Our Money Talker today is a 22-year-old graphic designer who uses her phone to make beautiful designs for brands and businesses. In this interview, she explains how she started graphic design, the challenges she faced and how she has overcome them.
Money Talk Monday is a series where we interview people from all walks of life to share with us how they make money, spend it and the challenges they face in their respective fields.
Say I don’t know anything about graphic design, could you explain what you do to me like I’m a five-year-old
I’m a Graphic Designer which means I communicate with the right audience with the use of pictures, colours, shapes, patterns, and text for different purposes.
This can be book cover designs, flyers and other designs that represent what you do and sell.
Oh, cool. And you do all of these on your phone?
Yes
Is there a backstory to this? Walk me through it.
I started designing just to keep myself busy offline before getting admission into school, but the more I did it, I realized it’s more than just a skill. It’s a lucrative business.
I started designing in late January 2019 with my laptop before it crashed. After it crashed, I registered for a smartphone design Training in March of the same year.
Wow. That’s a 3-year journey. Who is your target audience?
Yes, almost four years.
My target audience is business owners who need flyers for their businesses and for more visibility; authors, religious bodies who host events and people who want to learn the skill.
Sounds lucrative. How much do you earn weekly?
My weekly earnings are not specific, but I can just talk about the frequent amount.
Most times, I make N70-80k weekly. Sometimes, it can be lower or higher.
Sweet. For how many designs?
5-7 designs
#15,000 per one. #20,000 for some. While others can be #10,000 per one.
Even sweeter. How has social media helped your brand?
Social media is like my office. I get 99% of my gigs from social media. It has immensely contributed to the growth of my brand. Without social media, I don’t think I will be here at this stage today.
Love lives on social media, great clients have been gotten from there.
Fantastic. What kind of challenges are common in your business?
I will mention three.
- I tend to feel depressed sometimes because my work is always indoors and for a whole week I might not see the sun. This is unhealthy and can take its toll on my mental health.
- Another challenge I face sometimes is getting inspiration that fits what the audience wants. To have the skill is one thing, to know what the audience want is another thing.
- The third one is getting an understanding client. Some clients do not understand your skill and they’re so stubborn. Thank God I don’t have them anymore. Letting go of toxic and stubborn clients when I need the money is one challenge I’ve faced overcome.
Hmm, I can imagine how stressful these are. What about electricity and network issues? Have they ever been a problem?
They were. Not anymore. I sorted them out already.
Great! What should a budding designer do?
A budding designer should add these three things to their design skill.
- Observation Skill
Observe how those who have gone ahead of you are doing it, do they have a lifestyle you want? How can you also achieve it?
- Constant learning.
A great designer is not one who can only design, but who can also conceive great design concepts for different audience and still bring them to life with the design skill.
Don’t be rigid and stagnant, follow trends, learn new things about graphic design.
- Business of your skill.
Don’t just learn how to design, know the business side of your skill.
The richest people in your niche are not the best designers but those that know their worth and ask for it.
What you do for #2,000 someone is collecting #20,000 or above for it, expand your learning and earning horizon.
Interview/article written by Sola Tales.