Graphic Designer & Illustrator Sam Minton
About this episode…
GRAPHIC DESIGNER & ILLUSTRATOR SAM MINTON
Sam was drawn to freelancing when the bar he pulled pints for, asked him to design a poster.
The writing was on the wall. Well, it wouldn’t have been a great poster otherwise. Sam became known as a designer/illustrator for bars, pubs and clubs.
And then covid hit. Overnight all those places shut. But Sam’s happiest when he’s working…
Read the highlights in the next tab.
PAID POSTS ON INSTAGRAM
This sponsored post is how Steve discovered Sam
After covid decimated his pub/bar clients overnight, Sam realised he needed to put more effort into being seen and found online. He’s even paid to promote his posts on Instagram with great results.
“Promoted posts are really effective. Especially if you're trying to advertise yourself. So I did it. I created the image - an illustration of me with some tentacles, just eye catching and then some information on it and then you can just boost it every so often. Yeah, I’ve had some nice work come out of it. So it's it’s a really good service that they provide.”
WHAT DO CLIENTS LIKE?
Sam has a number of long term clients and gets lots of word-of-mouth work. What Sam thinks makes a good relationship is really pretty simple…
“Just being reliable and available is a big part of it. Especially if you're working with clients with quite tight deadlines. So having a good reply rate is really important. Being really available and letting people know when you're not around as well.”
THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITIES
Not every opportunity is the right one, at the right time…
“Picking the right opportunities. I think you can undervalue your time quite easily. So sometimes it’s best to say ‘no’ to some projects if you really feel it's just undoable for the budget or the time constraints.”
THE BUCK STOPS WITH YOU
One of the challenges of freelancing is realising ultimately sits with you. If you’ve not got much work, you need to get out there and find it.
“The reliance on yourself is really key. You're only going to find the work that you really go out and hunt for. So if you're looking at your schedule, thinking it looks a little bit thin this month, then it's kind of on you to remedy that. The buck stops with you...”
STAYING POSITIVE WITH PERSONAL PROJECTS
Sam loves to create. Sometimes just for the hell of it. But you never know where those personal projects you share online will lead…
“I try and do things just for me as much as I can when I'm not busy because I've learned that I'm always happiest when I am busy with work. Ideally, it's paid. But if it's not then I can still be creating and getting something out there.
And you just you never know when something's going to be picked up on - and it could just be a springboard for something bigger. Which has happened a couple of times with some of the doodles I've done. Instagram really led to some good stuff. Everything is important even if it's not necessarily being paid for.”
More from SAM MINTON
Sam’s website
Sam’s Graphic Design Instagram
Sam’s Illustration Instagram
More from Steve Folland
Transcript of the Being Freelance podcast with Steve Folland and Graphic Designer & Illustrator Sam Minton
Steve
As ever how about we get started hearing how you got started being freelance?
Sam
So I did Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University and I found myself getting more and more disenfranchised with it I never felt super comfortable. So I found myself drifting more towards getting excited about doing the flyers and things for events we were hosting and anything to get away from the studio and making things.
So I think that's when I first found graphic design as a concept. But it probably wasn't until after I graduated and I started working at a club in and they gave me my first flyer thing. They let me do it - I think it was for a Happy Hour and they paid me in a bottle of rum. But it was a good foothold. I've always really d art and making things and I thought I was so bored of fine art and I was watching all these amazing painters and performance artists around me and I just couldn't see and find my niche and when I found that there was something I could do that was really visual but still arty… that was a revelation so I slowly just started moving away from pouring pints and into more design work.
Slowly built up a bit of a reputation through working for other bars and things with design work and eventually I was just able to fully stop pulling pints and just move into designing and I've really looked back since.
Steve
when when you started to build that reputation with other bars, was that because you were approaching them or they were seeing your bar and so going ‘hey who did that’?
Sam
In the early days I did rest on my laurels a bit and let word of mouth do it for me. There was a few nice things that one venue, I did a t-shirt for them and then that moved on to I did a mural outside and so it was out there. And I was lucky enough that that bar also owns a couple of others in Nottingham - I slowly moved into doing a few bits for them and it just snowballed from there. I mean mainly it's word of mouth that helped me out especially in the early years of working.
Steve
And I assume you didn't continue just to be paid in rum. Did you know what you were doing pricing wise?
