Carolyn Fernandez
Production Manager
North Coast Journal

Katherine Topaz. We have been a fan of her AAN Conference design critiques for years. (Association of Alternative Newsweeklies) Her presentations made us focus on the principles of good design, what works and what misses. But the opportunity to do The North Coast Journal's website redesign with her one-on-one was fantastic. She is as passionate about website functionality as she is about good design. She listens, gathers requests and the flavor of the paper, then comes back with a plan that is uniquely yours. Adjustments? No problem. She really wants you to be happy and has a casual, "say whatever is on your mind" working style. We looked forward to each week's conference call, and know that she is totally on our team for any future projects.

Russ Martineau
Director of sales
Pre1 Software

I have watched Kat Topaz work graphic miracles for years now. She does it all: ads, page layout, cover design or a complete redesign. Whatever you ask Kat to do she will push you to your creative limit. But she's a pro, she won't push you over a cliff.

Brian Johnson
Sales Manager
Mix Magazine

When we approached the development of Mix we decided we wanted to lead with design to set us apart from the competition. Kat's unique approach to building & designing Mix has proven to not only make the magazine look and feel different than other food + drink publications, but has actually helped our sales department sell more advertising. Kat was also instrumental in educating our newspaper sales staff on the importance of good magazine layout and design. Kat's approach was fresh, innovative, new and educational and is in part why Mix is a success today.

Penelope Huston Baer
Website & Classified Manager
The Santa Barbara

I have been on panels at each of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies annual conventions for the past seven years and I am jaded but Katherine Topaz impresses me. It is really a rare combination to find someone with such a good creative mojo who also has an eye for the human aspect and an understanding of the bottom line.

Often I found that design critiques were centered around a particular designer's ego and that didn't always work for me. As a Manager my job is to increase sales and watch page yield (a sometimes tricky combo) and it was great to hear her speak to design as a tool to help increase efficiency. I am a firm believer that good style, proper spacing and an organic order all work together to help the reader better use our paper, but it was nice to see how Katherine actually made it work. All in all, I think she rocks she's smart, professional, organized, and cool, without coming off as elitist.