Rural Road Trip
An invitation to the Illinois countryside, built around local recommendations, places to stay, and the details that turn a visit into a weekend.
SELECTED PUBLIC WORK
Different stories.
Distinctive places.
Explore websites, visual directions and broader marketing experience. Drafts and concepts are labeled, and each example describes its context. These are examples of the work, not promises of business results.
THE THREE-DIRECTION PORTFOLIO
Quality comes before quantity.
The existing projects below show previous work and design references. A portfolio with three directions for each business is still in development. We will first prove the research, positioning, writing, design and review process on one complete example. Sam must approve its quality and the differences between all three concepts before we expand it to other businesses.
We will label concept work clearly. We will not present unapproved drafts as finished client work or publish three near-identical pages just to fill the grid.
We Love Tiskilwa
A growing independent village guide. People, places and local stories become an invitation to explore, with searchable content and room to keep growing.
Bulltown Brewing
A non-alcoholic beer brand with a strong voice, product storytelling and a community-minded website. The current site credits Sam’s design work.
Kalona SuperNatural
An organic dairy brand connecting products with the farms behind them. Sam’s work with Kalona included serving as Marketing Director.
Bureau County United Way
A community-centered design draft with agency stories, local participation and a Visit for Good concept. A portfolio draft, not the organization’s official website.
Bureau County United Way
An earlier visual exploration: an expansive rural landscape, expressive type and a neighbor-to-neighbor invitation. Retained to show how a design direction can evolve.
Field & Sky Media
A website concept for an aerial media studio, using cinematic landscapes and editorial storytelling. Illustrative imagery and fictional studies; not an operating drone business or commissioned client work.
IvyWest Financial
Consumer education and financial-services experience, with content, videos and resources focused on educators. Included as part of Sam’s broader work across sectors.
Salsa in the Suburbs
A dance-studio website Sam designed, bringing class information, schedules, private lessons and events together with a clear route into beginner classes and registration.
Robert Barnes / Barnes Law
Sam helped write a book for attorney Robert Barnes: a writing collaboration involving a complex subject and a specialist’s perspective.
This example concerns book collaboration, not the design of Barnes Law’s current website.
Client practice reference ↗
Project photo: Kalona Regenerative Network
Kalona Regenerative Network
Sam helped start this nonprofit, built its first website, and contributed imagery and messaging. The work brings together mission, community relationships and communications.
The network supports regenerative farmers through land-management education, ecological monitoring, verification and farm-business support. This example credits Sam’s early contributions, not the design of its current website.
What might your story look like?
A service business may need clarity and trust. A farm may need warmth and a sense of the land. A destination may need to make someone imagine being there. The design starts with your visitors and your purpose.
A GOOD WEBSITE STARTS WITH A CONVERSATION
What are you
working toward?
Tell me about your business, your people, and what you wish your website could do.
Request my 3 design concepts ↗sam@samingersoll.comOpens your email app. Prefer webmail? Copy the address above.