Part 1 of 4: Graphic Design — Answering 20 Burning Questions

I’ve answered 20+ common questions about being a graphic designer. If you’ve ever been curious how I got started, my daily routine, challenges, or what my favorite condiment is, keep reading!

What sparked your interest in starting your own graphic design business?

My last job-job was working for a national corporation as their art director. I survived several merging and “downsizing events” over the years — where they fire you but it’s theoretically not anyone’s fault. Slice it any way you want, you’re still the one out of a job. It’s always the same story. The company makes some huge leadership change. Employees are told nothing will change and to calm down. A year later, it all changes and people lose jobs.
Although I still had my job, I knew two things. First, eventually it would catch up with me and I would get downsized. Second, no matter what happened, I was never going to fire myself. I decided the stress of starting my own business was less than the stress of keeping a job-job working for someone else where I had no control.
I’ve always done freelance work in my spare time. I enjoy making my own business decisions and trying new things.

How do you stand out from other designers?

Do I? I’d like to think I am a design unicorn, but I doubt that’s true. There are lots of great designers. I try to stick at the basics of good business: Be fair, return phone calls, meet your deadlines.

I do enjoy learning new things and try to stay ahead of the curve in the areas that interest me: graphic design, web development, illustration, and software research.

Describe your daily routine.

I always want to be doing more than I can fit into a day. Every day is different. On a perfect day I would get up at 5:00, go for a walk, and eat breakfast. Then I sort emails (trash it, schedule it, do it immediately, or postpone it). Then I arrange my to-do list. If I have time, I’ll do something creative, like a daily drawing, before I hit my task list. Lunch is somewhere in there and there might be some cute animal videos sprinkled around.

Best way to find clients?

Word of mouth. Do a good job for people and they will tell their friends.