Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mike Irizarry. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Mike thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Growing up, I loved comic characters such as Batman and Spider-Man. One of my favorite cartoons was the X-Men animated series. When I got to 3rd grade, me and my friends enjoyed drawing all sorts of characters. I wound up creating my own characters, the Clifton Warriors. Like the X-Men, they were a team of heroes with various superpowers.

Fast forward to my freshman year in high school, I took a class about digital artwork. We would use Photoshop to create various works of art. Inspired by this class, I gained the knowledge to take my comic stories to the next level by scanning drawings and coloring them digitally on the computer.

As I went into college, I decided to major in Graphic Design & Digital Media, and later, Visual Communications. I wanted to learn more about graphic design as I hoped to learn more about helping to bring my comic book to life. Because of the stress of finding a full-time job after college, I was unable to ultimately get this comic published.

After a little over a year after graduating, I got my first full-time gig as an in-house artist for a company that sold promotional products for businesses. Files would need to be set-up so they could be printed on pens, tumblers, tote bags, and a whole lot more. After about 2 years, I moved on to become a production artist at a screen-printing shop. I’ve been in the screen printing industry since 2014, creating virtual proofs and doing color separations on files going to print.

Because of the nature of these jobs, there isn’t much need for someone to be creative. Most of the time you’re recreating someone’s artwork so it’s print-ready.

A coworker of mine at my first job needed some artwork created for their family member’s bar mitzvah. After the success of my first little freelance gig, word spread and I was beginning to create custom graphics for more people. I thought this was a perfect creative outlet for me.

In 2015, my freelance business was born.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a freelance graphic designer. I help craft visual identities to help them stand out from the rest. I will talk to the client to hear their needs and will create something versatile, but more importantly, something that looks amazing.

When you’re working with myself, you’re getting the human touch. Anyone can go onto a site and create something off of a template. I can tell you from experience that I can easily spot something created with the help of a template, or a t-shirt design using basic fonts and clipart.

With my knowledge of graphic design, my goal is to help the client make something unique. A strong visual identity will make your business look more professional.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

My goal is to turn my freelance business into a full-time job. At the moment, I don’t make quite enough money from freelance to have a sustainable living. While I do enjoy my job at the screen printing shop, the freelance gig lets me have creative freedom and lets me be my own boss.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

After spending hours working on a certain design, it’s still an amazing feeling when you get to see the finished product. I love watching something I designed come right off the press, or opening a box to see the printed shirts. All that work paid off and you now have a tangible item.

It’s even more rewarding when you see something you created out in the wild. I recently created a sign layout about the dos and don’ts of riding an escalator. I wasn’t sure where the final signs would be installed, until I went to a Philadelphia Phillies game and saw my very own signs in use.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.MikeIrizarryDesigns.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/MikeIrizarryDesigns
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/mikeirizarrydesigns/
• Other: www.twitch.tv/MikeIrizarryDesigns www.teepublic.com/user/mike-irizarry-designs