Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Smith.
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?
Solmade’s story really started in my childhood. I practiced fine art from a young age, but I went to college for graphic design and landed on the corporate path for 10 years after college. I worked in marketing design for some pretty cool fashion and beauty brands, but once I had my twins in 2018, I realized I wanted to build something of my own that would give me more flexibility to be present with my family.
So I left the corporate world in 2019. The first couple years were about experimenting with different services (and products!)–art licensing, I created products and sold them on Etsy and in some local stores… but roads eventually led me back to one-on-one client work, and I settled into my career-long passion of brand design with Solmade Studio.
I deeply love the problem solving aspect of brand design work. Art is beautiful and emotive, and I make art for art’s sake too, but I love the way graphic design is a communication tool for solving problems and positioning a business. I found that I could blend my fine art skills with graphic design to offer unique, custom brand work to other small businesses who wanted an art-forward look to help them stand out in the market.
So most of my clients are other types of creatives, and every day I wake up and pinch myself that I get to do this for work.
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?
The first couple years were not smooth. I started Solmade when my twins where 15mos old, so that alone was a challenge. Finding the time and energy to pour into building a business was tough, but I was determined to do it!
I was also unsure of exactly what I wanted the business to be. I thought I wanted to be primarily a licensing artist, selling my art to companies to use on their products and creating my own products. So I pursued that for a while. But that’s a long game and I found that I missed the challenge of brand work, I missed typography (yes, I’m this much of a type nerd), and I missed the relationships you develop when you work with clients.
Also Covid hit four months after I left my corporate job, so that was a huge hurdle. I had a long list of “what-ifs” before I quit, but that one wasn’t on it… so we had to navigate through a lot of uncertainly and an especially slow start the first year or two of business. But I persisted!
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?
Solmade is known for the art-forward qualities behind our design. I’ve practiced art all my life, so my design work is rooted in a handmade approach, and that’s what clients are looking for when they come to us.
Hand drawn patterns and illustrations, hand drawn logos and highly customized typography–those are our deep loves and what sets us apart. Our clients want a unique, artistic look that they can’t create themselves. We create whole brand worlds for our clients, and it’s so exciting to see the transformation that happens for our clients and their businesses after a rebrand.
Solmade just underwent its own brand transformation as well this spring, and it’s something we’re very proud of! We’ve done a lot of internal work over the years to gain clarity on who we are and who we serve, and I’m proud to have our own visual identity and new website now fully reflect that.
Our design process is also something we’ve honed over the years, and clients consistently rave about it after our projects wrap. We ask questions that go deeper than the surface level “what do you want your brand to look like?” I think it’s much more important to ask how a client wants their customers to feel. I’m really proud of that approach as well.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I think purpose and passion are two of the most important things in life. My kids are my greatest purpose, and then design.
Design is also my greatest passion. If you can find a way to do something you’re passionate about, I think success will follow. Work rarely feels like “work” to me, and I’m so grateful for that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.solmadestudio.com
- Instagram: @solmadestudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1DEPFJPUPo/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/solmadestudio
