Life & Work with Madison Terry

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madison Terry.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I initially got into graphic design when I was Editor in Chief of my high school yearbook (full permission to laugh, it’s nerdy, I know). We won an award with the publishing company based on my cover design and overall creative direction/theme of the book, and it posed the question – okay, clearly I’m pretty good at this, but fashion has my heart so how do I combine the two career-wise? I quickly realized magazines – of course. And there’s no better place to get your foot in the door in that industry than New York, so 17 year old me decided my future in all of 5 minutes, and I have to give her some credit considering I truly never looked back. I snagged my first official graphic design internship at a magazine called Editorialist the summer going into my junior year, ended up coming back as a freelancer about a year later to help with a September issue and by my senior year, I took over as Art Director for the SS19 issue. I definitely developed an editorial design lens through this, and I’m so grateful to have had a team that believed in me and my abilities every step of the way, regardless of my age.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In the grand scheme of things, I’d say entrepreneurship is anything BUT a smooth road, and that’s kind of the beauty of it. Although my process to finally getting to a relatively established place–to where I am now–started with one chaotic breakthrough that caused a domino effect of things aligning quite perfectly.

Because I knew early on what I wanted to do, I had more experience than the typical post-grad, which was absolutely incredible, but I found that potential employers would see my age and immediately try to bump me down to an entry-level position with an entry-level salary, and squeeze me into a box that I had worked so had to avoid. But I found that freelance gigs – long or short term – were actually perfect because hourly rates were a lot higher, and I had the opportunity to work with multiple companies and brands, so I would never get bored. About a year later, I landed an incredible job that I knew would kick start my career in a way that no freelance job ever could – or so I thought. Due to many different reasons, my heart wasn’t in it like I thought it would be, and it made me realize that as much as I was trying to fight it, a classic 9-5 was never going to fulfill me. I took it as a final sign from the universe that it was time to fully believe and invest in myself, and every step in building my own business has fallen so beautifully into place since then.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Design by Madison is a multidisciplinary studio that specializes in brand identity, web design & package design. We establish each brand’s story through eye-catching design that will make your business stand out in ANY industry. After working in the fashion, beauty and wellness worlds, I discovered that everything needs to be designed, and elevated, memorable design is so impactful to a consumer in all industries. So much so that I felt I was doing a disservice to myself and potential clients if I chose only one to niche down in, since good design has an ability to ensure elevated success, regardless of what your business provides. I also soon came to realize that my love for fashion and experience in that realm could actually help anyone, considering one of the main adjectives clients give when describing their ideal visual identity is “editorial.” Editorial originated from fashion magazines and what better way to ensure a new company stands out from the rest than infusing into it the desirable, luxurious essence of another?

Overall what I’m most proud of is the majority of brand identities I’ve created. Many times after it’s completed and I’m either adding it to my site or posting about it, I catch myself thinking, “Wait, MY brain really created that?! Wow.” Additionally, the principle of being hired to literally create someone’s foundation of their company – that at most times is the equivalent to their firstborn and the thing that could truly make or break their success – is an honor that I can’t even put into words. Not only that, but being selected from the thousands of talented creatives in this field, I am forever grateful for each and every client that trusts me with such a feat.

Something that I initially thought would set me apart in a negative way, I actually owe a lot of my success to. My MINOR in school was graphic design, while my major was Communications. I always say there’s two types of design – one for designers and one for consumers. The one for designers focuses on the craft, the intricacy behind every stroke and type treatment, and pays close attention to the fundamentals of design. A lot of the decisions made are rooted in how beautiful it looks – but these designers oftentimes fail to ask themselves, “will it sell?” Don’t get me wrong, a lot of my process today includes important aspects of that type of design. But from learning all about consumer behavior and how one responds to visual content with my major, I have a deeper understanding and appreciation that design plays an integral role in a buyer, viewer or reader’s decision to engage with the content that I’m creating on whatever medium. And, at the end of the day, that is a business owner’s top priority and why they are hiring me.

I’m also in the process of creating a new pillar in my Off The Shelf services, and I have yet to see ANYTHING like it in the design space, and I am so excited for it. Coming very very soon…stay tuned.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
One of my favorite stories of me as a child my grandmother told me when I was applying to colleges and made the decision to pursue graphic design. I was too young to realize it then, but my she told me one day we came home from one of many of our trips to the arts and crafts store, and I took my brand new 500 crayon Crayola box, completely dumped it out, and started organizing them into different groups. She comes back a few minutes later, asks what I’m doing and I point to each group of crayons and go “these are my colors, those are yours, and those are grandpa’s!” She was so impressed at how accurate they were. I was literally making each of us a color scheme for our personal brand identities, what a full circle. It’s no wonder I do what I do!

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.designbymadison.com/
• Instagram: @bymadison.jpg

Image Credits:
All photos of me: Jackie Sterna @jackiesterna.photo