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

Alex, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you manage your own social media?

As a brand designer, I love the topic of social media. I have been posting and creating my own content since day one of me owning my own creative studio. In my opinion, there is this unrealistic connection that society has been making with designers and content creators. I think the thing that designers need to reminds themselves of is that we are designers, we are not content creators. And if you can do them both, I truly envy you! But for me, in order to not get burnt out on social media, I post when and what I want. I don’t follow all of these “algorithms tip and tricks” videos. Heck, I hardly even post reels or TikToks because that is not where my interest is. In order to keep my passion for design alive, I design posts that bring me joy, or to highlight some awesome client work, not what is performing the best or what is trending. My clients want to work with me because of the spunky, free-spirited, inspiring woman I am, not because I had a post go viral.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers?

My name is Alex Pesak and I am a local Indianapolis designer who owns a creative studio, AP The Creative. I come from a very creative family of painters, professional DIYers, and awesome cake decorators. Growing up I always knew that I wanted to do something with art but I wasn’t sure what that was.

Fast forward to 17, I took a tour of an Indianapolis college art department. There was a student’s work hanging up on the wall of a fictional logo they had created for a local business. After much conversation and me asking a million questions, they finally explained to me what graphic design and visual communication design actually was. I fell in love with the topic and that’s the start to my future as a graphic designer.

Throughout college, it was constantly drilled in my head that once I graduated, I needed to go climb this corporate or agency ladder. Starting from junior production designer all the way up to creative director at a top tier agency. Sure enough, once I graduated, I started on my path to be the next big time creative director in the city. I got hired on as a junior production designer at a medium sized marketing agency and was soon promoted to senior designer within 9 months. I was there for a few years until I found myself in a very unhappy place. I wasn’t my smiling, giddy self when I would walk into the office, despite the fact that there was Kombucha on tap.. yes, ON TAP. In all, my work was suffering. My creativity was shot. And my mental health was out the window.

I also come from a long line of self-employed family members. During my lowest of lows, I tossed the idea around to my mom about me going out on my own, even picking up a job at a local coffee shop if I had to. She could sense my unhappiness and knew that I would be nothing but successful if I were to go out on my own. In May 2021, I made the call to my Creative Director. I had no plan from then on but I knew that if I didn’t at least try to go out on my own and start my own business, I would regret it.

Fast forward to July of 2022, I have not only doubled my income, but more importantly, I have found my calling as a business owner. I have made connections with countless individuals and companies who have acted as mentors to me, who have hired me, and most importantly, who have believed in me when my confidence had previously been stripped from me.

I am honored to have individuals and companies reach out to me each month for assistance with design materials for their team, to create brands from the ground up, and to art direct city-wide campaigns.

My favorite service I provide is brand identity design. There is just something about diving into the strategy of a brand with my client and being able to bring it to life visually, with such a positive reaction, not only from my client, but from the community.

When comparing me to different agencies or other designers, one thing that stands out is my ability to take away all of the unnecessary stressors, and focus on the beautiful work we are going to create TOGETHER. You will start off as my client and we will walk away as friends. One thing I always tell others is that I believe that you have to be good at what you do in order to gain clients, but more importantly than that, you have to be a good human to be successful.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Being an easy-going, authentic, positive person has really helped me grow my clientele. People want to work with me because of my positive attitude and my ability to be truly authentic. I am very real with my clients and I do not come off as salesy at all. Fortunately for me, 85% of my clients and work come from referrals. This is because since day 1, I have treated all of my clients with the same amount of respect and the same amount of encouragement and positivity. Even if a client is a nightmare client, I finish up the project with a smile on my face and most of the time, those are the clients talking so positively about me behind my back and referring me out to others in their network.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being a creative is a topic that some creatives tend to overlook. As creatives, we have a gift that not everybody has. Something like choosing a font, or creating a color palette might come second nature to us, but for non-creatives, it’s like a foreign language. I don’t think we give ourselves enough credit for that. As a brand designer, the fact that I can take a word doc of strategy notes from a client’s discovery call and bring it to life visually with a logo, more than the client could have ever imagined in their heads, is something that motivates me daily and is the best reward there is.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.apthecreative.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apthecreative/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/apthecreative
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apesak/
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/apthecreative/ Dribbble: https://dribbble.com/apthecreative

Image Credits
Photography by Samantha Barry and Steph Powell