We recently connected with Gunter Jones and have shared our conversation below.

Gunter, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

I think this is a very topical question as I’m about to go on my first real “vacation” in probably… 4 or 5 years? Certainly COVID had an impact on that for a couple years as we weren’t even able to travel really, but it’s very hard to disconnect in today’s society—especially for one or two weeks at a time. It feels as tho we’d be missing out on income, clients, opportunities, etc.

I’ve been on trips no doubt — camping, skiing, going to visit family — but most of those are still just a few days or a week and I don’t consider them true vacations. I’m still tapped in, I’m still working, and in regards to outdoors trips, more often than not I come back more tired than when I left. A week full of skiing and drinking is an amazing time, but not really the best reset that I think of when I think of a leisurely vacation.

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 went to school at KU for Visual Communication (a fancy way of saying Graphic Design) and from there got a job out in Boulder working for Storm Mountain Media and Publishing which houses the brands FREESKIER Magazine and Snowboard Magazine. I was the Lead Designer and Art Director there for many years until 2020 when I branched out on my own and solidified my own freelance business with Goat Eye Design, Co.

I offer graphic design services such as branding, illustration, and lettering. I solve creative problems for clients who need a badass visual identity to go with their vision of their business.

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

At this point, it’s honestly been word of mouth. I’ve made tons of connections along my path and have been thankful and grateful that the word just spreads that when you need some awesome design work, I’m your guy. It’s a double-edged sword as I’ve had a lot of work recently and not enough time for my own branding and website (ironic, I know). So, this year my goals are to update my own shit, and try some actual outreach to agencies and bigger brands to get those big fish clients.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I think with how things have progressed, there’s an insane amount of resources available that I didn’t have along my way. Nowadays you can search anything design related on YouTube, Adobe is creating amazing content and resources, Skillshare has full blown classes that are sometimes just as informative as a college class, and tons and tons and tons of designers on Instagram, social media, etc. that all have insightful information and newsletters that you can learn so much from.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://goateye.design
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/goateye.design
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/goateye.design
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunterjones/
• Other: https://dribbble.com/GunterJones