Meet Matt, one of DesignBro’s professional graphic designers. Having noticed he won quite a few of our projects, we wanted to introduce this greatly talented ‘man behind the curtain’.
Matt comes from Yorkshire in England. He graduated with a Graphic Design degree from the University of Huddersfield. Except designing, he loves to travel and always looks to visit somewhere new or book a cheeky weekend break.
Saturday evenings Matt spends together with his girlfriend who also is a designer! Together they go out shopping, treat themselves to a nice meal and visit new places. If he could choose any place in the world to work from, that would be Canada, especially the West coast – Vancouver and Calgary.
Recreationally, he’s been designing as long as he can remember. Professionally, he started a little over three years ago, in September 2015. On DesignBro, Matt takes care of logo, brand identity and packaging designs. Scroll down to see some of the designs he made!
“DesignBro promises to curate only the finest creative talent for their freelancing platform, which allows space for only tried and tested creatives to sign up.“
Why did you choose to become a graphic designer?
I’ve always had an itch to make posters, print, advertising and marketing content look great! Since promoting productions, fayres and events at primary school my passion has grown through formal education and led me to pursue a career in making handsome creative content in a host of fun and exciting formats!
What made you decide to join DesignBro?
There’s too much noise in the online creative market – with anyone and everyone claiming to be a ‘designer’ it’s difficult to stand out and make yourself heard. DesignBro promises to curate only the finest creative talent for their freelancing platform, which removes this noise and allows space for only tried and tested creatives to sign up… upon being approved, I instantly knew this was the platform for me, promising the highest quality creative projects from clients all around the world. A platform which didn’t offer competition of an insurmountable quantity, but competition of fantastic talent to push my skill set and better my creative solutions.
How does DesignBro help you with your career and life?
It’s easy to jump onto DesignBro and pick up a project within a matter of minutes. There’s no lengthy calls or meetings with clients, setup procedures or preliminary discussions. It allows me to ‘fill the gaps’ between my own projects to keep the creative juices flowing!
Have you ever used any other contest-based platform? Which one?
Yes – all of them, haha! Fiverr, PeoplePerHour, Bidvine, Upwork, Freelancer.
“The fact that only curated professionals are allowed to sign up makes it much fairer for designers, and in turn makes it easier for clients to get the results they’re looking for without having to filter through a mass of clutter.“
What do you think differentiates DesignBro from other platforms?
Quality over quantity, without a doubt. As noted above, the fact that only curated professionals are allowed to sign up makes it much fairer for designers who are accepted onto the platform, and in turn makes it easier for clients to get the results they’re looking for without having to filter through a mass of clutter.
Do you have any advice to other designers on giving feedback to the client?
Professionalism is key, but don’t be afraid to present your own opinions and ideas. It might seem easy to ignore or argue with the client from the safety of anonymity when you don’t necessarily agree with their opinions or feedback… however, there can always be a medium or compromise between perspectives, which can be where the most ideal solutions come to light. That being said, don’t be afraid to steer the client in a particular direction they might not have thought of, not be confident in or not know much about – you are the professional after all, so your opinion should be valued highly.
Do you have a preference for one project over another? What makes you choose which project to work on?
I (we, at our studio) like quick-turnaround projects from DesignBro. Logos and brand identities are great, as they regularly offer creative freedom balanced with a solid, straightforward brief. As noted prior DesignBro is great not only for finding new, exciting projects but also for ‘filling the gaps’ between major clients at your own studio.
What was your favorite project so far? And why?
The Centre for Group Counselling and Trauma (CGCT) at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) needed a new logo and our design was chosen as the winning motif… Projects like these not only provide the obvious financial gain but also allow us to work with some great causes around the world such as CGCT, which checks our ‘feel-good’ box as an added bonus!
Do you have advice for clients on what to include in their brief?
[As much information and detail as possible! I can’t stress this enough, if you provide an entire biography on your company’s backstory and heritage it is never too much information… The more we can find out about you and your brand, the better we can tailor our creative solutions to effectively represent your company, product etc.
Which designer stereotypes do you think are true?
There is this Instagram account with designer humor memes, check it out!
Many are true but the one about chasing invoices doesn’t really apply to us – we’ve got a great client base who we trust to pay us on time, and DesignBro guarantees that clients on the site have already paid up-front!
Do you have any work routine?
Not strictly speaking, but we generally find ourselves busiest when everyone else has done working – i.e. evenings and weekends!
Do you ever feel uninspired? What do you do to then?
Yes, as I’m sure all creatives do from time-to-time. Take a short break from creative work – do something you enjoy, play a video game, go out shopping, eat some good food, see friends, and if it really gets bad then go on holiday! (a “creative retreat”)
See some of the designs Matt created on DesignBro:
What our clients say
“Matt was wonderful to work with. He was very quick to respond and produce edits and files as requested. He was very professional, seem to know his subject matter well, and created a beautiful logo design.“
Besides having grown up in the design Industry, Christiaan has advised some of the world’s largest companies on their branding & packaging designs. Has been the resident judge for design awards, and has spoken at numerous global design & marketing events. Christiaan founded the London office of the award-winning Cartils agency, and has founded the DesignBro.com platform.
