Ellen Hanrahan

Ellen entered the publishing business after nine years as a high school art teacher. Since the early 1980s, she has seen change and transition in how we create, design and publish ads. While technology plays a large part in the tools that we use, the concept of design remains a constant... good design is good design, period. While the family business was a free paper, the Hartford Booster in Hartford, Wisconsin, Ellen delayed her involvement until the West Bend Booster was established in 1981. In the mid 1990s, she left The Booster to help her brother establish his printing company, stayed for five years learning even more about publishing and printing. Ellen returned to The Booster and worked there until she retired in 2009. She now does substitute teaching and continues to work in publishing on more individualized projects. Ellen never actually stopped teaching, she just found other outlets. She taught software programs at area technical schools and was involved in the high school's Education for Employment committee for more than 15 years. She continues to write a monthly graphics column for IFPA's The Independent Publisher, as well as contributing articles for SAPAToday website. Ellen believes our ever-changing industry continues to be a challenge, and while the rapid change has slowed, there are still new "frontiers" to explore... and it will be exciting to see how our production capabilities continue to evolve. Nonetheless, good design will still be crucial, and needs to be perpetuated for any visual context, and the more who know how to create good and effective design priceless.