Reflecting on a bit of my design journey
Reflecting on a bit of my design journey
Hey Friends
It’s been a busy week for me and I hope you all are getting after it as well.
To Niche or not to Niche
I have been working on a few client projects the past 2 weeks that are almost on 2 opposite sides of the spectrum of the type of design work I do, One is a corporate brand identity that is for a very professional type news organization and another is some social media design assets for a wine company where I’m incorporating analog techniques and stuff.
It got me thinking about the different styles that I’ve worked on in my design career overall and the trajectory of what I want to do in the future. There are so many niches, styles, and approaches to graphic design it can definitely be hard to find your place in this field. When you start to develop a style though and people come to you for “That thing” nothing feels more rewarding.
When I was in college all I wanted to do was work on cool minimal logo designs/brand identities and work for a cool studio in Los Angeles or New York. While that stuff still excites me and A lot of my logo design work is primarily modernist style still, it’s not my dream goal or singular love anymore.
Since I started posting on Instagram a lot more a few years back alongside working on the YouTube channel I realized I am more into other types of design these days. Don’t get me wrong I’ll probably continue to work on logo and branding projects when the money is good or the project makes sense (Like the current one I’m on) but it isn’t what drives me anymore.
In the current stage of my life, I love working on analog type design stuff, poster designs, collages, etc. Basically the more experimental, artistic, and expressive side of design. When I first started working on that type of stuff just as personal work I thought that’s all it would ever be, “PERSONAL WORK” until I realized clients are starting to dig it too.
It’s an amazing feeling to be hit up by clients who reference some of my personal passion projects as the type of design work they wanna hire me for. This type of design feels a lot less like work and a more expressive and collaborative process between me, the medium, and the client.
It also feels great to work on this type of stuff with cool clients and it goes so smoothly. Especially when working with some printed styles and stuff revisions can be a fucking drag.
I’m not sure what the future holds for my design career as a whole but I know what I’m into at the moment and that feels good for the time being. For now, I want to be a bit more selective with my freelance clients working on exciting design work, keep expanding on the YouTube channel and building an amazing community with you all, continuing to add value on the Patreon and maybe some other artistic endeavors in between/ here and there.
I am very grateful for you all and the discipline I had with growing these online channels because it has now afforded me to be more selective and inspired in my design career as well.
I know it can be hard when first starting out in design and trying to figure out what type of work you wanna do. It took me about 5 years to really narrow down what I enjoy, what pays well, and the type of work that makes me proud. I'm still working at it too, I by no means have this whole thing figured out lol.
If you aren’t familiar with the different niches you can check out this video I made here. Also if you are having trouble getting clients don’t knock the power of personal passion projects ( another thing I expanded on in this video here).
Design is a bittersweet career, It has its ups and downs and all of us are on our own trajectory, however, if you stick with it, continue to have fun, be disciplined, and constantly learn I think it will work out for you.
Like most good things in life, they take time.
New Patreon Tier System
Hey, y’all so just a quick update on Patreon, for 2023 I have changed the 3 tiers into one singular tier that only cost $5. This change will help me streamline the benefits you all get as well as make it less complicated for everyone involved.
If you were already on the $6, or $20 Tier, don’t worry you are grandfathered in and now considered OGs with your original discord role and can still keep your same price and exclusive benefits.
For those in the $3 tier feel free to upgrade and help your boy buy a coffee each month cuz of all this damn inflation lol or If you want to stick to the $3 tier that is totally fine too and I appreciate your amazing support nonetheless.
Again thank you all for pledging a few bucks a month to help keep this operation going, Much Love!
Stuff to Check Out!
Loving this new printer I got
Great mini investigation series on Logan Paul crypto scam by Coffeezilla
Tweet of the week below
Closing Thoughts
“All overnight success takes about 10 years”
Much Love, Glue.
Weekly Wrap Up
New Video Touring my Office/Desk Setup
Recent Podcast on Patreon
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