Today we’d like to introduce you to Sydney Smith.
Sydney, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
This is one of my favorite stories to tell! I designed my first logo when I was 12 years old in Microsoft Paint. My mom was a stay-at-home at the time and often picked up odd jobs online to make some extra money for the family. One of her friends asked her if she could create a logo for an annual fundraiser benefiting the local soup kitchen. I watched my mom get frustrated trying to work Adobe Photoshop and I asked if I could give it a try. She let me take over the computer for a few hours. I wasn’t ready for Photoshop just yet, but I had always loved messing around on MS paint so I gave it a shot. I meticulously lined up three bowls stacking into each other and managed to get the text to curve. I was pretty proud of it. My mom was impressed. Much to my surprise, the woman from the Soup Kitchen actually used it and they used it for several years after that! Why they used a pixelated bitmap image created by a 12-year-old for years is beyond me, but it got me really interested in graphic design.
I started learning how to use Photoshop, starting out with photo edits, moving into some animated GIFs and other graphics by the time I was 15 (had to have the coolest MySpace page obviously). I went to college undecided, but one day I strolled into an art exhibit by some upperclassmen where they had re-designed famous book covers and cereal boxes. I was in love! I had always loved the good design but seeing what these people had created and how they had re-imagined classic looks into something new and amazing was just so fascinating to me. I wanted to do that!
The college I transferred to didn’t have a graphic design program, so I majored in mass communication with a focus on advertising. I figured I would keep up with design on the side while studying the more “practical” aspects of the profession in case design didn’t work out. I joined a student organization and volunteered to design a poster for an upcoming event. They loved it, elected me as the marketing chair on their executive board right away. A higher-up from the institution saw one of my later flyers for an event and contacted the group’s president asking who designed it; he needed a student worker to design graphics for the campus-wide billboard system.
Basically, as I worked my way through college I became the go-to graphics person on campus. Having a campus job doing what I absolutely loved was an amazing opportunity that doesn’t happen for everyone, I recognize that and am thankful every day for that job.
I did some freelance work, summer internships that led to more freelance work, designed ads for the student paper, and eventually got my first full-time job working for another college after graduation designing digital content for the school’s marketing and public relations department.
There are times when I question whether or not I’m in the right field, but when I go back over my story like this it’s really apparent that I’m where I’m meant to be.
Has it been a smooth road?
I’ve had a lot of great opportunities but also my fair share of setbacks. I’ve been rejected for tons of jobs and it’s never easy, but I always just try to focus my energy on learning a new skill or improving my existing skills for future work. Not having a degree in design has sometimes felt a little limiting too. I know not all designers have a specialized degree, but I can’t help but be jealous of everyone who was able to afford to go to SCAD and learn about all of the things I want to learn about. I’ve been self-taught, which is great in its own way, but sometimes it can feel like I’ve learned mostly through trial and error.
Has there been people or an institution that has played a pivotal role in your career?
I’d have to say the boss I had as a student worker in my graphic design role at Georgia College was a huge influence on me. When he sought me out for the position, it was the first time I really realized I may have a future in graphic design. He wasn’t a designer, but he saw potential in me and really helped me with my professional development. He encouraged me to learn new skills, put me on university committees to shadow the professional designers that worked in the marketing department, and gave me so much incredible career advice when my senior year rolled around and I was applying for jobs. He actually had a connection at the institution I work at now, so he was able to provide me with a great letter of recommendation that helped me land my first “real” job. I definitely have him to thank for encouraging me to stick with my passion.
What type of clients or projects do you look forward to most?
I am a HUGE music lover so my dream is to eventually design for local bands/musicians. My dad and his wife are in an old-time string band based in the north Georgia mountains and I’m working on getting their logo and branding assets in a good spot. It’s been a lot of fun to really use their personalities and music style as my inspiration and trying to translate that into a look.
What have been some of the most important lessons you’ve learned over the course of your career?
I would have pursued a little more formal training and education, such as maybe choosing a school with a design program. I also would have taken some more fundamental art classes such as drawing. I am pretty helpless when it comes to pencil and paper and so many of my ideas would be easier to execute if I had a better drawing foundation. Fortunately, it’s never too late to learn and improve, but I can’t help but wonder how much better my work would be now if I had pursued design a little more seriously earlier on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sydneyvsmith.carbonmade.com/
- Email: sydvsmith@gmail.com
- Instagram: @sydkneev
