Navigating career:
Starting a design business
Starting a design business
You won’t have all the answers when setting up a business of your own, but at least you can read three stories from ambitious designers who made it and learn about their doubts, hardships, and wins along the way.
You won’t have all the answers when setting up a business of your own, but at least you can read three stories from ambitious designers who made it and learn about their doubts, hardships, and wins along the way.
Heavyweight Type slowly grew up from friendship and a similar vision. It was a part-time hustle for many years: we kept working on our individual graphic design projects. Still, we wanted to focus more on type design and leave the graphic part altogether or balance the two directions with an emphasis on digital fonts. The company was born when we finally believed in the potential of what we were doing and gained some self-confidence.
We don’t think we could have started the business earlier: back then, we just didn’t have the skills to do it right. With some ability to predict how things might have gone, we can now say that the products we put out aren’t entirely perfect, but we stand by them and have a mindset we won’t be ashamed of in the future. But we also realize that even if we’d been ashamed back then, the world would have remained the same. Not taking ourselves too seriously is a thing we recommend.
Our division of roles was random at first. We went through discussions over what was comfortable for each one of us and what was less so, and based on that, we realized what tasks were a better fit for both of us. Even though our co-management isn’t 100% ideal to this day, and we intend to improve many things, worries don’t come up that often, and we’re managing our finances quite well.
Heavyweight Type slowly grew up from friendship and a similar vision. It was a part-time hustle for many years: we kept working on our individual graphic design projects. Still, we wanted to focus more on type design and leave the graphic part altogether or balance the two directions with an emphasis on digital fonts. The company was born when we finally believed in the potential of what we were doing and gained some self-confidence.
We don’t think we could have started the business earlier: back then, we just didn’t have the skills to do it right. With some ability to predict how things might have gone, we can now say that the products we put out aren’t entirely perfect, but we stand by them and have a mindset we won’t be ashamed of in the future. But we also realize that even if we’d been ashamed back then, the world would have remained the same. Not taking ourselves too seriously is a thing we recommend.
Our division of roles was random at first. We went through discussions over what was comfortable for each one of us and what was less so, and based on that, we realized what tasks were a better fit for both of us. Even though our co-management isn’t 100% ideal to this day, and we intend to improve many things, worries don’t come up that often, and we’re managing our finances quite well.
Jan HorÄŤik and Filip MatejiÄŤek:
Co-owners of Heavyweight Digital Type Foundry. Despite challenges and doubts, they teamed up and switched from graphic design to their common passion: type design.
Jan HorÄŤik and Filip MatejiÄŤek:
Co-owners of Heavyweight Digital Type Foundry. Despite challenges and doubts, they teamed up and switched from graphic design to their common passion: type design.
I stumbled upon the niche of UX & Tech career coaching and education in 2017 before anyone else was really talking about it. Back then, I was overwhelmed by the massive number of inquiries on how to make a UX portfolio. Frustrated with repeating myself over and over, I created a workshop and thought that if I ran it once, I’d never have to talk about portfolios again. After the workshop, people got hired and asked me to teach them more career-related topics, and the data told me there was a large enough market for the products and services I offered. After experimenting with various ways to deliver career coaching at scale, in 2021, I started the Career Strategy Lab to create a meaningful legacy in the UX field and possibly beyond with an opportunity to scale career coaching.
I stumbled upon the niche of UX & Tech career coaching and education in 2017 before anyone else was really talking about it. Back then, I was overwhelmed by the massive number of inquiries on how to make a UX portfolio. Frustrated with repeating myself over and over, I created a workshop and thought that if I ran it once, I’d never have to talk about portfolios again. After the workshop, people got hired and asked me to teach them more career-related topics, and the data told me there was a large enough market for the products and services I offered. After experimenting with various ways to deliver career coaching at scale, in 2021, I started the Career Strategy Lab to create a meaningful legacy in the UX field and possibly beyond with an opportunity to scale career coaching.
Sarah Doody:
Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, a career strategy and coaching program for people in tech. She hoped to stop teaching people how to make UX portfolios but found a spark and started a business there.
Sarah Doody:
Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, a career strategy and coaching program for people in tech. She hoped to stop teaching people how to make UX portfolios but found a spark and started a business there.
I started Hey by myself at my home. It was an adequate step for me, as it didn’t come with heavy expenses and allowed me to see if the business would work out. My parents are entrepreneurs and own a company, too, and because I was born into this kind of family and grew up listening to business stuff, I felt like I could run a company of my own.
Back then, I faced a challenge dealing with things that weren’t related to design and were unfamiliar to me, like paperwork, and I had to learn a lot. I never took a course in business, but I figured things out by trial and error. At first, I didn’t have clients, only some friends of friends, and I had to force myself to reach clients. I contacted many places in Barcelona and sent them my portfolio, just like anyone would. Soon, I started to receive commissions from cultural institutions in Barcelona: tiny projects, but very nice ones. So, I founded the studio step by step and without big expectations.
Verònica Fuerte:
Speaker, Lecturer, and Mentor; Founder & Creative Directress of Hey studio. She started a studio right in her flat and grew it into a large and vital business.
