As a branding specialist and student a large part of my life is spent at my desk. As a result of this I have carefully curated an environment that best suits my needs no matter what hat I’m wearing. And if you would like to see a video of my desk you can see it here on Instagram! (I would also like to note that I made a cute cover of the video to fit my feed better, something to keep in mind for a post in the future). But if you have a hard time finding the video its this post:
Photo Credit: Cameron via Cam Fowler Designs
Now then, on to my desk! As you can see from the linked video (and pictures to come) my desk is pretty packed. Now I know minimalism still has a chokehold on a number of people but I require a more maximalist modernism approach to my desk. It serves both a functional and aesthetic purpose.
First let’s talk about function. On my desk I have two key categories, school and work. I had thought about having two separate desks for either but have come to the realization that a lot of times I will be multitasking between work and school (such is the life of a new small business owner). From left to right I have my school laptop, book shelf (which carries both school books, notebooks, books for work and personal interest books), my 2nd monitor on a riser, my head phones for both class and audio recording, my pens (which I run through quite often), my desktop (this is where I do the majority of my work as it is perfect for my graphic design and video editing needs), along with my drawing tablet (post about this coming soon), both on another riser, and lastly my microphone which I use most often for recording video content for either clients or YouTube (although my channel is very neglected at the moment). I also have a printing station to the right of my computer but it is not actually a part of my desk set up.
Photo Credit: Cameron Fowler via Cam Fowler Designs
As you can see I also have some other items on my desk such as a head phones stand, a marble coaster, blue light filter glasses, an emotions plushie that tells my family whether or not I am approachable at the moment (I will put it on my head facing behind me when people enter the room while I am working so they know if I am available to talk or not). I also have a small table that fits under my desk that I put various things on when needed (for example a few weeks ago I was working on designing a new folder for my local chiropractor client and placed printed mock ups of the first page to use as reference for edits needed.) I also have my old iPod plugged in so that when needed I can listen to some music to put me in the right frame of mind for various projects.
I’m sure there might be a few computer nerds reading this post who noticed my unkempt cable management and to that I say: chaotic designers do not believe in wasting time/money on organizing wires that will just be rearranged to fit my need for a change in scenery every two weeks. If it bothers you too much you can come fix it for me.
Now, I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I am giving a tour of my desk, and for that I have two reasons. 1) It has taken me a lot of time and money to build this desk set up and I want to show it off, and 2) I wanted to show any possible baby designers that you don’t need the top of the line stuff to be successful in graphic design reliant businesses.
When I first started out with CFD I only had my laptop. It was kind of glitchy, slow, and not a lot of storage. I still was able to produce good work with it though and it helped me to earn enough money to invest back into my business with my desktop. It took about 4 new clients to be able to afford my desktop and then another project to get my drawing tablet. After that I had to save back up again so I could have some cushion money in business account (during the months I was building my business assets I did not pay myself more than $20 a project). I was finally able to get a second monitor at the start of the semester.
During each hardware upgrade I also learned a new skill and revised my processes so that my work could flow more smoothly. This in turn led to me to be able to increase my prices and start working with high paying clients.
All this to say, if you are just starting out in graphic design it is important to remember that you do not have to get all the fancy equipment right away. It’s ok to start out with your regular laptop and work your way up. It is also important to remember to upgrade your skills as well. Designers with the best hardware and software are useless if they do not know how to use it properly or if they are not knowledgeable about design itself.
I know this was a lighter post but I wanted to get one fun post in before digging into the really important (sometimes boring) topics to come in the rest of this semester.
Also I would like to extend an offer for any classmates reading these blog posts, if you would like to have a free business start up consultation, where we talk about any ideas you might have for starting your own business and I give you some tips and steps that you can take to turn those ideas into a reality, all you need to do is go to my website and submit a contact form (as seen below) with the code FDOMONLINE2021. I’ll respond as soon as my schedule permits and we can set up a meeting either in person or on zoom!
Photo Credit: Cameron Fowler via Cam Fowler Designs
Be sure to keep checking up on my blog as I will be talking more about small business and social media tips in the future! I might even have a bonus guest post from one of my clients that is not a part of the class requirements about their small business.
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