Hey friends
Hope you all enjoyed a nice Halloween! I enjoyed mine a little too much and totally forgot to write last week’s newsletter, but hey we are back in business today.
Full Circle Moment
I was recently asked by one of my old professors Barbara to come talk to her design class at CSU Chico.
This was a pretty cool moment for me and she specifically requested I come in because her class was talking about freelancing and I guess I am one of the only people in the last few years that graduated to do this shit successfully.
That kinda stroked my ego a bit lol, but in all seriousness, it was a lot of hard work, especially in the pandemic and it is finally paying off.
I’m sure it was weird for my professor to be asking me specifically to come talk to. When I was in her class my friend Tanner and I were always messing around and kind of going against the grain of what she liked.
It all worked out in the end but I guarantee she didn’t think she’d be inviting this kid to try to inspire her students haha
I had never done any kind of presentation like this though so I was kind of nervous. Doing it on Zoom was a little strange too.
I ended up just busting out a pdf presentation in InDesign earlier this week and honestly… it was looking pretty fucking solid.
It was worth the extra effort to design it with intention though and make sure it flowed well because now I have that presentation if any other companies, schools, or whatever want me to do a speaking gig.
Overall I talked to the students about my journey as a graphic designer from getting started in high school to college, working in an agency, and then up to what I’m doing now with freelance and content creation.
Also gave the best advice I could on freelancing and how to set yourself up for success in that department.
I recorded the whole thing too and put it up on youtube, so if you’re interested check it out below!
I was pretty stoked on how it all turned out though and honestly would love to do more stuff like this in the future and eventually maybe turn speaking into one of my income sources.
It can’t be that hard to make money off that right?
I see everyone and their mother speaking at these random design conferences lol
On the real though, getting the opportunity to speak at the college I just graduated from 4 years ago was pretty dope.
I am so grateful for how far I have come and honored to be even be considered as a person who could help inspire the next generation of designers and students.
If you are currently in school, make sure to make the most out of it.
DO NOT JUST DO THE BARE MINIMUM.
do your coursework yes, but also put yourself out there.
Make zines with your friends
do fun self-initiated projects
try to start getting your first clients
This career is super competitive and anything you can do to give yourself that extra edge or unique characteristic over the millions of other designers in the world is going to be a plus.
Wish you all the best wherever you are in your journey.
Much love and talk soon🧡
Stuff to Check Out
Fav Design of the week below
Weekly Wrap Up
Design album art with me
Have Heart Redesign
Thanks for reading!
I plan on keeping this newsletter free, but if you want to support, the best way is to buy me a coffee:)