"Hi, I'm Laura, the face behind the brand."
Laura Viola Maccarone’s passion for graphic design began at age 11 with her obsessing over the layout choices of Sassy Magazine and admiring her father’s collection of branded hockey pucks, wondering how she might craft a more compelling page or design a flashier logo.
Growing up in a family of restaurant chain and signage entrepreneurs introduced Laura to menu design and physical fabrication. She spent hours in branding meetings with corporate executives and found herself absolutely fascinated by the material processing of sign products. Before she even knew what graphic design was, Laura knew she loved it
Her excitement about design was broadened during a high school Graphic Design class and in college, after which she decided to craft magazine layouts for multiple publications.
Since then, she built her career around professional and educational experiences that introduced her to new aesthetics, fresh ways of thinking, innovative tools, and amazing people. Working cross-functionally to direct and manage digital and print creative teams, she gained on-the-job expertise within nearly every design silo - from photography and signage to website layouts, graphics, album and book cover art, and product packaging.
In 2016, she opened Rizbee Studios, bringing over a decade of freelance experience to bear on her consumer brand clients.
Today, Laura’s clients trust her to elevate their aesthetic while surpassing their business development goals with an eye on brand continuity, material quality, and ongoing communication. She leverages her community connections and partnerships to bolster local entrepreneurs and connect clients to resources.
💜 Every project is a big deal. “With larger teams, there’s less of a personal connection, and you might get bounced around if they have bigger fish to fry. My budget was smaller, but I still felt like a priority.” —Kara
💜 We take the lead, using hard-won and time-tested expertise. “The graphic designers that I worked with before weren’t looking at all elements of the packaging together, they were just looking at their deliverables. [Laura] has this reputation and track record. Rizbee’s reputation is overwhelmingly positive… everybody gushed about her… everyone said that working with Rizbee impacted their bottom line in an overwhelmingly positive way.” —Rachel
💜 We get your pain points, and know how to solve them. “It was so challenging to get the right label printed for the right container with the right material used - it had to be waterproof, oilproof, and it had to be removable. Now we have over 300 products. So I needed a system, and she created a system[…] She created a framework. You can look at one product line, say it's like stress relief, and know each item that is marked stress relief, whether it's a roll-on or a soap or a lotion or a candle or a spritzer, it's all going to appear the same with the correct, uniform look to it. She's done a really great job at keeping everything really consistent. [It] was just a huge step to actually have someone that was going to know my brand and take my logo and make it all unified and just really step in there and be, like, kind of a voice for the company, which she's done, which is amazing.” —Beverly
💜 We understand how personal your brand is, and leverage our expertise and care in its evolution. “As founders, our brands are extensions of ourselves. Doing the rebrand was like going through a breakup and seeing someone new. It was emotional, it made me reflect on so many levels, and it made me think on levels I hadn’t before, stretching my mind and my own self-concept as a CEO. And Laura held and guided the process with grace, skill, confidence, professionalism. She possesses a truly impressive track record as a packaging designer. I can no longer imagine working with anyone else on the visual elements of my brand. Working with Laura was a true evolution: of the brand, of the packaging, and of me.” —Rachel
💜 We bring serious knowledge and make real connections, with no ego. “I like that Laura is always giving options, she’s collaborative and open to suggestions. She has a point of view with no ego, and she’s an expert in graphic design with so much knowledge about the things that I don’t - like when it makes sense to use tools and when it doesn’t. She’s a connector, so in our conversations, she’ll make introductions to people who I could benefit from working with.” —Lauren