Beginner
Sufficient skill in your chosen craft to start and/or grow a service-based business
Bring your skills together and bridge the gap between the types of client work you’re getting and the types of clients you dream of with a strategic body of work and lead generation plan.
You’ll start by taking a look at your portfolio as it is now and purge it of any work that’s bringing down its overall quality to make way for new, exciting pieces designed to attract better clients. No portfolio yet? No problem- you’re still in the right place!
Using Stephanie’s Creative Cocktail method, you’ll determine the perfect ingredients for your portfolio based on the types of projects you want to attract. Then you’ll brainstorm personal project ideas, write your creative brief, and get to work on new pieces designed to fill your portfolio gaps. Because clients want to see that you can do what they need!
You want to rock your portfolio- not hide your portfolio under a rock. It’s time to build your own Hype Machine and experiment with new ways to get your work out into the world and seen by the right people.
Using all the components of your customized Hype Machine, you’ll put together a 30-Day Hype Plan comprised of both inbound and outbound marketing and lead generating strategies. No more only posting on Instagram and wondering why nobody is responding!
You’ll start by taking a look at your portfolio as it is now and purge it of any work that’s bringing down its overall quality to make way for new, exciting pieces designed to attract better clients. No portfolio yet? No problem- you’re still in the right place!
Using Stephanie’s Creative Cocktail method, you’ll determine the perfect ingredients for your portfolio based on the types of projects you want to attract. Then you’ll brainstorm personal project ideas, write your creative brief, and get to work on new pieces designed to fill your portfolio gaps. Because clients want to see that you can do what they need!
You want to rock your portfolio- not hide your portfolio under a rock. It’s time to build your own Hype Machine and experiment with new ways to get your work out into the world and seen by the right people.
Using all the components of your customized Hype Machine, you’ll put together a 30-Day Hype Plan comprised of both inbound and outbound marketing and lead generating strategies. No more only posting on Instagram and wondering why nobody is responding!
I learned more about typography in this course than during my BA in graphic design. This gives me confidence that I can make effective layouts and better design of any kind. I also felt I was part of a community, who learned together. Once a week for seven weeks, Chris critiqued our submitted layouts and this motivated us to put knowledge into practice and submit our work. This course is the best investment I've made in myself in becoming a better graphic designer. And I've invested in a lot of courses and books.
Shhhh- can we keep this between us? Because there's something society (and probably your art school) doesn't want you to know... You can be an artist without starving. You can make a living by creating things and doing the work you love, without having to become a thought leader, strategist, or social media influencer.
The second my studio started creating the work we wanted more of- without any clients telling us what to do- was the second we started booking more projects that we loved and we started loving our business again.
But life in our studio wasn't always dream project after dream project. We're talking nightmare project after nightmare project- we attracted all the red flags. And that's just not the way to keep a business (or a marriage) healthy. And the problem was our portfolio- the work was quality. But it attracted all the crazies!
So we completely burned our business down- and that started with only showing the kinds of projects we wanted more of, ditching anything that might raise those red flags, filling our portfolio gaps with self-initiated dream projects, and taking 100% responsibility for making sure the right people saw our work- no blaming an algorithm around here.
This goes beyond just creating cool stuff and hoping it’ll stick. A whole lotta strategy is infused into every project Gold Sheep Design puts out into the world. And in this course I’m getting down to the nitty-gritty and showing you all the Gold Sheep-tested-and-approved methods for creating self-initiated projects to fill your portfolio and building a hype machine that connects with clients- the right kind of clients.
Stephanie Owens
Lettering Artist and Education Director
Stephanie Owens is the Education Director at The Futur and co-founder and lettering artist of Gold Sheep Design, a brand design and illustration studio powered by rock music and pop culture.
She and her husband, Nathan, have worked with brands such as Six Flags, Universal Studios, Doctor Who, and Agatha Christie Ltd. Through their work, they advocate for those who have lost their creative voice in a culture of conformity and algorithms.
Bridge the gap between the types of client work you’re getting and the types of clients you dream of with a strategic body of work and lead generation plan (no current clients or large social following required).