Some projects don’t fit neatly into one service category. My work with Alison Adair and Persistence the Bus is one of them.
I met Alison in Taiwan more than a decade ago. As artists and expats, we’ve stayed in touch across countries and across the years, watching each other’s lives and creative work evolve.
Several years ago, Alison approached me about contributing illustrations to a book she was creating about her colourful magic bus, Persistence. I was honoured and thrilled to become a small part of her journey.
From Illustration to Author Launch
Alison published Persistence the Bus on December 8, 2025, just as my own life was collapsing on the other side of the world.
A few weeks later, after I returned to Canada and began the enormous task of rebuilding my life and work, Alison was one of the first people to reach out and ask if I could help with her author launch.
In a strange and lovely bit of symmetry, I had been there for the birth of Persistence, and Alison was there at the beginning of my own rebirth.
Her author launch was right up my alley!
What began with illustration grew into work spanning branding, design, publishing and promotion.
Creating a Brand System She Could Use
One of the first things I noticed was that Alison already had a visual identity. It existed right there in her published book.
What she didn’t have was a practical reference for it.
No one had ever pulled the colours and typography together into a practical brand guide Alison could actually use when creating new materials. So I extracted the brand palette and fonts directly from the published book and created one for her as a gift.
Suddenly, Alison could carry the visual world of Persistence beyond the book. Alison had the information she needed to carry that identity consistently into posters, promotional graphics and future projects.
That’s the kind of problem I love solving. Sometimes a client doesn’t need something completely new. They need someone to recognize what they already have, identify what’s missing and make it usable.
Bringing Persistence Into the Real World
From there, I created promotional materials for Alison’s business and author launch, helping bring greater visual consistency to the growing world around Persistence the Bus.
Then I got to see something I never get tired of seeing: the work left the computer screen.
Alison printed and framed the posters. The promotional materials appeared alongside the book in retail displays. Now Persistence has made its way onto shelves and tables and into the hands of readers.
My original bus illustrations are there too, inside the published book, credited under my former professional name, Carrie Kellenberger.
For me, this is a lovely piece of professional continuity because the name on those illustrations belongs to an earlier chapter of my career. Above all, the work is still mine. Today it becomes part of the story I’m continuing as Carrie Marshall and through The CM Effect.
This Is The CM Effect
This project is a perfect example of why I don’t force my work into one tidy box.
One client needed illustration, publishing experience, promotional design, a usable brand palette and someone who could step back and see how all those pieces belonged together.
Strategy. Systems. Storytelling. Design. Publishing.
Different pieces working together.
That’s The CM Effect.
Bring me your mess. This is literally why people “Just Ask Carrie.”
This is literally why people…
ASK
CARRIE