a degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting . By the time she graduated , though , she wasn ’ t sure she wanted to do the physical work of painting . Instead , she had begun to find it more appealing to create art in a digital aspect .
She cut her teeth in the industry after graduating in 2016 and taking a job at The 42nd Floor , where she specialized in T-shirt design .
“ That was kind of the beginning of when my hobbies designing little stickers or shirts or things like that actually became a job ,” she says .
Since the store fulfilled single-product orders , she says it was a great place for her to sharpen her creativity doing designs for birthday parties and other special events .
“ It was a good introduction to the graphic design field ,” she says .
After working there for a year , she took a job in 2017 as creative director at The
Chamber of Commerce , where she worked until taking on her current job at Goeble . Gillet says with each new job , she has moved farther from physical art to digital art , and it ’ s a transition she has embraced . She loves helping clients bring the ideas they have about their brand to life .
“ A lot of times people know what they want their brand to be and they know what they want it to feel like , but they can ’ t quite put their finger on how to do that or how much things like fonts or colors can totally transform and solidify how people feel about them as a business or a brand ,” she says .
Many times , those clients come in simply with words or a description of how they want their graphic design to feel .
“ And you can take those feelings and those words and turn it into something that they can see and be like , ‘ Oh my gosh , I didn ’ t know this was what I wanted , but this is exactly what I wanted ,’” she says . While Goeble Media has clients all over the country , Gillet says her favorites are the local businesses she can walk downtown to or see a vehicle driving by with a logo on it that she helped to create .
She says one of her favorite projects has been one she is currently working on , creating a new website for the local Communities in Schools . It ’ s an organization she had worked with through the Chamber , and as a new mother herself , she ’ s invested in local public education and eager to help CIS show more people what they do in the community .
“ I think that what we ’ re doing with them is just going to emphasize how integral they are to our community and to our public education system ,” she says .
In a small town and in small businesses especially , Gillet is certain that an online presence can really be the difference in creating brand loyalty . That ’ s why when working with clients , she strives to create brands that locals will love just as much as people who visit .
“ My personal goal when we ’ re working with our local clients is to make sure that they ’ re poised to have a presence both in our community and outside of our commu-
36 Milledgeville Scene | 20 Under 40 2022