Sam
I mean, in a way I still struggle with pricing things. I think initially there's a lot more scope for being taken advantage of because you're excited to be , ‘wow this t-shirt could be in this bar that I go to’. But I think I've learned to be better with it since then. Since I found that someone's not just buying your time. They're buying your skills and your ideas as well - and that helped me price things a bit better now. But definitely in the early days, I think it was just excitement to be involved with an area that I loved. So learning is continuous about pricing and it's still a struggle.
Steve
So you stop pulling pints - you decide that ‘actually I'm a graphic designer’ now. When was this?
Sam
I’m probably about 13 years into being freelance now. So it was back in my youth.
Steve
Okay so thirteen years ago and how did it evolve?
Sam
Well the bar that gave me these initial projects, they did actually end up firing me unfortunately> But I ended up moving to a quieter pub and showed them that I was doing, these kind of clubby flyers and happy hour drink posters and things and then they let me at some of the chalkboards and things that. And I did some business cards and some menus for them and I'm moving into seeing different areas that were possible. Other areas laying out big blocks of information and lunch offers or things that and making sure it all translates right? So It was on the spot training. I was really thankful. They let me take that on so it was actually at that pub that I’d just find myself designing in the day and then pulling pints at night and then it was slowly just seeing it was possible to just stop the pints and see how it went and yes it seems to be going okay so far.
Steve
So where did you then get your clients from? Did you have a website? Were you putting yourself out there?
Sam
I feel I've always been quite fortunate with this. I knew a guy in Nottingham who was a pub manager - I met him at this pub and then he moved to London and started managing a pub there and then he told another pub manager while he was there and then that pub that he told, I still work for now regularly and it's been a long time now. So I mean, it's a lot of luck. Word of mouth is just so valuable. That manager, he told a few other people and a lot of them are still relationships I have today which I'm really thankful for. I think nowadays I do a lot more proactive hunting for work. I think in the first five years I might have got a little bit lazy with it, but recently, especially post Covid I've been doing a lot more going out and trying to create my own opportunities. That's all a learning curve as well. It's it's hard to promote yourself. But you learn a bit more every time you try.
Steve
What things have you been doing to create your own opportunities, as you put it?
Sam
I've got an Instagram and I started a new Instagram recently because my illustration one slowly evolved into just doodles and things that I did for myself and people seemed to really respond to those and it slowly stepped away from more of a graphic design side. But I found if I was putting up a poster that I'd just done for a pub on my Instagram, it wasn't getting any engagement and I realised I probably needed to specialize that one into an illustration one and then make a proper one that was professional.
So I've been working more on developing this graphic design Instagram at the moment and making a lot of content on there with pubs and breweries because they tend to be my bread and butter. So often it's a case of just keeping an eye on their instagrams and sometimes I do some direct messaging - more often than not you get a polite reply but then occasionally you get a really nice one back and you realise that you might be developing a new professional relationship with a new venue. Yeah, been quite lucky recently that that's been paying off a little bit more.
Steve
So so you've got two faces to your business - graphic design which would look more like menus, posters and then illustration…
Sam
Yeah, it's tricky because that there is a lot of crossover on them and I'm still negotiating - if I do a poster that's not got a lot of illustration on… I mean, which Instagram do I put that on? It's finding the right balance. Now I kind of class one as a portfolio of paid-for work which I could really direct to businesses and events and venues etc, and then the illustration one is more commission-based and I might just get a lot of people saying ‘can you draw my girlfriend for her birthday?’ and things like that. So I found that keeping them separate is help the engagement on both of them and the reach and things that I don't fully understand but putting a bit of a line between them, I’ve found quite useful.
Steve
And is that line also on your website.
Sam
Um, that's a good point. I mean and I'm not really a website designer unfortunately so I've always struggled with how I present what I do on my website. It's definitely a combination of both so I haven't separated them out other than them just being on different pages really. My website's kind of organised/grouped by projects or pubs. So if there's a pub I've worked for for 10 years, then I’ve got various projects within that group. It's hard to work out how to present it. It's a struggle I often think about actually, so there's a lot of areas I do but I haven't quite worked out how they’re married together necessarily.
Steve
So is there some work that you maybe even choose not to put on your portfolio on your website?
Sam
Oh yes, definitely. Yeah in the past there's been commissions or projects and things and I think that it won't really fit onto either of them. Or for one reason or another I’m maybe not that happy with having it out there to represent me. So yeah, it's curated. I spend a lot of time trying to keep adding to both of them regularly because you have to play by a lot of Instagram rules nowadays and they reward engagement and frequency posting and things like that. So I've been really really trying to push the social media side even though it feels a bit of an uphill battle a lot of the time. And that includes trying to move into things like Reels as well because they're the new thing you've got to work with. So trying to get my head around that.
