We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dave Clayton a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Dave, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the things we most admire about small businesses is their ability to diverge from the corporate/industry standard. Is there something that you or your brand do that differs from the industry standard? We’d love to hear about it as well as any stories you might have that illustrate how or why this difference matters.
Being a creative in their 50s, my background is a more tactile and person to person experience. In today’s world, social media is the currency for influence but not necessarily experience. I can’t stress enough how important and valuable it is to “get out there”, meet people, talk to experienced professionals for advice, don’t tuck yourself into a false world of “inspiration” and advice from people who do not have anything in common with your own life or business. I invest a large part of my income in attending events, meet ups, travelling to other cities to meet fellow designers. We’re all introverts but we need to make and partake in conversations. I have got so much work from talking to people and getting lucky with who I happen to be talking to. Make that luck, ask questions, help others with your own advice. Work will come and I do pretty well for someone with only 3,500 followers on Instagram! Be brave, you might enjoy it :)
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.
I’m a London born graphic designer, I’ve been in and around design and marketing for almost 30 years. I’ve mostly worked in house at companies within the design and marketing team as both a designer and a manager. Alongside my “day job” I’ve been a freelance designer and over the past 10 years I moved more into education and teaching design including at events such as Adobe Max, Photoshop World, Print Design Sunmit, Photoshop Virtual Summit, CreativePro Week, Creative South and online events. I am a regular contributor on KelbyOne and wrote a book called “How Do I Do That In InDesign”, published by RockyNook. I specialise in Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Adobe Express. I also cohost a podcast about Photography and Design called “He Shoots, He Draws”.
I got into teaching later in life but I am proud of where it’s taken me in terms of success and growth in myself. I am always learning and giving that back to others. I will always promote and lift others to help them achieve some of the successes I’ve had, put the good back into the community. I’m proud to call so many great creatives my friend, many I’ve met through attending events and teaching alongside them. I was also the Training and Community Manager for Astute Graphics for 4 years which was one of my favourite roles of my career!
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
When I started to really get my teeth into graphic design and learning the Adobe products I joined the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) which is now KelbyOne. Meeting Scott Kelby and becoming part of that community really opened up my world. I consumed as much content as I could to learn, and at the same time I realised I was also learning about teaching. In the space of just 6 years I went from attendee to writer, video class instructor and conference speaker. Helped and mentored by those I learnt from. I’ve spoken to so many attendees at events to gain knowledge of how people want to learn. That connection led me to relationships with Adobe staff, speaking at Adobe Max and continuing into develop and maintain close relationships with designers such as Aaron Draplin. Their own work ethics have made me a better designer and instructor.
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
One thing I’ve had to unlearn is don’t be held back by your own insecurities. I was always a shy introvert, I’m not the centre of attention, I’m not the dancer at the party. But I realised that being that person wasn’t going to help me achieve what I wanted to do. I really had to push myself out of my comfort zone to get the opportunities I wanted in my career. You can still be an introvert but don’t let it hold you back. I never suffer from imposter syndrome, I don’t believe in it. I know I’ve earned the right to be where I am and it’s up to me to do what’s needed to stay in the mix. If for one moment you feel imposter syndrome creeping into your mind, just think how lucky you are to be in a position to even give that a thought! Prove to yourself you deserve the right to have that chance and grow from the experience!
And don’t be held back by the gatekeepers in the industry, they do exist and they will try and stop you from getting opportunities you deserve, that’s driven by insecurity in themselves and jealousy by others success. As my best mate once told me, don’t let others dim your light to make theirs brighter!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://itsdaveclayton.com
- Instagram: Itsdaveclayton
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daveclayton
- Twitter: Itsdaveclayton
- Other: https://linktr.ee/itsdaveclayton
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Image Credits
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Images by Dave Clayton