(OLYMPIA, Wash.) — NEWS: Designed Conviction is a social enterprise with a mission to break the stigma around incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals and promote positive rehabilitation through art, media and marketing design.
“We’re doing business with a purpose,” Taylor Tom Conley, founder, Designed Conviction, says. “We hope this network serves as a launch pad for ideas to grow and flourish while reducing recidivism and working to bridge the gap between incarceration and society.”
Conley is no stranger to incarceration. He’s currently serving a life sentence without parole in Washington state. He was 20 when he first started his sentence in 2006 and despite not having a release date, he did not let that discourage him from doing something with his life. He’s spent a great amount of his time taking business classes and advancing his education while working to develop his craft.
As a talented artist and songwriter, he needed a way to nurture his creativity. He partnered with his wife, Cecilia, a Mexican immigrant, to develop a social network that would not only help him, but others too.
The couple started out by publishing what is now their flagship magazine, “Designed Conviction.” It’s distributed to jails and prisons across the country in an effort to extend the platform to the incarcerated and provide an opportunity for artists, writers and other creators to participate. The magazine hosts a yearly contest where people can gain exposure and exhibit their works online and during in-person events.
As the magazine gained recognition, they also developed a podcast, “The Life of a Lifer,” which focused on others serving life sentences. That podcast is now called, “Designed Conviction,” and features a host of collaborators, including previously incarcerated individuals, advocates and more.
To date, Designed Conviction has grown its network to also include a website and social media. It’s expanded its reach to help people publish and market their own products with a cause.
And it could not do it without the help of the network’s sponsor and investor, Jerry Logan, a philanthropist and retired businessman. Together, and with his contribution, they’ve invested more than $100,000.
As the business gains traction, more and more people are spreading the word that when they do business with Designed Conviction, they’re not just getting affordable, quality services, they’re also making a difference to end mass incarceration.
“There are so many talented people out there and there’s a real need to help them develop that talent while creating value and worth to a disenfranchised society,” Conley says. “It’s important to not give up hope despite living in an environment that mostly thrives on negativity.”
Designed Conviction makes a positive out of a negative and gives people hope – hope to get noticed for their craft and to be seen as a person, not just a prisoner.
The social platform has worked with many formerly-incarcerated people such as Seth Anthony, Dave Dahl, founder of Dave’s Killer Bread, Struggle Jennings, Lizzy Kommes, Big Buzz, Chris Wilson, Angalia Bianca and more. It has a dedicated promise to take 50 percent of its profits to invest back into helping people, nonprofits and other programs that are working to reduce recidivism.
“Art changed my life,” Conley says. “And, sometimes people just need to see that it’s possible to believe in it.”
About Designed Conviction
Designed Conviction is an enterprise that provides professional level services to artists, authors, creators, nonprofits and businesses. It specializes in web and graphic design with branding across all digital platforms, optimization, SEO and marketing.
For more information: https://www.designedconviction.com/
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/designedconvictions/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/designedconviction
Twitter: https://twitter.com/designedconvict
MULTIMEDIA:
VIDEO: “So Cold,” written by Taylor Tom Conley, founder, Designed Conviction: https://youtu.be/rIVNjFjtDtg
PHOTO link for media: https://www.send2press.com/300dpi/21-0715s2p-tandcconley-300dpi.jpg
Caption: Taylor and Cecilia Conley, founders of Designed Conviction.
Related link: https://www.designedconviction.com/
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