Ep 66: The Business of Lettering | Lauren Hom (Designer, Illustrator & Hand Lettering Artist)

Lauren Hom is a California-born designer, illustrator & hand
lettering artist with a 250k strong following on Instagram. She
is known for her use of bright colour palettes & playful
letterings and has worked for clients such as Starbucks, YouTube,
TIME Magazine, Google and AT&T. She has also been recognised
by Communications Arts, the Art Directors Club, the One Club, the
Type Directors Club and the Webby Awards. 


But how did it all start?


As with all STIMY episodes, we start from the very beginning:
with Lauren’s childhood & how she ended up studying at the
School of Visual Arts for, of all courses, advertising! While
there, she met influential figures who had a deep influence on
her decision to become a freelance artist. Turns out, being the
junior director of a big ad agency in New York wasn’t the dream
job she’d thought it would be!  


Lauren also peels back the layers on some of her most popular
passion projects, beginning with Daily Dishonesty - which landed
her a book deal upon graduation! That proved pivotal, as it gave
her a financial cushion to launch a freelance career. 


Three things stood out with Lauren’s life story:
her talent in lettering;her ability to use passion projects to
change the trajectory of her freelance career, repeatedly; andher
willingness to be open about how she executes her projects, markets
them and what she earns! And finally, why she is now going on a
sabbatical and entering culinary school.




If you’ve ever been curious about the business side of an
artist’s career, then this is the episode for you.


Highlights


4:58 Work hard, snack hard

5:38 Doing advertising

11:40 Becoming a Junior Art Director in a big New York city
ad firm

13:36 Daily Dishonesty

16:52 Seeing Daily Dishonesty go viral

18:51 Getting an illustration agent

20:14 Knowing when to say no to a client

22:59 Planning to go freelance

24:17 Earning $100,000 by Year 3 of freelancing

25:12 Growing an audience on Instagram

28:27 “Will Letter for Lunch” side project

31:28 Getting clients like Microsoft & LinkedIn in less
than 1 year

34:12 Flour Crown & Peen Cuisine

39:30 Traveling 1.5 years around the world

40:47 Being inspired more by every day life

44:35 Taking Back Sunday

46:36 Taking a creative sabbatical to go to culinary school

54:48 Would Lauren ever do street art?






Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/66  


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