Meet Brian Zimmerman | Graphic Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brian Zimmerman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Brian, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
I try to look at my “work” as part of my life, rather than a separate entity that I need to balance out. With a creative job, you are kind of always working. An idea can come at any time, even when I am having fun outside of my office. My idea of success has evolved over the years: from thinking I need to grind it out and make as much money as possible so I could buy “stuff”, to realizing that true success for me is having the freedom to do what makes me happy, and that time is more important than money. While the two are certainly tied together in a way, I’ve learned that if I take time to truly live and enjoy my family time and hobbies, then when it comes time to work, I am much more efficient and creative. I’ve also learned over the years to give myself some leeway when it comes to creativity. Some days ideas just flow right out, other days when I feel stuck, I’ve realized taking a break or engaging in an extracurricular hobby is usually a better use of my time rather than trying to force something to happen. Don’t get me wrong, I have put in the long hours and late nights on design projects in my younger days, but now that I have refined my skills and processes, works seems less of a grind and more of just a piece of my life that I fit in as needed. Having the freedom to be able to go do something with my daughter spontaneously, or go engage in a healthy hobby (foil boarding is my favorite activity at the moment) in the middle of the day is amazing and would be impossible to give up. Lastly, working for myself gives me the ability to control my income to a certain extent. I can choose how much workload I want to tackle, as well as how much money I want to make. I typically work 20-30 hours a week, but if I need to make some extra income, I can pretty easily ramp up my hours as needed. I feel very fortunate to have the ability to adjust my hours as needed, and realize not everyone has that choice which helps keep me grounded.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I try to craft my “art” style based on the client, rather than try to shoehorn a client’s brand into one particular style I prefer. I think that is why my portfolio and client base is so diverse. Each client and project deserves it’s own style, and that’s what they are paying a graphic designer to create, a visual story that represents their brand. I like to engage the client in the design process, rather than a take it or leave it approach. I think this is where my portfolio stands out. Rather than having a bunch of clients with similar looking brand styles, all my clients are unique. I’ve also learned over the years that being responsive and attentive to client’s emails and requests will nurture long lasting relations. If a client emails me, I get back to them within the hour, sometimes within minutes. If a client calls me, I answer, and people respect that. If you produce good work, and give your clients, large and small, the attention they each deserve, then it doesn’t feel like work trying to sell yourself to get new clients. Be a good, honest person, and the work will come your way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well I love the water so I’d introduce them to all the water based activities Charleston has to offer, as well as some culinary staples I enjoy. I’d recommend a breakfast croissant from Baguette Magic, and a cold brew from High Falutin coffee. Then maybe a trip out to Folly Beach for a morning surfing session or beach walk. Grab some lunch at Bohemian Bull (a great client of mine), then head out in the boat for the afternoon to enjoy some water sports and cruise Shem Creek, maybe hit up an island to look for sharks teeth. For dinner I’d grab some sushi at Aji Asian Bistro, or pizza at Crust, then grab the “chocolate ball” dessert from Edison. We live on James Island so we try and support our local eateries rather than venture downtown. If you are looking to splurge downtown, we love going to The Ordinary or FIG. We also frequent the great county parks around the Charleston area which provide tons of outdoor recreation. We also like to do frequent day trips down to Wadmalaw, Edisto, Kiawah and Botany Bay to get out of town but not go too far.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have plenty of people to thank for helping me achieve success, but I think there are three main entities I would like to give a shoutout to:

My Parents: My parents have always supported me in everything from school, to hobbies, to work. They helped me engage myself in various forms of art at a young age, and further fostered my artistic and creative ability by funding my college education where I majored in fine art with a focus in graphic design (they are very proud I actually applied my college degree haha). I also watched my dad get laid off from his job when I was younger, and it forced him to figure out how to work for himself out of necessity. Little did I know the same thing would happen to me in my early 20’s; I got laid off from my first agency job, and it ultimately gave me the motivation to go out on my own. I think seeing a parent being successful after taking risks was really empowering and helped me take the leap later in life.

My Wife: When I first met my wife, she was pretty miserable working for someone else’s physical therapy studio, and being told how she should do things. At this point, I had already been working for myself for a while, so I tried to help her realize that she would only truly be happy with her work if she went out on her own. When she took the plunge and started her own practice, the shift in her perspective was immediate and inspirational. I saw her work through many of the small pitfalls new business owners go through, and that I had gone through, in the early stages of entrepreneurship. I also saw her work ethic change. Rather than putting in the bare minimum, she was working hard and seeing results. Her hard work and ability to push herself to always learn new skills or promote herself in new ways is truly inspirational. She gives her clients her best, yet still finds time for her family which I try to emulate as well. Watching her succeed and continue to grow her business and her personal brand keeps me motivated to work hard along side her. I think having a motivated spouse is very much a part of continuing to be successful as a business owner and in life. She always there to help me work through difficult business decisions, which is very helpful when you are a one-man band.

Coworkers & Friends: When I graduated college, I felt drastically unprepared to be a graphic designer in the real world. I just had a college art portfolio with a few graphic design pieces and zero real client or corporate graphic design work. I approached a local ad agency in Charleston for a possible unpaid internship so I could at least build up my portfolio with some real life applications. I ended up getting the internship, which in tern led to my first real job as a production artist. The skills I learned in that year I worked at that agency are things I still use today. The people I worked with at that agency in the art department were amazing. There was zero judgment and no stupid questions. Even though I was the low man on the totem pole, no one in the department ever talked down to me. They always took the time to show me the right way to do things. From setting up color spaces, to resizing ads and organizing files, the work wasn’t super glorious, but the things I learned were invaluable. Also a quick shoutout to all my personal friends (some of whom are also clients). They have always supported me, offered advice when needed, and given me countless referrals.

Clients: Thank you for trusting me with your babies (businesses). I am super motivated to hear the client’s new ideas, and feel fortunate to have a job where every client is different, and all require a new set of industry knowledge that keeps me always learning new things. Seeing a client succeed and be happy with the work I create is the reason I do what I do.

Website: https://fozizzle.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zizzledesign/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-zimmerman-7a59a93/