Steve
And I must admit, I first discovered your work because I was scrolling on Instagram and I saw your work in my fees and I thought ‘oh man, that's good’. It's obviously someone I follow… and then I realised actually I wasn't following you that this was a sponsored post. The artwork was really cool but it said ‘graphic design for hire’ or something - it was quite explicit. So have you been experimenting with that?
Sam
Yeah, that's correct. So you can just promote anything on Instagram. I mean I've got a lot of issues with Instagram but generally promoted posts are really effective. Especially if you're trying to advertise yourself. So I did it. I created the image - an illustration of me with some tentacles, just eye catching and then some information on it and then you can just boost it every so often. And I think every time you boost it, depending on how much you spend, I do I get quite a fair amount of messages back, and yeah a lot of the time you end up just quoting people for various things and not hearing from them again. But that's just the nature of the game really. But a lot of times, yeah I’ve had some nice work come out of it. So it's it’s a really good service that they provide.
Steve
So it has definitely bought you not just followers but actual work.
Sam
Yeah, absolutely. It’s mainly commission-based. I don't think I've had any larger projects out of it. But if you get a steady stream of light, smaller projects then's it’s beneficial. So yeah, I would highly recommend that. It's a very good little perk of Instagram.
Steve
It sounds like you've built up loads of great relationships over the years that have served you well. What do you think works when dealing with clients? Building up those relationships?
Sam
Well, just being reliable and available is a big part of it. Especially if you're working with a lot of events and venues and you've usually got quite tight deadlines. So I think having a good reply rate is really important. Being really available and letting people know when you're not around as well. I think that’s really important, especially with pubs and venues because they need to sometimes get these things out far in advance and sometimes you might be doing your Christmas stuff in summer… You just need to keep them abreast of things. So I think that's really important.
Steve
So you've been doing this thirteen years, but you studied fine art, not graphic design. So do you know any other graphic designers or illustrators doing what you do?
Sam
I actually don’t. I mean, I do know a few designers most of whom are with agencies - all big companies. Some designers I know are very locked in on doing branding and things which is an area that I have looked at in the past, but it's not something that naturally comes to me. So I do think that maybe I'm a slight oddity in the design world that gets their name passed around through different people saying ‘oh a really good poster designer? You should get in touch of with them…’ But yeah I mean I don't know many freelance designers at all actually. They’re mostly contained within larger companies. But I certainly don't know anyone who does quite the same that I seem to inhabit.
Steve
And ah you someone who is into the business side of it or is that ah an unfortunate byproduct?
Sam
I would say definitely the latter. I mean I try and improve every year. I'd say I'm not the most organised of people so it is it is a fight to keep good records and things. But I think I do improve every year. It's just keeping track of invoices and receipts and things - that’s an area I think I'm going to struggle with but yeah, you know, you learn more every year you operate and I think I get a slightly better grip on it every year.
Steve
Is that through consciously reflecting on it or just…?
Sam
I think it's just fear of getting to the end of another year and maybe not being quite as organised as I should have been. Trying to make my life easier is what I'm all about really and sometimes I don't do that. So it's an area I need to develop a lot more. But the money stuff is not my favourite part of it. Waking up and seeing I've got a full roster of work on and I really look forward to getting into that. But then it comes to money it always feels slightly awkward to discuss. So yeah, not my favourite area.
Steve
And speaking of that roster of work. How do you structure your day or your week?
Sam
Well I try and keep a pretty good notebook of what I've got on currently and I've got a whiteboard which I try and use. But, usually of a day I’ll just come in and look at what I've got on. Check emails, see what hasn't been followed up on - I mean a lot of it is often waiting for feedback to come back in before you can send something, so sometimes I'll end up chasing people especially if I'm aware that it’s for a Halloween poster and Halloween's five days away or something like that.
So a lot of chasing. And then just trying to work out what's most important and what really needs to go to print first and focusing on that. So keeping a good handle on deadlines and things. And then following up, keeping a good record of invoices and things. I try and some tick them off if I've been paid them or or if I need to chase it a bit more. But my day/week - it’s kind of a free flow kind of structure.
Steve
What do you find most challenging about being freelance?
Sam
I think it's just the reliance on yourself is really key. You're only going to find the work that you really go out and hunt for. So if you're looking at your schedule, thinking it looks a little bit thin this month, then it's kind of on you to remedy that.
