For the last several years, my employment has been a mix of Hot Frog Print & Media, Ollie's Good Stuff Cheap, Hot Frog again, and my own freelance efforts. I've elaborated more on this below, but please feel free to reach out with questions.
I suppose a good place to start was when Covid-19 hit. I was working where I am currently employed. One key responsibility of mine was athletic wear (uniforms, spirit wear, signage, ticketing, merch, online stores, etc.). Once sports were canceled indefinitely, I was laid off. For several months, I installed kitchen cabinets and power washed kitchen hoods to stay busy, until I landed a position at Ollie's...
A large part of my workload was creating flyer pages that were mailed and tweaked for online delivery. The main challenge was that there were several departments, with several buyers, each with different preferences and ideas. Squeezing the images and copy they wanted while staying on brand and maintaining space was complex but rewarding when approved.
Another chunk of the workload was developing Social Media imagery often. These were fun in that they needed to stay fresh and different, including cartoon tweaks, store and product photography, and attempts to get attention with fresh ideas.
While a bulk of the work consisted of the above and email layout, I did get to work on some interesting projects. Namely, I designed a full page ad in the World Series program, and I designed signage, promotional materials, and apparel for the World's Largest Bobblehead (Guinness Book certified!).
I've been freelancing for many years. In theory, it's wonderful. In reality, it's frighteningly unpredictable. The part that brings me the most pride is that any freelance job is either referred by someone or I presonally earn it; both of which bring me joy.
Joe Marcus