Image Up Advertising & Design

12 | SUN LAKES LIFESTYLES | JULY 2023 | Twenty years ago, Lifestyles was an 18-page photocopied newsletter, stapled in the corner and mailed to residents, costing the HOA about $5,000 a month. Courtney Taylor made a proposal to the Lifestyles Advisory Committee to allow her to restyle the publication, sell advertising, and provide the upgraded magazine to the community at no cost. She was given the "go" on Oct. 14, 2003, and the first edition made the Nov. 1 deadline with 32 pages in color and black and white with stunning pictures of SLCC. Courtney designed and edited it, sent the file to the printer, picked up the order in her husband's truck, labeled over 3,400 magazines in her living room, and mailed them out to homeowners. The new Lifestyles was an instant success. Sun Lakes' clubs embraced the new format and began enthusiastically promoting their events. The issue included information about traveling opportunities through the Recreation Department and an intimate page, "Friends We Will Miss." Since then, SLCC has developed into an elegant monthly magazine, hand-delivered to homes at no cost to residents. Courtney Taylor worked as a graphic artist after graduating from the University of Arizona. At 24, she started Image Up Advertising & Design, joining local Chambers of Commerce and other business organizations. In her spare time, she did stand-up comedy, performing at different venues around Orange County, and wrote a weekly humor column for the Orange County Register's Saddleback Valley News. Not busy enough, she also created a cable TV news show in Mission Viejo. More recently, she has appeared in dozens of plays locally with some favorite Sun Lakes' stars. Courtney met her husband Tim in 1997. When he became General Manager of Sun Lakes in 2001, they settled in Yucaipa with sons Clint and Ben. Because of Tim's position and Courtney's social nature, they attended the many Sun Lakes' functions, met lots of residents, and were welcomed by the community. "I'm so blessed to have made lifelong friends with Sun Lakers," she said. Today, Image Up has an enthusiastic team that publishes seven monthly community magazines. In addition to Lifestyles, they publish the Four Seasons Beaumont Breeze, Life in Solera Oak Valley, Four Seasons Hemet Herald, Solera Diamond Valley View, e Colony of Murrieta News, and Ocean Hills Country Club Living. Image Up also produces a quarterly digital magazine, e Crosby Crooner, for a community in Rancho Santa Fe. Courtney takes the lead on the creative side; Stacey Parr, who has been Account Manager since 2013, oversees advertisers and handles invoicing as well as layout and design. Jolie Ross is the Print and Delivery Manager, and also jumps in on final editing. The volunteers on the Sun Lakes Lifestyles Advisory Committee meet to do initial editing for the magazine each month. Courtney enjoys traveling with family and friends. She and Tim have three grandsons, Caleb, 7, Aiden, 5, and Ashton, 1. She loves having them spend a weekend a month with her, baking, reading, playing in the pool, and having adventures. About 10 years ago, she created a monarch butterfly habitat, and her yard is visited by hundreds of monarchs each year. It's even a registered waystation on the national Monarch Watch website. Twenty years of publishing Lifestyles has put Sun Lakes in a special spot in Courtney's heart. "My sons grew up going to your Fourth of July parades," she said, "and I've made wonderful friends, attended too many memorials, and watched this sleepy little oasis become the center of a bustling city. I'm so proud to work with such a vibrant community. I feel like an honorary Sun Laker, especially now that I'm nearly old enough to live here. That's crazy to me!" ~ By Linda Vieira Courtney Taylor in 2022 visting Alicante, Spain Photo by Timothy Bruce Taylor (who insisted on getting credit for the photo) Lifestyles Publisher Hits 20-Year Mark

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