Conversations with Ezra Schaefer

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ezra Schaefer.

Hi Ezra, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in New York City and moved to California by myself at 17 for school and work. I had a pretty determined vision for myself. I loved to draw and was avid snowboarder in high school, so my dream was to start my own snowboarding brand, designing snowboards. And, like many teens that grew up in the Myspace era, I loved indie shows and had a camera strapped to my hand basically at all times. Those feel like the seeds of what later would become a professional creative career (although not for any extreme sports!)

My first “creative” job was at a small art-handling business in Brooklyn, earning $200 a week. I was 17 years old. I was the shop kid, running to get lunches, filing papers, sweeping floors, and once making a significant clerical error. But I loved being around art and creative folks all day. We worked in a warehouse with towering catalogs of stored art and sculptures, we listened to Hot Chip and M.I.A., and my coworkers let me drink beer on the loading docks with them. It was a pretty sweet job for 17.

After moving to California, I started freelancing as a designer and worked a number of odd gigs through my early twenties. I juggled jobs as a stylist’s assistant, a personal shopper, and retail sales while freelancing in the evenings and weekends. They were very small design jobs but felt huge at the time. I had what I consider to be a very fortunate combination of timing, talent, and the right people in my life. I absolutely would not be where I am today if it weren’t for a myriad of mentors early in my career that saw potential in me and connected me to opportunities I otherwise would not have had. They believed in me enough to let me make mistakes, lend me their resources, and introduce me to the right people. I was 23 when I made the jump into full-time freelance work, and as terrifying as it felt at the time, it was a pivotal point in my life.

Today, ten years later, I work as a designer and creative director. The majority of my career has been in creative agencies, and I have a small handful of private clients as well. I have been living in Los Angeles for 12 years as of this October. It’s truly wild to think about.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As a young creative person, I think there’s a tendency to let your work become your identity. It’s what happens when you are pursuing a creative passion while still trying to figure out who you are as a person. Everything you create becomes a piece of you, and that piece depends on praise and paychecks so that you can create more. The problem with that is, who are you when you don’t have work? Or when you create something and it’s not well received? I started putting too much of myself into what I was creating, living for that short-lived dopamine hit of praise and validation. I was constantly burning out and was riddled with extreme anxiety and fear of failure. I found myself coping with anxiety and depression in unhealthy ways.

Somewhere in my mid-twenties, my mental health became too much of an issue to ignore. I spent some years in therapy untangling a web of depression, anxiety, finding my self-worth, learning my boundaries, and building healthier relationships. I currently have an awesome therapist (who also has a creative background!) and a strong support system and have come to believe in the power of community. And while nothing is perfect, I have to say, it feels so liberating to know that I am so much more than my work. That I can have relationships even if I have nothing creative to offer them. Mental health is a topic that is very close to me. Now that I am healthier, I am involved in mental health advocacy work and volunteering when I have the time.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Well, the foundation of my career has always been in fine art and design – mostly graphic design, but product design and UI/UX as well. I specialize in brand identity, which allows for great variety in the day-to-day work I do. Usually, brands and startups will come to me to develop a visual identity and art direction for them, and it requires different applications across print, digital, photo, animation, and experiential. I got my start in beverage branding, so I’m a total geek for packaging design and directing shoots, but a lot of my work nowadays is more tech-oriented and lives in digital spaces. I still like to design and concept packaging ideas, but it’s become more of a hobby and a creative outlet for me.

Early on in my career, I was known for my clean, constructed, minimalist style. It garnered a lot of opportunity in the fashion, beauty, and music worlds, so that is where I have roots. But I think as I’ve gotten older, I just like to have fun and be challenged, and I don’t feel the need to keep working in the same style to prove that I’ve mastered it. I’ve broken out of that mold and have gotten comfortable with a number of styles and trends while still keeping it true to “me”. Lately, some of my most fun projects have been funky and colorful and expressive.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Your worth as a person is not dictated by the last thing you created.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ezraschaefer.design
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ezraloren

Image Credits
Ryan Strongin, Charlotte Dawes