Anyone who has a smart phone can take a picture, but not all who take pictures are photographers. True photographers are artists. They see things that others simply do not see and present their art in such a way that it makes the average seem extraordinary. Cape Cod is home to thousands of people who take pictures, but only a select group of photographers. Once such photographer is Alison Caron a 2016 winner of the Top 40 Under 40 Award for the best young professionals in the Cape, Islands, and Southeast Massachusetts area. This recognition is given by Plymouth & Cape Cod Business Magazine.
She is the owner of Alison Caron Design with a studio on Main Street in Hyannis. Originally from Taunton, Alison grew up summering on Cape Cod in Dennis and some of her best childhood memories were of those times spent taking in the warm summer breezes of the Cape. She had hoped someday to make this peninsula her home and her wish came true after graduating from UMass Dartmouth in 2003 with her BFA in graphic design.
“I was thrilled in 2004 when I was offered my first design job at the Cape Cod Times,” she says. “That position led me to relocate to the Cape permanently.” After beginning at the Times Caron’s work began to get her noticed. In 2007 she became associate art director at Cape Cod Magazine. She ascended to art director, and eventually became creative director of Cape Cod Magazine and its sister publications, South Shore Living, Chatham Magazine, and Cape Cod Guide. Caron remained loyal to her employers but her freelance work was taking off as well. Thus Alison Caron Design was born.
“I would help local businesses with logos, brochures, websites, and photography,” she says. “Alison Caron Design’s business doubled every year. I continued to grow, and six months after leaving the magazines (in 2014), I had enough business to lease my first office space.” In addition to her rapidly growing design business Caron lends her knowledge to those who are looking to grow and learn much like she was doing when she first began.
“I love to teach, Caron begins, “I am an adjunct instructor in the graphic design department at Cape Cod Community College. I also am the “Photoshop” and “InDesign” Geek Girl for the national Geek Girl Tech Conferences.”
2016 is proving to be another banner year for the multi-talented artist. She will be helping the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod with the design and production of its Pops By The Sea program booklet. It is the largest yearly event on Cape Cod and also the primary fundraiser for the Arts Foundation. Alison also plans to continue to work several projects with the International Fund for Animal Welfare. Her design of their annual report last year won a 2015 Hermes Creative Award from The Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
Photographer, graphic designer, teacher, Alison Caron has definitely made it on the Cape. However she knows that success on this 1,306 square mile spit of land does not come easily for young professionals if it ever does at all. She has her own ideas why.
“Cape Cod has a very seasonal economy, so there are fewer well-paying, year-round jobs than off-Cape. When you add the lack of affordable year-round housing, Cape Cod can be a very tough place for young, entry-level workers to survive and thrive.”
Growing and succeeding on Cape Cod has been a difficult task for the majority of professionals ages 25-44, for every story like Alison’s there are many of those who had to pack up and cross the bridges to find their slice of achievement. Hopefully changes will come soon enough so that another year of graduates doesn’t begin their summer by dreaming about how to leave Cape Cod.
Alison Caron Design is located at 396 Main Street in Hyannis, Suite 14. She hosts one-day ‘Boot Camp’ workshops there. You may find out more about Alison Caron at her website alisoncaron.com.
By Chris Setterlund
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