Today we’d like to introduce you to Hazel Imogen.
Hi Hazel, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My family will joke about the signs of me being a designer from a young age. I remember my mum making shaped stamps for my sister and I out of potatoes and in stark contrast to my sister’s artboard (an absolute collage of paint scattering the page) my stamps were working on a grid in neat little columns and rows. My dad worked on computers so I was familiar with them quite young-I was “publishing” family newsletters in Microsoft word and curating birthday cards in Paint, presenting my masterpieces to friends on doodled floppy disks. All jokes aside, it wasn’t until high school that I felt my rise with creativity. I attended a vocational school for graphic design every day and quite early on, I had one of those “Wow, I wish I could do this for my job forever” moments (I recognize this magic moment doesn’t often happen for many kids in high school, so I felt very lucky). My parents were super supportive and encouraging with my dreams of going to an art school and pursuing design in one way or another so after graduating, I enrolled at Columbia College Chicago.
At Columbia, I studied Advertising Art Direction and Visual Communications. I managed to simultaneously slide my foot in the door working part-time at an agency as a junior designer. It was for a small agency, we didn’t have glamorous clients but it gave me foundational skills and an understanding of how an agency operates. All of this, on top of being able to graduate early, gave me a bit of a jump start in my career so when I got out into the “real world” I was offered a mid-level art director position at a larger Chicago ad agency.
From there, my experience was not so linear. I have worked at all types of agencies from shopper marketing/advertising, to packaging, to digital, web and branding. I left these agencies when they no longer served me, or I was ready to explore other areas of design. Through these experiences, I discovered my sweet spot with branding and marketing. I love everything that goes into building a brand and the collaboration across multiple inspiring teammates. Telling authentic stories and creating experiences for businesses so they can better connect with their audience became my “why”.
During Covid, I relocated out to LA permanently (I lived here temporarily three years ago for a few months and fell in love), with the Covid lockdown rules in place, I had extra free time to spend working on a few freelance projects outside of my 8-5 creative director role. Creating is my outlet, so doing this on evenings and weekends started as a hobby for me, and I loved sharing my process and behind the scenes on TikTok to teach other creatives. I was starting to gain a bit of traction on social media, so when I was let go from my full-time job, I decided to give my creative outlet a full-time effort and become my own boss.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Compared to a lot of struggles I know some creatives have, I would say my road has been fairly smooth. I used to believe I was lucky, but I now understand that I’ve actually been quite successful at uncovering opportunities and taking action. And that’s not to say I haven’t had to put up a fight to get to where I am- I learned early on that as a young woman in this industry, you really have to stand tall and know your worth-and make sure others know that you know. What’s helped me really navigate the bumpy roads was to look at my “low points” and “failures” as areas of growth and recognized that other people’s actions are their own problems. From experience, there will be people you’ll come across in your journey to success that will waste their own energy trying to get you down, trying to plant seeds of doubt, and wanting (maybe even hoping) you to give up. I’ve learned to not listen to the noise, believe in myself, and realize that it is their own insecurities and issues that bring them to waste that time and effort.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a brand and creative director specializing in small to mid-sized B2C businesses. What I love most about what I do is providing business owners the tools and assets they need to make their passion, their brilliant idea or business thrive. I get to collaborate with bad-ass clients who are taking this massive risk to pursue something they believe needs to exist in the world. Being that bridge to help carry my clients over is such an exciting role to play in their process. There is a common misconception that branding is just the logo, the colors, the fonts that represent a business- but there’s SOO much more we dig into. Your brand is your businesses authentic and consistent personality, it’s how they show up, the experience they create, their vision, how people talk about them. Nailing all this down correctly is how we create successful brands.
I feel a huge sense of inspiration in sharing what I’ve learned over my years in the industry with other aspiring creatives. One of my favorite aspects of working with a team was that mentorship I had with my junior and mid-level designers. There are so many things I wish I knew when I started out and I wish I had a mentor to help me navigate. This was the primary reason I started my TikTok page. I share resources, tips, and insight on design, freelancing and agency life (sometimes with a little sass and attempts at humor). I get many young designers reaching out to me asking questions and I really try to make it a priority to answer every single person.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
If you are interested in working with me you can follow my IG @Hello.Hazie and shoot me a DM or check out hazelimogen.com and fill out the inquiry form. I have a few spots open for the rest of this year and would love to find new clients to work with! If you are wanting to learn more about design and the creative industry, find me on TikTok (also @Hello.Hazie)
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: hazelimogen.com
- Instagram: @hello.hazie
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hello.hazie?lang=en
Image Credits:
Portrait Photographer – Victoria Shapow
