03/29/2023
Danilouillustrates.com
Nine years ago I took the plunge into entrepreneurship.
It was a scary jumpā¦ I had a handful of people say they didnāt think it was the best idea, and a whole lot of folks rooting me on. I wasnāt even sure what kind of business I was going to buildā¦ I had just wrapped up a few years at a gift company, and I loved creating characters and patterns for them, so I thought maybe licensed art? I had worked in branding and marketing with Play and I really enjoyed that, too. I knew that I wanted and needed to include both illustration and design into my services, so I created a bunch of work, designed a logo, honed some skills, built a small group of fans, went to some conferences and waited to see what stuck.
In all honesty, building business was a bigger job than I had imagined. I had to be a good time-manager, project manager, deal with accounts, invoicing and financials- there are so many hats to wear! I donāt even like hats. I didnāt get to spend a huge amount of time creating, which was the only part I knew how to do well. But I didnāt give up. I did, however, give up many other things to keep following my dreams...
I licensed a few illustrations. I started Shirts Yāall with David Broughton and toured Atlanta festivals and somehow became the ātee shirt girlā (a cherished title I still love!). Then I started getting a few clients wanting branding for their businessesā¦ this was an area I really loved because I could be creative and do what I knew I was best at, but I also got to do a deep-dive into the strategy behind the business and connect their brand with their ideal clients. Thenā¦ like magicā¦ that client told anotherā¦ who told anotherā¦ and I started building brand after brand. AND I LOVED IT! My business was growing, but my brand wasnāt growing with it.
Once I found my footing as to where I fit into the creative space, I realized what I didā¦ how I did itā¦ my vision for peopleās businessesā¦ was a little different than most. I had a hard time explaining exactly what I did and how I could best serve my clients. So four years ago, I decided to really work on a plan for my own business and brand moving forward.
I worked with my friend Katherine Morales on my brand messaging and really took time to explore what I wanted to offer and how to offer it. I rebuilt my entire brand visuals. As it turned out, itās much easier to be an outsider looking in and building a brand than to be the person behind the brand building the brand. I brainstormed with my creative mentor, Brett Player, on how to build a website reflective of my new brand. I designed Every. Single. Little. Piece. Of my website, down to every header, every icon, the hand drawn typeface and the animated gif at the bottom of the pages. I needed this website to show people who I am and what I am about as an artist, supported by beautiful, dynamic case studies and work examples. This is, after all, my lifeās creative work up until now. Itās my living āart gallery.ā
My friends, Joey Shonka and Evan Pulliam, were ever so kind to help perfect my website. Shonka, developer extraordinaire, spent endless hours teaching me about SEO and mobile vs desktop displays and all the little details that I had never had to deal with just designing websites. He was so patient and brought my vision to reality better than I could have ever imagined and Iāve learned so much! And Evan found just the right ātoneā for my words, heās a true craftsman of language.
I couldnāt have done this for nine years without support. Shout out to Josh Rasor who dealt with me running on very little sleep, energy and patience while I finished up this site. Shout out to my mama who let me live rent-free in her house for a while while I tried to figure out my place in this industry. Shout out to the amazing network of other creatives I now have that have who have brought me clients and shared my name. Shout out to all the friends who have worked with me, cheered me on and bought my art. Thank you.
So finally, for the first time in my life - and after FOUR years of work - I have a website and brand that truly represent me. I know I share my art on social media, and you all get to see snippets here and there, but I know there are many of you who donāt really know what I do, BUT NOW YOU WILL!!! Plus, itās pretty fun stuff to look at.
At nine years in, I am confident to say I run a creative agency - Iām not just a freelancer anymore. That feels good.
For those of you chasing your dreamsā¦ donāt give up!
For those of you who have kids who ālove to draw,ā that can be a great, rewarding and lucrative career!
For those of you in an office who dream of working for yourselfā¦ it can happen!
Please enjoy perusing my new site, check out my work, sign up for the newsletter and remember me next time you or your company have a creative visionā¦ Iād love to be the creative unicorn who brings it to life!
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