We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Caleb Morris a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Caleb, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?
Being self-employed as an illustrator took a few years. Thankfully in the beginning, I had a great internship at Wit Design and Advertising that allowed me the extra time to pursue freelance work while also learning a ton about the different aspects of running a creative business. From there I had a couple design jobs at different companies but realized that I didn’t like being stuck in an office so I would work every night on freelance projects until I finally had enough clients and steady work that I could (barely) pay my bills and went freelance full time.
Once I started drawing the prints that would become Welcome to the Neighborhoods, I was able to be more selective with the freelance work I took. As more stores around the country asked for the Neighborhoods prints, I had to learn how to actually run a wholesale/retail business on top of illustrating full time.
I could have definitely sped up aspects of things by knowing what I know now. I would have been more organized from the beginning, hired an accountant to yell at me about making sure I had all the business admin pieces in place.
Caleb, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Half of the day, I’m a commercial illustrator, so during those hours I draw things for other companies. Tour posters for bands, bottle labels for Mountain Dew or beer companies, shirt designs for start ups, a mural idea for Coca Cola, etc. When that half of the day is over, I switch to owner of Welcome to the Neighborhoods where I work on prints, shirts, stickers, etc of different cities and their neighborhoods for the brand.
I hope people feel like the thing that makes my work different is my style and creativity. I try to make every piece as interesting and original as I can. Thankfully people have been along for the ride so far and are always emailing to say nice things or stopping by while I’m out working on a mural to say hi. It’s one of the things I’m the most proud of, that people feel like they have some ownership of Welcome to the Neighborhoods. A lot of them have followed along since the beginning and keep coming back to support the business by buying gifts for friends and family. On the days where I’m swamped with packaging a ton of boxes or filling out boring packing slips, it’s those orders from people and their stories that make it worth all of the work.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
During the pandemic, all of the stores shutdown and I was nervous about sales of the Neighborhoods prints. Thankfully, I was able to build out the online retail store portion and create ways to connect to people through there. With the extra free time of not leaving the house, I would draw original sketches and randomly add them into orders as an extra thank you to customers. This all played a huge part in being able to sustain the business while stores were shut down.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
When people take the time to let me know that a piece I did connected with them or that they bought a print while on a trip and went through the trouble of carrying it all the way back home (sometimes half a world away). Those are the stories that make the 18 hour days worth it and keep me going.
Contact Info:
- Website: heycaleb.com
- Instagram: @heycalebmorris
Image Credits
Mountain Dew label photo – Josh Brown Stillfire label photo – Randall Veugeler