Cultivating Grace Design, a business owned by Grace Bayer, provides a range of graphic design services, from full branding packages to designs for everyday business essentials.
Bayer is a junior graphic design student at Maryville University. She loves graphic design work, and she wanted to use her skills outside of school. So, she started a business that gave her extra income and an outlet to use her creativity.
To get inspiration for her designs, Bayer observes what has already been done and what has not been done yet. This gives her valuable information that she can use to help her clients stand out.
The creative process for Bayer’s work starts with learning about her clients, their businesses and what they want to achieve. She does a lot of brainstorming and researching to determine how to reach her clients’ goals. Ideas are sketched out and she gets feedback from her clients, which helps her finalize concepts. The final steps are bringing her designs to life digitally, then revising and presenting them.
Something that has been difficult and stressful for Bayer is establishing herself as an official business.
“There are so many steps and documents, and you have to make sure you keep up with your expenses and income. Dealing with taxes and making sure you do everything right is so important, but it brings a lot of stress with it,” Bayer said.
These challenges have played a role in her growth. She said that they taught her lessons about how to handle stress and what it is truly like to run a business.
Bayer explained other ways she has changed as a person and a creative because of freelancing. Being a business owner helped to improve her personal skills and communication. She uses more business language and it is easier now to express ideas to her clients.
Bayer likes working with both new businesses that want creative direction, as well as established businesses that want to improve their brand. Either way, she finds it rewarding to be a part of a client’s journey and see them succeed.
The meaningful relationships Bayer has built with her clients is an important part of her business. In the future, Bayer wants to continue developing client relationships where there is mutual respect between them.
“It is one thing to have clients, but it’s another to love the clients you work with and enjoy doing work for,” Bayer said. “My goal is to always choose to work with clients that have a heart for what they do and need creative direction and help.”
Bayer’s journey began after it became overwhelming for her to do hand lettering, Cricut work and painting all together. When she decided to do graphic design alone, she made progress toward starting a business. So, her advice is to persevere and to have a niche. In her words, “Find what makes you different and use that to be successful!”
If you want to take a look at Cultivating Grace Design and learn more about what she offers, you can go to her website.
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