So following up with people is really important. And picking the right opportunities as well. It's very key. I think you can undervalue your time quite easily. So sometimes it is best to say no to some projects if you really feel it's just undoable for the budget or the time constraints. Yeah, I mean it's all quite hard. The buck stops with you.
Steve
What changed post covid where you you seem to have take a different approach to it?
Sam
Yeah, well covid was obviously pretty nightmarish. Especially for me when I'd say about 90% of my work comes from pubs, venues, clubs (that all closed overnight). It did make me stop and reevaluate. I mean I basically just didn't work. It was pretty rough. I had some commission work which filled a bit of time but it was just watching the money coming in tanking effectively overnight. And all these projects half finished and things that are just suddenly canceled.
So that was rough. In some ways I'm still recovering from a lot of it because a lot of pubs who used to come back to me year in, year out, they just stopped coming back. And maybe it’s just something to do with putting a bit of a pinch on the purse strings where things are so uncertain and then finding another avenue for that. So I think it's just rebuilding that client base which I've been working on for the last couple of years now and exploring other routes and things. So I have started looking at selling more print work which I've recently got working so that's another avenue that I've never looked at before. Expansion into more areas. I’ve been doing some website layouts and things recently which I've never really looked at before. So that's an area that is worth more exploration.
Steve
When all that work dried up, how did you stay positive?
Sam
I mean staying positive - I've always really just enjoyed drawing and creating so I think that's when I ried to push my Instagram to become more than just a collection of projects I’d done in the past. So it was about trying to move that forward and getting more followers on there and creating more connections and things. So I think that's how I busied myself mainly? And I think that was quite good because it was refinding a bit more of a love for doing things just because I want to do them rather than paid for. So I think in that sense I found covid… there was a silver lining with it. I mean that obviously got quite quite old quite quickly. Obviously I’m very lucky, my wife has got a good good job and it was reasonably unaffected by covid so there was that safety net that was helpful. But without that it would have been really tough. A lot worse than it was.
Steve
So side projects bought that joy of creativity back. So are personal projects important in general in what you do?
Sam
Yeah I think so. I try and do things just for me as much as I can when I'm not busy because I've learned that I'm always happiest when I am busy with work. Ideally, it's paid. But if it's not then I can still be creating and getting something out there and you just you never know when something's going to be picked up on - and it could just be a springboard for something bigger. Which has happened ah a couple of times with some of the some of the doodles I've done. Instagram really led to some good stuff. So I think it's just eing yeah optimistic and everything is important even if it's not necessarily being paid for.
Steve
That always reminds me. We had Stanley Chow, the illustrator on once and much of his success came out of creating a White Stripes poster just for the hell of it. But then one day getting a phone call from the White Stripes people. And. well what if you'd never created that thing? Or put it out into the world and just decided to watch a show that night instead? Crazy.
Sam
Yeah, definitely, I had one quite similar to that last year. There’s a podcast I'm really fond of and I really wanted to just draw something for the sake of it. And it's all about the Loch Ness Monster and Big Foot and things. So I drew the podcasters riding the Loch Ness Monster and just put it up and then one of the podcasters commented on it saying 'oh this is amazing’… and then the next thing I know I had an email in my inbox from his agent asking if I'd be willing to illustrate his book. So that was a really fantastic project that literally wouldn't have happened if I hadn't just fancied doing some silly doodling.
Steve
That's so cool. And how is work life balance for you? Clearly working makes you happy you said.
Sam
It's a tricky relationship. Especially when you work from home. Your work and your life are just tied together. And I have always thought of what I do as a hobby that I'm lucky enough to get paid for. So the separation of them isn't that important to me as such, other than just getting away from the screen every chance you get for a walk or to read a book or something so that's very important to me and I can feel if I haven't done that. But just getting out of my office for an hour is all I need really to separate them from each other. So I’m quite happy with the balance really.
Steve
Excellent to hear. Sam, if you could tell your younger self one thing about being freelance, what would that be?
Sam
I would say it's very hard, but it can be really rewarding. And maybe it'd be better to not just go directly into being freelance. Maybe doing some time in a studio and building up to it might be quite useful just because it's a baptism of fire going straight from pub work to being freelance. Maybe I'd be slightly further ahead now if I hadn't learned so much on the fly. But I probably wouldn't change much realistically. But yeah, don't be impatient. It’s amazing. But tough.