I know I’ve primarily used this blog to showcase my portfolio, but I’d eventually like to utilize this space as an actual blog, as well. However, I’m at a point in my life where I’m juggling maybe a hair too much. When I’m trying to juggle these departments of life (you know, everything under the sun), I always feel like the mechanic driving a junky car.
I get so busy with life and work that I never spend much time on this site posting my new design pieces. Part of me knows that I get enough word of mouth out there just from living in a smaller community. Do I have a business card? No, not just yet. What kind of designer doesn’t have a business card? One that is too busy designing promotional materials for everyone but herself—that’s me alright. The mechanic driving a junky car, for sure.
I’ll blog more—someday!
On that note, I will tell you a little about one of the clients I worked for the past few months. One thing I’ve found to be true about working in the field of creativity is that it is imperative to have connections. I design all the promotional materials for our new community center, and I became great friends with the project manager, Katie, while working behind the scenes of the center’s fun events and fundraisers. She has been my biggest promoter and has given me a lot of free advertising. A few times, she’s even asked, “Do you mind if I tell everyone about your design work?” It’s very flattering when clients want to shout your name from the rooftops, but double check with you about whether it’s okay to do so.
My client, now friend, was approached by an event planner/ facilitator who wanted to have the Connecting Young Nebraskans (CYN) event at our community center. When the event planner mentioned the need for a graphic designer, Katie mentioned my name right away, and I’m so grateful she did because I have gained so many connections from her testimonies of my work ethic and creativity.
It’s always great to get to know people you work for or with. I’ve always been a tad more personable, rather than a straight to business type. I’ll admit I was a little intimidated when I first signed up to help volunteer in hosting the event in addition to my design work for the client. But this event really helped put our little rural neighborhood on the map and it also allowed that icebreaker between a few of us on the host team who probably wouldn’t have gotten to know each other very well or very quickly otherwise. It’s funny how the host team was all about the same age, but I still had not had many conversations with them despite the fact that we’re from a small town. Doesn’t everyone know everyone in rural areas? Not in my case. I guess creative introverts tend to be that way.
As a part of our host team’s brainstorming sessions, we came up with a fun fact questionnaire to have all of us fill out and post on Facebook to help promote the event. I think it’d be fun to have my clients fill in answers to questions similar to these—what a quick way to get to know someone and maybe reveal what kind of creative vibe they might lean toward just by reading their responses. Sometimes the simplest statements say the most.
Here’s my fun fact collection from yours truly.
ANTC Productions 