Interview with a Freelance Graphic designer, Mr. Neminn Wynn.

2/20/2017

On a beautiful Sunday evening, I met with Mr. Neminn Wynn in a cafe in Brooklyn. Wynn is a freelance senior graphic designer who I knew for a couple of years ago. We also have worked briefly together on a freelance design project before. I remember his name easily because Wynn’s last name is similar to my first name, Win. He was born in Burma and moved to the United States more than 15 years ago. He got his BA degree in Graphic Arts and Design from City College of New York, CUNY. He said, “I’ve been working in this field for about nine years.”

When I asked him what his workday looks like, he answered that there are a lot of digital marketing (designs), creating digital assets, creating email templates, and some layouts for print promotions. He chose this career path because he always wanted to make beautiful stuff, create something new, being creative, and this is why he decided to become a graphic designer after that.

I asked him about his current position and the requirements. He works for short-term contracts like 2-3 months long in each job. He explained that his official status might frequently change as a freelancer, so the skills sets and requirements are too. It all depends on the company he works for. “Generally, you need creativity,” Wynn added, “Adobe Creative Suite, mainly, PhotoShop, Illustrator, InDesign is the mast, and after that, you need basic graphic design skill, typography, and color theory.”

Wynn said, as a graphic designer, there is always room for promotion or personal improvement. Graphic designers need to know the situation of the company they are working for, and some company has an opportunity for the graphic designer to grow within the company. Unlike promotion, personal improvement doesn’t rely on anybody or any company. “It only relies on you, even if you finish from school, you can still improve yourself by learning new things all time, keep in touch with latest trends and latest technologies.” (N. Wynn, personal communication, February 2017). He also encouraged young designers to keep on learning after college.

I asked him the most challenging things about his work, and he explained, being a freelancer who has to move from one company to another in a few months, there are challenges every time he has to move to a new workplace. Every company has its tradition and culture, so no matter with the previous experience, he has to adapt and learn the new way. Different companies use different software. Emma and MailChimp are the software used for digital marketing. The software seems easy, but it may be tricky to use at the beginning.

When we talked about the clubs, associations, and networking, Wynn replied that he is a member of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts), Art Directors Club, and SPD (Student Publication Design). He used to go to networking events for graphic designers once a month or once in a couple of months depends on his schedule. He believes these events are influential because he could learn some new things or sometimes meet up with an important person from the industry. Most of them are friendly. “Be yourself, go out there… introduce yourself, and start networking; it’s very effective, and I like it,” Wynn added. He said LinkedIn is very effective for online networking and recommends design students and anyone who wants to excel in their career. He said, Behance.net, which is a digital portfolio page, is also very good for artists, designers, and photographers to showcase their works. Behance is owned by Adobe Inc., the leader in producing graphic design software.

I said, “You don’t look that old, but do you have started saving for your retirement, like IRA, IRA Roth, etc.?” and he said no. He hasn’t started any of his retirement plans so far because he finished his student loans not so long ago. As the last question, I ask him how he sees himself in the next ten years. He said he already has 8-9 years of professional graphic design experience. So in the next ten years, he wants to be a creative director or an art director, who will be the mastermind behind the creative process. He wants to own a creative agency, be an entrepreneur and run his own creative business.

(N. Wynn, personal communication, February 2017).

Visit designer Wynn’s website at winthedesigner.com

Edited: 10/2021