We recently connected with Jeanne Martin and have shared our conversation below.
Jeanne, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?
Creativity has been my compass throughout my career, guiding me through full-time roles while nurturing my entrepreneurial spirit with side hustles. I served 25 years at my local newspaper, The Palm Beach Post, in the marketing department, and then for six years at the Armory Art Center as Marketing Director. These experiences were catalysts for honing a diverse skill set, spanning graphic design, illustration, art direction, photography, video editing, and motion design. Meanwhile, my freelance endeavors served as both a creative outlet and a supplementary income stream, allowing me to tackle diverse challenges.
The pandemic proved to be a pivotal point in my career. I used the time to explore new avenues of expression and develop my motion design skills. While working in solitude, I realized my heart was in hands-on creating. I set my cap in the direction of full-time, independent freelance.
I traveled roads that didn’t bear fruit, which caused me to reflect on my abilities and interests. I love to draw, but I assessed that I lacked a distinct look and feel. To develop a recognizable illustration style, I began sketching every day during 2023. I developed a style and a following and added new and unconventional clients. This effort also gave me a body of work to sell as fine art and prints, and I take commissions.
I felt confident in my success because of my thirst for knowledge and innovation. By staying attuned to industry trends and continuously expanding my skill set, I offer invaluable expertise to small businesses and nonprofits, adept at navigating multifaceted communication and marketing challenges without needing specialized consultants.
Jeanne, 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?
From my first significant accolade in junior college to leading major campaigns, my journey in the creative industry includes a passion for visual storytelling and a dedication to mastering diverse skills.
Education was pivotal as I honed my craft at the School of Visual Arts, earning a BFA in media art. Despite pressures to specialize, I remained steadfast in pursuing graphic design and illustration, skills that have been the cornerstone of my career.
Launching my career at Newsday on Long Island, I later transitioned to The Palm Beach Post, where I spent twenty-five years and provided invaluable experiences. While climbing the ranks, I simultaneously nurtured a thriving freelance business, serving small businesses and nonprofits with creative services.
What sets me apart is twofold: versatility and impact. My repertoire spans traditional illustration to modern motion design, ensuring I deliver comprehensive solutions to my clients. Moreover, my work isn’t just aesthetically pleasing—it commands attention and resonates with audiences, a testament to my innate understanding of color, composition, and narrative.
Among my proudest achievements is spearheading a multi-platform campaign for The Palm Beach Post, which saw unprecedented engagement across print, digital, and outdoor mediums. Additionally, my recent foray into whimsical illustration and fine art has brought joy to my clients and social media followers.
I invite you to explore my portfolio at jeannemartincreative.com and connect with me on Instagram @weirddailydrawings to witness the breadth of my creativity. Whether you seek captivating content for your marketing initiatives or wish to commission an illustration, I’m eager to collaborate and bring your vision to life.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Armory Art Center and my participation in cultural, civic, and church communities built an extensive network of people who know and trust me.
During 2023, I committed to posting sketches daily to hold myself accountable while establishing a practice. I had a ready-made audience from my warm connections. Regular posting increased my following. I started a new Instagram account for my daily work, so I started with 0 followers; without any paid promotion, I have had close to 300 consistent followers. My LinkedIn and Facebook accounts increased connections by 150%. But what means more to me is the frequent experience of meeting people who tell me they follow and cherish my posts. Just yesterday, I spoke with a former colleague, who told me she loves to see all the places she loves through my eyes.
Joining Urban Sketchers Palm Beach expedited my inclusion in the local arts community while developing fans, buyers, and new clients. The group meets weekly at various locations in Palm Beach County, Florida. My reach increased exponentially by posting my work on the group’s Facebook page and commenting and liking other artist’s sketches.
Many people specialize, but my expertise in many creative services makes me stand out. I learn new things every week. I have taken in-depth classes from the School of Motion, everything from principles of animation to JavaScript coding for rigging animation files. I have subscriptions to Skillshare and Domestika, allowing me to explore new creative approaches and skills.
My reputation in the arts allows me, now for nearly a decade, to recognize and reward young talent as a judge for the art category’s High School Pathfinder Scholarship awards.
My paid work has steadily grown. At the beginning of 2023, two-thirds of my work was personal projects and self-promotional marketing. My client works, and art sales constitute three-quarters or more of my efforts today.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
After the Pandemic, I longed to advance my career in new ways. I learned about a lucrative way to use my newly attained motion design skills. I took an accelerator program in the fall of 2022 that taught me how to support innovation consultancies, service designers, and product developers with low-fidelity animated presentations designed for rapid changes during the ideation process.
After completing the course, I spent months researching companies and creating spreadsheets of innovation decision-makers, wrote custom email and LinkedIn messages, and noted whether or not I got responses. I did not know one innovation decision-maker personally, so all my efforts went into building relationships online with strangers. The response rate was abysmal, so I researched a niche market of innovation companies focused on sustainability. Specialization ticked up responses, but I could see that I would not reach the financial goals I set.
What I learned first-hand was that personal relationships matter. When people need to trust that you will get the job done for them, they look to those who have rescued them in the past.
Despite the innovation work failing to manifest, I learned valuable techniques to find and communicate with decision-makers at companies I use in other marketing efforts. There is something learned with every pursuit; sometimes, it is as simple as discovering what I enjoy or disdain.
While disappointed, I am resilient, tenuous, and persistent. I turned my attention to figuring out what to do next. I didn’t want to return to full-time employment but rather to find work that I enjoyed and for which I was not only appreciated but well compensated.
I reassessed my skills, strengths, and weaknesses. I was missing a unified look and feel to my illustrations, but I loved to draw. I pivoted to developing an illustration style. I found Mike Lowery’s work and was inspired. Providentially, he was offering a course entitled “Getting Paid to Draw,” an in-depth series covering the business of illustration, focusing on the range of clientele that hire illustrators and how to reach them. I started that class with the heartening feeling, “This is right for me.”
Completing the course armed me with business knowledge and a more effective portfolio. Since completing the course, small business owners have hired me to make illustrations. I have created some of my favorite work for a local craft brewery, including posters and social media posts to promote music festivals and label designs for new craft brews. That client allows me to make unconventional images that stand out.
Being resilient helps me to keep going. If we don’t keep going and keep practicing, our progress stops. To meet our highest potential, we must keep moving. We can find successes in failures; all we need to do is look.
Contact Info:
- Portfolio: https://jeannemartincreative.com/
- Online Store: https://3-jeanne-martin.
pixels.com/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weirddailydrawings/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jellybeanjeanne/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanne-martin-4127409/