( Photo / Contributed )
Kenton Arrington
Staff Writer
Insider’s look into Hanmade Graphics
With so many student-owned businesses on campus, getting personally made graphics are not hard to come by.
One student not wasting any time getting her art into the world is Hannah Hogan, a senior graphic design major from Decatur, Alabama.
“My business is called Hanmade Graphics,” Hogan said. “I make a wide variety of personalized items from stickers and digital portraits to business logos and billboards.”
Like any business person, a professional can only do as well as they can with the tools to accomplish a task. That’s why Hogan said she uses a variety of programs to suit the individual demands of the commissions coming in.
Hogan said she had a slow start but her business is growing at a steady pace.
“It was definitely slow in the beginning,” Hogan said. “I just started off by designing things for my friends and family. Business has picked up some, but it’s definitely not as busy as I would like it to be.”
From the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite to Illustrator, and even Procreate, Hogan claims the right tool is needed to make her commissions perfect.
Hogan recommends Procreate for those wanting to start designing themselves.
“I would say if you didn’t want to go all-in with the whole Adobe subscription, then Procreate is really good for drawing or hand lettering,” Hogan said.
In the business world, half the battle is getting a reputation going so that your name is out there, and this can prove to be even more difficult during a worldwide pandemic.
“I definitely think it (the pandemic) has impacted orders,” Hogan said. “But it has also given me time to expand and learn new things.”
Hogan said the most important mindset to have is one of positivity and to use even the worst conditions to your advantage to get keep your goals alive.
She said she encouraged those struggles to keep going.
“No goal is too big,” Hogan said. “But give yourself smaller checkpoints to hit in order to reach it. You have to start at the bottom in order to rise to the top.”
You can get more info and commission Hogan at hanmadegraphics.com.
