Instagram: artbystevenstanley | w: modartdesign.com.au
Steven Stanley, a Jackass Flat resident, is a freelance graphic designer, part time artist and a stay at home dad. He runs his graphic design business from home, juggling graphic design, being a dad and creating his amazing artworks.
Steven decided to be a graphic designer after his wife persuaded him to follow his passion. He initially worked in retail, but soon decided that it was not where his heart was. His first job was in South Melbourne in an advertising agency where he gained valuable experience and got to learn the ropes of the industry.
Steven recently set up his own website called Modart Design. He works closely with his clients to create exactly what they need. “Client input always varies and it’s up to the graphic designer to pull out the information that is required”. Steven has a broad range of clients that he mainly gets through referrals, including Ballarat City Council and the Cascade Art gallery in Maldon.
“It’s all about what’s trending in terms of colour palette and every project is individual – depending on what the project is and what the client is looking for”. Steven loves working for Cascade Art. Every exhibition that they have needs a new flyer, email template, new artwork, email marketing, Facebook advertising, updating the website and advertising in different magazines.
A lot of his inspiration comes from Google. “There is so much that you can research – different customers have different needs and to be able to execute it in the correct way I need to research on Google, Pinterest and other logo platforms. I don’t really have a particular artist that I look up to”.
“But if we’re talking artists, my inspiration would come from Monet. I take a lot of inspiration from the impressionists. My approach to painting is completely different to how I approach a graphic design work”.
“I’ve been a freelance graphic designer for about 8 years. Eighteen months ago my baby girl was born, so I left my job to focus on my graphic design full time and be a stay at home dad. Since then I’ve been able to grow my customer base and I’m getting some really amazing creative projects to do.“
At the moment, Steven is photographing some of his paintings to turn them into gift cards and limited edition prints to sell in Bendigo businesses. He plans to turn this into a business and create an e-commerce website to sell prints and digital collages focusing across Australia.
“I love coffee and when I go and buy coffee at different places I ask the owners if they would like to house my artwork in their café. A few have agreed, so I have some art around town – Get Naked Café in Mitchell Street, Organise My, Creative Co-op, Complete Garden and Cherish Thy, and it’s all for sale. You can also see his art on Instagram”.
