6 Strategies for Growing Your Graphic Design Business: The Vicarel Studios Approach
Vol. 102
6 Strategies for Growing Your Graphic Design Business: What We Are Doing Right Now.
As the Vicarel Studios business grows and the graphic design industry continues to change, this is exactly what we’re doing to retain our sanity and stay on top of things.
It’s imperative that you never get complacent: as a human, as a working professional, and particularly as a self employed graphic designer or creative entrepreneur.
In an effort to highlight a bit of the behind the scenes at Vicarel Studios I wanted to share with you the things that we’re doing RIGHT NOW to grow, evolve, and adapt Vicarel Studios to the ever-changing graphic design industry.
We are currently focused on these 6 things:
Saying Yes (yes now, figure it out later)
Organization (better use of time = more time for creative work)
Using AI (use it or lose it)
Passion Projects for Passive Income (put out what you want in)
Work/Life Balance (life is needed)
Stumbling (and being okay with it)
1. Saying Yes (even when it makes me uncomfortable)
I’m always trying to pick up new skills. Sometimes that means learning new aspects of Adobe Illustrator, sometimes that means getting better at sales, sometimes that’s learning a new painting technique for painting a mural.
Right now, I’m trying to learn how to be a better creative director, manager and delegator.
When our schedule is fully maxed out — i.e., we don’t have more time in a given week — I still say yes to projects. How and why, you may ask?
Delegation.
Instead of doing all of the work in-house, I’m allowing myself to let go of the reins a bit, take on the role of art director and/or creative director, and hire contractors to support us when needed.
There is certainly a threshold of what’s possible, but we haven’t hit it yet.
For now, I’m saying yes, and figuring out how to make it happen later.
2. Organization (consolidating, refining, and adapting)
Carly and I are fixated on continuing to dial in our processes.
We are currently trying to over-communicate with each other as we reevaluate how we use our primary project management and organizational tools (things like Dropbox, Asana, Slack, Google Calendar, etc.)
“Time is money” as they say. If we can make better use of our time, we can be a more profitable business.
Additionally, less friction and bottlenecks in our management process means more creative output. That’s a win/win right there.
3. Using AI (the “use it or fall behind” mentality)
Whether you choose to accept it or not, AI is quickly becoming a huge part of the graphic design industry.
Whether you’re in video, photo, graphic design, writing…you name it! AI will be affecting the way you do your job.
In fact, AI is already integrated in the Adobe Creative Suite (behind the scenes) and is going to be more prominently accessible through Firefly, Adobe’s generative AI tool.
I’m currently immersing myself in AI (by following people on social media who regularly experiment with these tools) as well as practicing using it myself for various tasks.
Namely, I’ve been messing around with image generation in Mid Journey as well as writing, outlining and ideating with Chat GPT.
At this point, I have no idea how I’ll use AI for graphic design work in the near future; however, I do know that the more I understand this technology, the less likely I am to fall behind because of it.
AI is brand new technology. So-called “experts” in AI are only 6 months into using it. The playing field is pretty even. The industry is brand new. Don’t be scared of it, experiment with it.
4. Passion Projects for Passive Income (throw shit at the wall, see what sticks)
I feel very fortunate to say that we’re busier with client work than we’ve ever been. As an aside: I owe that busyness to YEARS of working my tail off, constantly marketing our services, always networking, and always experimenting and learning.
Despite being almost fully bogged down with client work, we’re still trying to push ourselves to create/sell fonts.
Why? We’ll, partly because creating fonts is a passion project, and if I’ve learned anything over my career it’s that the work you put out is the work that comes in.
I don’t necessarily think that you always need a passion project — like everything, you should allow things to ebb and flow in seasons — however, I do think that you should have seasons of producing passion work so that you can push the boundaries of what you create, ideally attracting your dream clients.
5. Work/Life (work is just a small cog in the wheel of life)
Despite what feels like an absolutely insane work schedule, I’m trying my hardest to prioritize LIFE amidst this chaos.
Im pushing myself to say yes to “”life” things — fun things — even if i feel like “I have too much work to do.”
Why?
Knowing that I have dinner with friends, a bike ride with a buddy, or a camping trip with the homies forces me to really prioritize what’s important in my work schedule.
When you only have a few hours, but your to-do list is 20 items long, you’ll be forced to prioritize the things that really move the needle forward.
And, if you don’t, you’re screwed. 😂
With this mentality in mind, I have definitely been in a season of minimal social media posting. This isn’t bad or good, this is just the season I’m in. I’m focusing on my business; I’m not focusing on showing up on social media every day. And, that’s okay.
6. Accept that this journey is a stumbly one filled with doubt (more misses = more
goals) and that’s okay
I am constantly learning. I am constantly messing up and learning lessons from those mess ups.
One of my favorite quotes: "Doubt increases with inaction. Clarity reveals itself in momentum." – Brendon Bruchard
Bruchard is making the point that the less you do, the more doubtful you’ll become. The more you do, the more clear you become.
We all have doubts. We all have concerns. We all have fears.
Those who allow those things to stimulate progress as opposed to mitigate progress are those who are more likely to find success — as noted by Bruchard here.
With all of the above mentioned, I’m giving myself as much grace as possible as I continue to stumble my way through this graphic design and entrepreneurial journey.
As we continue tearing through this already-quick-moving year, we are focused on:
Saying Yes (yes now, figure it out later)
Organization (better use of time = more time for creative work)
Using AI (use it or lose it)
Passion Projects for Passive Income (put out what you want in)
Work/Life Balance (life is needed)
Stumbling (and being okay with it)
I hope this little behind the scenes is helpful and insightful for ya! Hit me up with any Qs in the comments below.
Cheers,
Adam