I’ve been digging in the closet of archived work and had to play with this one. Sometimes it’s amazing how much awesome stuff can stack up and rush out the door to the client and you not even realize it. It feels nice to look back and see the piles of work you have done. It’s also funny how it is rarely setup for a pretty display to put on your portfolio. This client had me pumping out designs for apparel and custom board graphics for over five years and I took a little time to line out how it started. Proud of this one throughout the years.

For years, well always, my social media has been a highlight reel of hobbies, travels, and life outside of work. It was never a place where I actively sought out clients or promoted my design business. But as I stepped into full-time freelance, I knew I had to get comfortable with putting myself out there—not just in the work itself, but in letting people know I am available for hire.

Enter imposter syndrome.

A month into this freelance thing and man am I surprised. Before making the leap, the always present fear of being able to sell/get work and projects was nagging at me. Luckily I knew this was a big change I had never done before. Getting my ducks in a row needed to be the priority. As I sat at my desk setting up my website, contact channels, updating portfolios and services, I realized this was the first time I had designed and worked without being on the clock since my first job at Lakeview Golf Course in 7th grade (holler if you need a new site haha). I’ve always been a worker. These hands can’t idle. They work for the money. That said, it was a strange new feeling to be putting these hours in and not be getting paid to do so. I wasn’t camping on a salary check. I wasn’t milking the clock for those extra bucks since working 40 hours a week in any state in the country barely covers rent. I digress. It was still work that needed to be done. I didn’t have any work lined up. I had some leads but if I wanted to take on the work I knew I wanted, this unpaid work was mandatory.

There’s a couple of ways I could go about addressing that title. I could go into the depths of how a logo is just a piece of the puzzle and utilizing quality graphic designers and services will put the rest of the puzzle together for you. OR I could walk you through the process of what you get when we work on a brand identity package together. I think I’ll go that route and save the other for a later time.

SO when we start working together, it’s a collaboration.

This year began with a bang. After spending the last couple years under the tutelage of Ampersand Studios and the previous 10 years in-house at Page One Power as their anything design one-man show, I either had an existential crisis and hit the panic button or I felt like an art school student and the only way forward was to drop out and see how I could use the tools I’ve learned over the years as a freelance designer.