Hello!
My name is Lance Gardner and I have been graphic designing for nine years. I started back in 2014 when I was only 14 years old. Surely that sounds like it couldn't be true, but my introduction into designing should make it make sense.
Just like many other 14 year old's, I was playing Xbox like I would have any other day. My desire to play video games as a job was growing and I was getting heavily involved in the YouTube-Gaming scene. When I started up a game, I was playing particularly well and caught the attention of someone in a gaming team called "Hype".
When he invited me to his party (an online voice chat) I asked him if there would be any way I could join his team as a player. Fortunately, he rejected my request to join after he beat me miserably when we played one-on-one, but he had an interesting counter offer.
He said that his team was looking for something called a graphic designer for their social media graphics and YouTube thumbnails. I had no idea what graphic design was, but I wanted to be in the team so bad that I just joined and threw myself into the role. That was the start of my graphic design career, as I was making anywhere from $5 to $20 for making graphics for the team and it's members.
That brings me to today...
With tens of clients, several years as an employed graphic designer, and a bachelor's degree in graphic design, I am eager to branch out and do more work for more people!
My clients are always extremely satisfied with our collaborations and I refuse to let them leave unhappy. Whether that's just one more revision or another conversation about direction, I'm willing to go the extra mile. In return, my clients send me the best referrals which drive my business up and get my name out there.
Graphic design jobs for me have been consistent throughout my career. I wasn't "technically" employed for the gaming teams I was doing work for, but I was doing some sort of work for them on a weekly basis. Those time frames sometimes spanned for a majority of a year before I was encouraged to accept an offer by a much better team. I even got to the point where I was being recruited to lead teams that were on the rise.
Getting my bachelor's degree was initially something I planned to do for my mother. She was a single mom and essentially raised me on her own. All she wanted was for me to get a degree. Things were pretty easy for me financially though, considering I got a full-ride scholarship and managed to acquire a very minimal amount of debt.
