It took me years to get here, and this portfolio I've been working on and off for over the past year and some change.

Taking the leap into music as management, A&R and creative director really showed me that I HATE having to trust other people or put all my eggs in one basket like you would do developing an artist. It would be different if I was at a label where you can treat artists like content but when you tie yourself to one or two artists it really fucks with you. I say this coming from a freelance designer who would only have to rely on myself and knowing my own work philosophies and ethic. When I worked with artists a lot of red flags pop up thet you ignore because the product is good. I don't regret doing it because I am very proud of the shit I worked on and the relationships it created whether real life or work relationships.

Anyways my point is, I didn't get to this point of knowing that what and where I wanted to work in and on until a few years ago after a few disappointments in music. A good friend of mine and fellow designer was in the same position and was tired of the things he was working on and I saw him transition into the things he loved. I started to ask him questions of how he got there mentality and he just asked me the simple question, "what is your real passion that you would love to be working on?"...and it was baseball. Anyone that knows me, knows that is my biggest passion other than design. I realized can take all my love for design, business, marketing etc that I learned as a freelancer and in music into sports design. So I started to scheme and look at my past work to see how I wanted to present myself. Did a lot of research of other peoples portfolios and did a deep dive into the world of sports design. Found out who the big names were and found the communities, and thats how I started to formulate my plan.

It sounds like a simple question to ask yourself but honestly how often do we ask ourselves that when we are busy just trying to have a career in design. There's not reason why we all can't do both until that passion is making us more money that where we currently are. Keep at it and keep it simple. Ask yourself does your portfolio show people that DON'T know you exactly who you are and what you want to offer as a creative?


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IG @erichrigonan