Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Zappia.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve been a working graphic designer for 10 years. I actually got into the field by accident in high school. I thought I was taking a 3D modeling class for video games and it turned out to be the basics of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. I hated it. I thought it was boring and I didn’t get the point. That was until the very end of the course when we were tasked to make an advertisement to sell a product. Then it all clicked. The ability to create an image so appealing that someone else would want to buy the product being featured was so alluring. I loved that game. So, I decided to be a designer.
The only problem was, while my family wasn’t poor, they definitely didn’t have the ability to buy me (the middle child of three) a laptop or nice camera. So I worked and saved all I had for a few years and bought a Gateway gaming laptop and a point & shoot Canon camera. I thought I was legit. Then I got to my first design course in college. My peers had MacBook Pros, thousand-dollar cameras and they looked like designers. It felt like they didn’t even have to try. One snap of a picture and “boom” perfect image for an advertisement. In order for me to get the same amount of detail in my pictures I had to shoot the subject in pieces and then stitch them together in Photoshop. I had to work hard, invest more time and actually think on how to compose my work. After all that, the extra work must have paid off. Sadly, the majority of my peers and rivals in college aren’t even in the design field anymore.
Straight out of college, I got picked up by Lucas Oil Products. I designed marketing materials for their off-road racing series, made dozens and dozens of magazine advertisements, and I got to make race day art work for large stadiums like Dover International Speedway. Then my in-laws got sick and we dropped everything at the drop of a hat and moved to Texas. In Texas I hooked up with a marketing and consulting firm. It was at that firm that I taught myself how to design and build websites, shot and edit promotional videos and learned how to properly develop brands.
Unfortunately, that company had a bit of a Mad Men moment as my old boss put all of his eggs in one large client’s basket. Let’s just say a deal went bad and myself along with 99% of the company very suddenly found ourselves out of work. I was the sole provider of my family with a 1 year old and new house we had just bought that year. I took a little while to decide what I wanted to do; go back to Fortune 500 corporations, join another agency, or start my own business. I wanted to watch my daughter grow up and I didn’t want my family’s security to ever be in anyone else’s hands but my own. So I gave myself 2 months to make it work. If I didn’t have any clients and I wasn’t making steady money in two months I would grab whatever design job was offered.
It took two weeks to land my first client, then two more days to get another. I ran with it and kept running. Each month is unique. I work with clients in every industry. It’s hectic and scary, but I love it.
Great, 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?
I would say no and yes. Like I said I landed my first clients quick. But when you first start out you take any job you can. Even when you know the client is going to be a bear. I made logos for $50, design websites for $550, and cold called businesses that desperately needed help with design, but just laughed at me when pitched. Every time I made $100 I knew my family would get to buy groceries that week without having to touch our savings.
It was very humbling for me because I had worked with fairly large names in the past. Lucas Oil collaborated with Domino’s Pizza and Coca Cola on a few ads that I got to create. When I worked at the consulting agency the website I designed helped take a client from 2 million a year to 10 million in thirteen months.
Then to go from that to having people insult my work and then ask me to build them websites. “Yeah, your stuff looks like it was designed in the early 2000’s. I don’t love it, but uh how much to make be a blog?” It was hard.
I once had the mother of a 30-year-old woman try to strong arm me into building her daughter a site for next to nothing. The conversation started out with her saying, “Well, websites are easy. I could design the site if I was computer savvy. I’ve gotten quotes for $100” but it was Christmas and I wanted to make sure I could buy my daughter gifts, so I made the site for $300. AND she made me split the payments up….
But nothing motivates me more like pressure. Put a gun to my head. Tell me something is impossible. I’ll crush it. I got my stride and hustled my way through the rough patches and now I have regular clients, repeat clients and clients who come to me instead of the other way around. I get to choose who I work with. It definitely wasn’t the easiest path, but I’m sure others have had a harder go.
And because there are so many “do it yourself” design products and website services, startup businesses and smaller businesses in general REALLY undervalue designers. I was very fortunate to land my first two large clients so quickly. They weren’t huge mind you, but to go from, “I don’t have a job” to who bought me a bit of a buffer zone to work out the kinks.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about DJZ Legendary Creative – what should we know?
I own a full-service design agency. I do everything a business needs to look good doing business. From print to web and photo to video, I specialize in brand development and website design. I am also one of the few agencies/designers in the area who focuses more on conversion for websites. At the end of the day your website is a tool. It can be a very pretty and expensive tool, but if it doesn’t work and if it doesn’t make you any money, then it is a pretty useless tool. I get into the mindset of the customer and design sites based off of what they expect to see.
I am most proud of the work I’ve gotten to do with children’s charities. And I know that sounds like a cliché interview answer, but it really is what I am most proud of. Being a part of the Make A Wish train ride with BNSF, shooting video with Dallas Cowboy’s Travis Frederick’s Blocking out Hunger Foundation and working with CHILDREN AT RISK, has all been fantastic and life changing. Especially Make A Wish. I volunteer my services as much as I can. I am shooting video with HopeKids this weekend and I can’t wait.
What sets me apart from my competitors is my ability to adapt to any industry and the fact that I really don’t like to believe that something can’t be done. There is always a way. It may not be the ideal way, but we can still get it done.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Determination and persistence. I stick with my potential clients. When I speak with a potential customer I know if they are interested and I can tell when I need to may be just walk with them for a bit. Just check in once a week or once a month. I am a good designer. I know that. I don’t over sell my services or promise delusions of grandeur. I also had the stupid, “whoever talk first loses” game. As long as both parties are happy, that’s what matters.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://legendary.agency
- Phone: (940) 395-2061
- Email: daniel@legendary.agency
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/djzlegendarycreative/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LegendaryCreative/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/lgndrycreative
- Other: https://www.thumbtack.com/tx/fort-worth/freelance-graphic-designers/
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