Turning Visions Into Visuals with Orso Creative Director Liz Sarb

Team Orso in Agency Updates
5 min read • 3w ago

Liz Sarb has had a design eye since she was a tyke, helping her mom put layouts together the old school way: with paper cutouts and printing presses. Her methods have changed with the times, but her love of design hasn’t. The mom of two, amateur seamstress, and Orso Creative Director breaks down how she helps clients turn their visions into visuals.

What’s your role here?

As Orso’s Creative Director, I’m the point person for all things creative, leading the design team and collaborating with our Director of Copy Kelly Williams. If it involves graphic or web design I’ll own, support, or keep an eye on it. Depending on the client and the project, I may also serve as a sounding board for clients’ own design teams. I support internal design for Orso as well, managing our visual brand, website, and marketing materials.

How did you get started with Orso?

I’ve known Vince, Orso’s founder, since college so we’ve been in the same orbit for a long time. I started a freelance design company in 2013, around the same time Vince struck out on his own and, since he knew my work, he pulled me into small projects here and there. As our businesses grew over the years, I became more and more involved with Orso’s clients. After Orso rebranded and refined their service offering in 2024, I was invited to lead their creative services team.

I already knew the company, team, and many of the clients so it felt really exciting to step into that role.

How did you get into design work?

When I was little, my mom wrote and designed newsletters for a nonprofit. She’d cut out pieces of paper, tape them onto a bigger sheet of paper, and then take them to the printer to scan. She used to take me with her and I loved the whole process. It was so interesting to me how she, and they, created this thing. So when I got to college and saw graphic design classes it seemed like a good way to combine my love of art with bookmaking, typography and layouts.

When I got into the world of work I explored other things, too: technical writing, copyediting, and development, but I just kept coming back to design.

Why’s that?

I love helping clients find their voice, visually. It always starts with a deep dive into their businesses and missions to get to the essence of their brand. And since every business is so different, I get to work in different styles and solve different design problems. It’s never boring and feels so great to help businesses understand themselves better.

Can you share more about what you mean by that?

Sure! One anecdote comes from my freelancing work. I was hired by this woman who was both a chef and a therapist. She was investigating whether she could start a television show and wanted me to design some logos for her. But as I asked questions to help me create the perfect logo, it became clear that my questions were helping her focus her ideas about her own business. Once you start thinking about what you want your business to look like, it can really help you gain clarity around who you want to be, and even who you want to attract.

I saw that happen over and over again in my freelance work. Now I’m starting to see it with Orso’s clients, too. We recently started working with this terrific business – Social Protect – and I’ve had the privilege of starting from the beginning with them. That’s always exciting for me; building things like graphics and visuals from the ground up. It has such an immediate impact that it’s like a breath of fresh air – for me and for clients too.

What are your top tips when it comes to design?

Well, I know this sounds salesy given that I’m working for an agency but I mean it: don’t do it yourself. Even if you have a design background, you will get better results if you have more voices in the room and different ways of thinking.

Another big one: don’t skip the brand foundations. I know the whole “write down five words that describe your business” can seem kind of silly and esoteric but… it literally is the foundation of your business. Looking at your visual footprint – your website, logo, communications – and feeling like it all reflects the essence of your business is so valuable.

And that kind of segues into my third recommendation which is to think a step ahead. Think about how you want your business to grow and what that might look like visually, too.

Tell us what you care about outside of work.

Well, I’m a mom to two daughters and I care about raising my kids to be kind, empathetic, and feminist. I’m also passionate about being honest about my experiences as a parent and having that resonate with other people, so I do some writing on motherhood.

I also have come to love making things by hand when I can. It almost brings me back to my mom putting cutouts on a page to build a newsletter. I started sewing during the pandemic and really like it. It’s both art and exactness which is weirdly comparable to graphic design. A lot of the Christmas gifts I gave this year were handmade.

And now you’re on the hot seat!

Best movie you’ve seen recently: Huh. I’ll share that I watched Aladdin with my kids a few weeks ago. Hearing them laugh with the parrot was so fun so maybe I’ll say that. My daughter keeps repeating the line, “Sooo. How did it go?”
Go-to dessert order: Creme brulee because I’d never make it at home and it’s delicious.
Swimming pool or Lake Michigan? Lake Michigan.
Self help books or reality television shows: Reality TV
Best piece of playground equipment: Anything that doesn’t require my participation.

Thanks for the tips, personal insights, and fun answers, Liz! If “finding your visual voice” feels like the right next step for your company, reach out. Liz and the team can work with you and to create that breath of fresh air.