Sweet FA 2020 Winner: Andy Pink

Andy has helped many businesses during covid with new product curation, designing websites and promotional material,  often for free, or at very low cost to help keep them afloat. He has helped be a sounding board, coming up with new ideas to help adapt a businesses marketing to fit around new covid restrictions.

We met with Andy to see how he feels about being a Sweet FA 2020 winner and to learn a little more about him.

How does it feel to be a Sweet FA 2020 winner?

I'm still pinching myself a little bit, but feeling overwhelmingly proud to not only be named a winner, but to have even been nominated in the first instance. Thank you so much.

Why did you offer your services for free?‍

I met a business development manager at an event I was presenting at who was particularly interested in my work. At the time, the company he was working for were looking to rebrand, so he tried his best to land me the project, but unfortunately it didn't go ahead due to the pandemic. During the pandemic, he parted ways with the company and decided to set something up of his own. To help him reduce his set up costs, I offered to brand his company and design a pitch video, so he can go out to market and start winning some work. Since then, we have continued to pass work to one another and he is starting to really get his business off the ground. I love seeing these positive results my clients can achieve off the back of the brand positioning I help with.

Let's learn some more about you:

What do you do?‍

I work with an array of businesses and business owners across the world, to help them grow, build and strengthen their brand image, language and positioning. I offer services in logo design, branding, bespoke web design, UI/UX, lead generation and copywriting.   ‍

How did you become a Creative Consultant?‍

I've been freelancing since I was in University and managed to grow my client base through playing in bands in Liverpool, as well as making contacts and generating leads through networking and industry events.  ‍

How long have you been freelancing?‍

I decided to go out as a freelancer full time in August 2019, after leaving an agency job in Chester.

Why did you decide to go freelance?‍

It was always the end goal for me. I've worked for large agencies, for in-house teams and for a start-up agency and the idea of running an agency really wasn't for me. I made a promise to myself after my first year of employment that I would "take the leap" as soon as I've learnt as much as possible about both the creative and business side of freelancing. I am lucky to have worked directly with the MD or Creative Directors of the companies I've worked for, so learning these lessons was easier than anticipated. ‍

What's the best thing about freelancing?‍

For me, it's all about freedom. I can't sit still, I find staring at a screen in the same office on the same chair everyday very anti-creative. I like to explore and see as many different places as possible, whether that's a different country, city or coffee shop, I love having a constant change of environment. I definitely find this "digital nomad" lifestyle the most rewarding aspect to freelance life. ‍

What's the hardest thing about freelancing?‍

Most design agencies will be made up of designers, developers, project managers, account managers, copywriters, sales experts and directors. The hardest part of freelancing is that you personally have to own all of these roles. For me, I found this transition particularly challenging, often working 12-14 hour days, 7 days a week for my first six months full time; but when you get used to it, everything evens itself out and it becomes a lot more manageable and rewarding.  

What's one thing no one ever told you about freelancing you wished you'd known at the beginning?‍

It's all about the pipeline. Working in agencies, most work is drip fed to you as a designer month on month, when as a freelancer, you personally have to plan your 6 month pipeline of work ahead of time.

How has YJ helped you as a freelancer?‍

When I first decided to go freelance full time, I imagined that 100% of my work would be B2C (i.e. direct to clients), but after Yuno Juno was recommended to me from a friend, I discovered the amount of opportunities there were for freelancers like myself to work with design agencies on their client work. This sort of work has been my bread and butter and it's great that services like this exist.

Can you tell me about a project you're proud to have worked on?‍

Last December, I worked with an Aesthetics practice in Liverpool. They were noticing a historic quiet period over Jan/Feb, and this time wanted to tackle the problem. I worked with them directly to grow their brand and launch a 2 month Lead Generation campaign in order to generate new customers. The campaign delivered 120 unique new enquiries, and my client was really happy. We're now working together on a new brand and website for the practice.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to become a Creative Consultant?

It's all about educating yourself. I've worked many with other freelancers over the past few years and the ones that are really succeeding are the ones who spent time in agencies and working for other people to learn the industry before jumping straight in at the deep end. With education in mind, it's important to remember that we never stop learning, there's always new things we can educate ourselves on to better our offering as freelancers or run our businesses as entrepreneurs.

If a client was reading this, why should they hire you?‍

When working with my clients, I like to get a real understanding of their business, industry, pain points and goals. I don't just make things look great, but I make sure the project that we launch together has a clear path to solve problems and help businesses grow.

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Meet Andy

Andy is a multi-award winning creative consultant based in Liverpool. He has spent the past 6 years working his way through the ranks from a junior designer up to a lead designer within B2B design, marketing & PR agencies.With  experience in web design, branding, campaign creation, print, social media, google advertising & content creation, Andy has worked on both small and large projects with the likes of Raleigh, Signature Living, Muse Developments, Jamie Carragher's 23 Foundation and NHS.