We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alex Hagen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alex below.

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

In my early 20’s I was working at a design agency that I had interned my way into. It was fun for a while but as the Ramones would say “It’s not my place in the 9 to 5 world.” I started feeling lethargic, out of shape mentally and physically. Complacency had taken its toll on the work I was putting out and all I could think about was playing music and traveling. I ended up losing that gig and had to figure out what I was going to do next.

I picked up a job at a letter pressing studio cutting paper for print jobs for a couple years which I really enjoyed. Outside of work I was writing music, making art and picking up freelance jobs for restaurants and local rock bands. After my stint at the letter pressing studio ended I realized I needed to be my own boss and pursue freelance design and illustration full time.

It was always a scary thing to think about fully relying on freelance jobs to pay my bills but once I put myself in that position people recognized it and more jobs came in. I was always out and meeting new people, traveling, and playing with my band. I would make posters for the gigs and design all the merch we were selling at shows. Over time, it helped me to attract the kinds of clients I was interested in working with and I’ve kept at it over the last 10 years.

Alex, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Alex Hagen, I’m a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. I work primarily for musicians, apparel brands, and small businesses. I have a bachelors degree in fine arts from MICA in Baltimore and have been practicing graphic design and illustration as a freelance artist for the last 10 years.

I got into art at an early age drawing and painting monsters from my favorite TV shows and movies. I’ve always been inspired by retro pop culture, comic books, skateboarding, and punk rock music. The DIY approach is something that I also connected with from playing in bands throughout my life. I love the visual identities of all of these things and the cool imagery and styles connected with them. I make that apparent in my work and it’s why most of my clients seek me out.

Some of the creative services I provide are branding, apparel design, package design, poster artwork for events like rock shows and festivals. I can help my clients find visual identities, build off an existing brand, or just make something fun and eye catching.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

I think the most effective strategy for growing my clientele has been touring with my band RAVAGERS and meeting other artists and creative people with similar interests. Social media is very crucial for sharing your work but it’s really important to just have fun and make real connections with people.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

That the only way to have a successful design career is to do corporate design work. I think it’s important to work outside of your comfort zone at first because it makes you more versatile and a better problem solver but over time I realized it was okay to be myself and I found my niche. I’m still carving my own path but It’s been 100% more rewarding than working for a design agency laying out brochures for a bank.

Contact Info:

• Website: ravagersgang.com
• Instagram: @alex_hagen_design
• Twitter: @hagenthepagan
• Other: BAND instagram : @ravagers_gang

Image Credits
Shane Gardner