We were lucky to catch up with Naomi Golden recently and have shared our conversation below.
Naomi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Is your team able to work remotely? If so, how have you made it work? What, if any, have been the pitfalls? What have been the non-obvious benefits?
As a graphic designer who works with clients all over the world, I have had to adapt to a completely remote workflow while still maintaining meaningful client relationships. The large majority of the graphic design services I offer are targeted toward clients that desire a luxury, personalized experience. These clients hold their vision and concepts for their businesses close, and they desire to be a part of the creation process. I continually strive to make this happen, whether my client lives in town or on the other side of the world. Some of the ways I accomplish this is through a mood board assignment and a questionnaire I give to my clients, allowing me to get a glimpse of their vision, both visually and in the written word. I also schedule regular Zoom meetings to connect with my clients throughout the project, allowing them to partake in every step of the creation process. This gives them a say in the design and cultivates a creative relationship. When my clients’ projects are completed, they receive framed original sketches as gifts.
When it comes to my own personal workflow, I have found that a level of discipline and self-imposed structure is crucial to my work. I work on all my projects in a home office space. For my business, I run on a Monday through Friday 8-5 routine to help me maintain my work/life balance. Goal setting is a must for working remotely. I set daily and weekly goals for myself and enter all of my tasks in my favorite planning tool, “The Artful Agenda.” This keeps me on track with my project timelines, meetings, as well as all of the back end of running a business.
Another important facet of working remotely as a business owner is setting the tone for my work day. I believe that starting my day in the right tone determines my productivity and creative flow, so I keep a morning routine of spirituality, health, and dress code. One of my favorite things to do is dress for my brand. I love letting my outfits each day express my creative identity and help me to step into the day as an artist. My creativity is also affected by the atmosphere I am in. I have set up a creative workspace in my home office that is filled with things that inspire me. I have a space where illustrations, pieces of fabric, paper, or anything else that happens to catch my eye can be displayed. I keep inspirational books, beautifully illustrated children’s books, coloring books, and magazines like “Flow” in an easy-to-grab spot. These are always on hand in case I find myself hitting a creative rut and need a tea break and some inspiration. Having a candle or two lit on my desk is also a favorite when I am on a deadline to help me stay calm. I find that anxiety or stress is the enemy of creativity, so keeping a peaceful, inspiring space for my work keeps me at the highest level of creative flow and helps me be productive.
I highly value work/life balance. When working remotely your work and personal life coincide in the same space, so I have found ways to truly leave work at the end of the day by clearing my mind with a walk or run in nature, baking a fun recipe, or playing a board game with my husband. Remote work has required a certain amount of adaptation and creative problem-solving to get me in an optimal flow. It requires some trial and error, but overall it has been a great experience allowing me to work with a variety of clients and projects I would not be able to otherwise.
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 back background and context?
Being an artist and designer is not just a job for me. It’s part of who I am. I have been an artist since I was a young child – my imagination, love for studying the beauty around me, reflecting on life, and the deep pull to capture colors, shapes, lights, and shadows, have always been there. Over the years, I have fallen in love with creating with and for others, using my artistic heart to create something that gives life to a person’s business or a face to their passion. I love creating designs and art full of empathy that moves people to action.
Over the years since entering the professional world, I have freelanced on the side while working as a full-time designer. In 2021 I finally launched my company, Naomi Golden Creative, offering branding, graphic design services, and illustration. I have had the pleasure to work with a variety of clients, from small Etsy shops to one of the largest global nonprofits in the world. I have a passion for empowering small businesses and nonprofits to accomplish their missions, and I use brand empathy to create logos and brands that express the individuality of each client.
Some of my favorite projects I have had the pleasure of working on include leading the branding for World Vision International’s End Child Marriage Campaign in 2022, creating a logo, style guide, packaging assets, and illustrations for a pressed flower company, Pink Daydream, and branding a local skincare company with a mission to help women and children from the foster care system.
Naomi Golden Creative has been my dream since I was 19 years old and it has been thrilling to arrive at this point. I am in the process of expanding the illustration side of my business into local shops, farmers’ markets, and an online storefront. I love what I do, and I am incredibly excited to see what the future brings.
Does your business have multiple or supplementary revenue streams (like a ATM machine at a barbershop, etc)?
The most fun part of owning my own business is the variety that comes with it. As a creative, I am passionate about many forms of art, and getting to do something different every day makes work an exciting adventure that I never got to experience when I worked as a full-time designer for a company. Naomi Golden Creative not only provides me with a variety of clients, but I also get to invest in a variety of my own passions. This also creates the added bonus of providing multiple income streams.
The first part of my business is the graphic design side. Every company needs a brand and/or marketing materials and I have been able to provide these services to clients locally, in other states, and globally. I love working with small businesses and nonprofits the most, and I can find passion in my work when it is supporting a mission that I can get behind.
The other side of Naomi Golden Creative is illustration. I love watercolors, and by using modern tools I can utilize both analog and digital mediums to create art pieces that can encourage and inspire others. This artwork I adapt into sticker packages, greeting cards, and other products that I can sell in local shops and farmer’s markets, as well as online.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing the impact of the things I create. Art is an agent of change. A painting or illustration can change the atmosphere of a room. One of my favorite moments as an artist was when I felt prompted to give one of my oil paintings to a woman we had known for many years who was a waitress at one of our favorite restaurants. I felt so much joy when I painted the piece; it was a giant dahlia with vibrant colors and a sunshine-yellow background. The woman mentioned this painting to my mom many months later, telling her that she had hung it above her fireplace and that whenever she saw it she felt so much joy.
Graphic Design is a powerful artistic tool as well. A visual can be created that instigates action, and complex content can be broken down into an easy-to-understand manner, spreading education that can save lives. It was so rewarding to design the assets and branding for World Vision International’s End Child Marriage Campaign last year. Surprisingly, a huge percentage of the world still condones child marriage and has no laws in place to protect children from it. It largely exists because of ignorance of its widespread global practice in conjunction with a lack of education about the danger of it for the families and children forced into it. These facts are heartbreaking, but I was able to assist World Vision in a global campaign to end child marriage, creating designs that aided in bringing to light the truth about this crisis. As a result of the campaign, a petition to leaders was signed by millions of people around the world to make this practice illegal and protect children.
I am excited to continue using my talents as an artist and designer to impact my community and the world around me.
Contact Info:
- Website: naomigoldencreative.com
- Instagram: @naomigoldencreative
- Facebook: facebook.com/naomigoldencreative
- Other: https://goo.gl/maps/LdjN2Li4KDiTJjzA8