Hi, there! My name is Hailey Winkleman, and I am a design and communications consultant located in southern Illinois. I graduated from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with degrees in Communication Design and Art History (and a minor in classics) in 2019. Between classes, I held many jobs and internships related to design and marketing. I was also a finalist for the 2020 Rickert-Ziebold Trust Award at SIU, the winner of which was unfortunately undecided due to COVID-19 closures.

I now consult for a variety of businesses and projects in design, communications, and marketing/advertising. Some notable organizations/projects I’ve worked with are the Miss Illinois Organization, the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools, the National Rural Education Association, and the I Am A Rural Teacher national advocacy campaign funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. I also was invited to the Rethinking-EDU Podcast to discuss rural schools issues, including web design and social media advocacy.

I get this question a lot: why Evil Eye? In older societies, seeing was thought of more along the lines of touching – it was active, not passive. You could therefore affect other people by “touching” them with your eyes. To protect yourself from someone doing harm to you with their eyes, you might wear a symbol called an “evil eye.” Despite their ominous-sounding name, these charms are a positive symbol that can still be seen in many places today! I was drawn to this idea through my art history and classics backgrounds; I too believe that seeing is an active process, if more metaphorically than our ancestors thought. Therefore, my brand evolved as my own Evil Eye charm, warding off bad design and protecting clients from unfair dealings.