We were lucky to catch up with Lisa Fernández Karlsson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Lisa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I became a freelance graphic designer for over 15 years ago in Málaga, Spain. I had previously worked for the local administration with European Programs and in companies related to visual presentations and graphic editing. At the end of the day I felt that I was always working on a project for someone else, and I had an idea of that I wanted to create something of my own.

When I finally took the courage to end my stable workplace I launched myself into many entrepreneur courses about so many subjects that I kind of stressed out – the idea of having it all figured out before I even had started was really quite impossible – so I just started with what I really had a passion about at a small scale. I made personalized merchandising for Málaga’s museums, making illustrations representing various buildings and cultural aspects of the city.

I think I was very lucky to get a very encouraging response from several store managers, and just kept going from there. However I also learned a lot along the way of how difficult it is to compete price wise with bigger companies and that I had to market my value in a different way; putting emphasis that I was a local designer and produced on a small scale, offering a more exclusive product.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Under my brand name, 952design – I offered personalized merchandising to museum stores in Málaga, like mugs, tote-bags, postcards, pencils, stickers etc. I came into a market that was monopolized by bigger brands that made more generic objects – while I tried to make illustrations that connected more with the city and its local culture.

During this time I think I developed my own style as an illustrator, learning from the process of adapting visuals to different sizes – taking into account all the particular aspects of printing on different materials, and the overall cost of each option.

Also, I learned about the importance of packaging and how the product is presented in the store. Since I was directly in contact with the store managers I got to know more about the end buyer (my target audience) and selling techniques that I could use to better market my products.

In conclusion, I think that I had a huge advantage of being in constant contact with the store managers, asking them directly of what they think would sell and how to best market my products.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Finally, I think that what has driven me to become a freelance is my own passion for making something on my own, on my own terms. But being a freelance is far from easy considering that the freedom of choosing your own path also comes with overcoming ones fear of not being enough – not having a steady income – as well as always taking full responsability for all decisions.

Whenever I feel lost I kind of remind myself of why I started, and what gives me a boost is foremost work on what I call my passion projects, just illustration and experimenting with whatever I feel like doing. Having that creative freedom of feeling that I’m allowed to grow on my own terms and find new exciting projects that I really want to work on.

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

The most rewarding aspect is that I may grow artistically on my own terms, that I can choose to make my own passion projects – and also see how they can turn into professional work.

Lately I’m very into editorial illustration, this really combines my interest in reading and illustration to a perfect match. I give myself an article from the media, and then I try to reduce the concept into a visual. This is something I really discovered is a very intense work process – to make a personal interpretation of a subject into a conceptual illustration. Just being able to find new interests along the way is so very rewarding.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.952-design.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/952design/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisafernandezkarlsson/

Image Credits

Photographer: Maria Gallego