Today we’d like to introduce you to Desiree Stimson-Greek.
Desiree, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
When I first decided to try out graphic design as a career, I took a job as a paste-up artist and I loved every minute of it! I was doing what I had always dreamed about. Eventually, the agency I was working for closed, and by that time I had worked my way up to the position of Art Director.
It didn’t take me long to figure out my next step. I simply asked Yowru Lin, my favorite person at the firm, the woman who literally did it all, to be my business partner, and she accepted! We’ve been working together ever since!
Right before COVID hit a couple of years ago, we had made the decision to close our brick-and-mortar in favor of working out of our homes. We are able to communicate with our staff as well as freelancers easily through video and texting apps. Meanwhile, all of our files are conveniently shared via the cloud. Who doesn’t love technology advances???
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Over the years, we’ve encountered various challenges. Some of them were employee-based, some client-based, and even still, some were vendor-based. We quickly learned the best techniques on how to deal with all three challenges.
If I can offer any suggestion, I would recommend that when working with a vendor that is supplying or producing a product, it’s imperative that you ferret out the good from the bad. Do your due diligence. Don’t just hire the vendor who promises the cheapest price, or even the fastest turnaround time. As the saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” We have learned to check referrals, and to allow enough time for delivery on products. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As a designer, I’m known for my logo work. It’s one of my passions. But I also love creating brands for our clients. From their color pallet to their font selections. I strive to create and teach them about consistency all across the board.
As a company, one of the things we like to impress upon our clients is that “Everything should look like it came from ‘Your Company’, even down to your email signature.” You don’t see major brands using @gmail.com email addresses, and neither should you. It’s the little things that make a big difference.
What really makes me proud, is when a client is elated with the design(s) I create for them. Especially because I genuinely make an effort to keep their needs and goals in mind when I’m designing. And of course, if they can make money by the use of the product I created, that’s icing on the cake.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
The most important lesson I’ve learned along my journey is to communicate. If you let your clients know what they can expect (deliverables), and when they can expect it (deadlines), then there is no confusion.
In the beginning of our journey, we used to allow the client to dictate “when” they needed a job to be done, rather than letting them know when we could deliver it. That made it challenging, especially if we had a lot of design work already on our plate. In all reality, it’s more of a give and take on both parties when it comes to deadlines. But communicating is definitely key.
One time, Ru and I were on a super tight deadline, and we needed to print out hundreds of pages of artwork for some binders we were making. Right in the middle of the evening, the printer just quit. We had to run out to a specialty store and purchase a new printer, to the tune of $2,500 to finish the job. THEN we had to hire a courier to pick up the final product around midnight and deliver it to the airport where we had purchased a plane ticket for it. All so it could arrive to its destination in time for a meeting the next morning.
Did I mention communication? Had we told them that their deadline was unrealistic from the get-go, a lot of undue stress and expense could have been avoided.
Lastly, if a client has an unrealistic deadline, I would recommend that you make sure if you’re planning on accommodating that deadline – charge accordingly. Early on, we came from the position of scarcity rather than abundance. Don’t let your fear of not pleasing a client, or getting that “new” client, allow you to make poor decisions. Remember they are coming to you for your expertise and talent.
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- Website: dsyl.net
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