Fiverr Pro Sarah Rose Andrew is a graphic designer by trade and a professional wildcard by nature. She specializes in “making shit look pretty"—including (but not limited to) design, identities, stories, packaging, websites, experiences, and work for brands such as Prada, Intel, Kraken Rum, Ryan Seacrest, and more. We at Fiverr loved her refreshing approach and clean aesthetic so much that we hired her to design our new line of official Fiverr swag. Read more about what makes Sarah tick below—then tune in on Tuesday as we chat with her about Fiverr Pro and her creative process on Facebook Live at 9:30 AM EST on 11/21.
I'm a branding and marketing designer hailing from Las Vegas originally. I've moved around a lot in my adult life; in the past 5 years I've lived in Brooklyn, Portland, San Francisco (twice), and recently moved to the DC area. I love roaming and exploring the world, and I’m fortunate to have a career that accommodates my nomadic lifestyle. I recently opened my own boutique branding/identity studio, Gyst (gystdesign.co), focusing in branding and market strategy, packaging and print, and digital/web design. Business has really taken off, so much in fact that I’m currently on the hunt for a freelance junior production designer.
My restless spirit is what motives me. I think being complacent about where you are in life, physically or professionally, leads to decay. So I try to keep moving and learning. I've been told I'm very self-motivated (aka a perfectionist and irrationally hard on myself), which is definitely an important component to be a successful entrepreneur. Working for yourself is not for everyone. I invest in a lot of educational materials (woot, tax write-off), that hopefully I'll be able to explore more of soon. In such an advanced digital age, you need to be constantly learning and growing with your shifting market in order to stay relevant and needed.
I moved to New York on a post-graduation existential freak out with no plan and never looked back. Best decision I could have made.I had no job offers, no leads, no experience, and it was during the economic crisis, but I did have an apartment lined up, which is more difficult to find than a job in New York. was also 21 and naive, obviously. Best diet one can go on is being broke! Obviously, I never lost my optimism. I scoured the internet daily, picking up little short-term jobs here and there, and eventually had enough work to keep me employed full time, without being employed full time. Fiverr is a bit of both for me. I have a large amount of work come through Fiverr, but also a large amount of work from existing or new client requests.
I've definitely gotten better at turnover time. I've always been quick and lived by the idea of "work smart, not hard" and that's grown exponentially with such short turnaround times.
Hmm... I did the branding and packaging system for Ryan Seacrest's clothing line. It was pretty cool to be watching TV one day when I was visiting my parents, and a logo I designed just popped up on TV! Unfortunately, due to medical concerns, I had to leave the project before completing it and hand off the remaining work to other designers (which is no designer's favorite thing). Some of my favorite projects are working for small start-ups because you pretty much get your hands on everything creatively. Creating Fiverr swag was a surprisingly larger challenge than I initially anticipated. It wasn't just slapping logos on things (obviously), which I knew going in, but we (the Fiverr team and myself aka the Swag Team) were essentially defining the brand identity and attitude. I think all of us learned a ton about the process and the brand along the way, and Fiverr has developed a supremely strong voice between the recent campaign, launch of Fiverr Pro, and our Swag release.
I've always known my market was saturated, but speaking with so many prospective clients on Fiverr has given me a more defined view of it. It really helped me more realistically determine my own self-worth, which is probably one of the hardest things to decide and prove as a freelancer or entrepreneur. It's not like there's a literal book written about how to price yourself for your services. Okay, fine there is and I own it, but it doesn't mean those numbers are right for everyone to be successful in their respective markets and skills.
Have a question for Sarah Rose? Ask her in the comments below or during our FB Live conversation at 10 AM EST on 11/21.
