Meet Brian Raudenbush

We were lucky to catch up with Brian Raudenbush recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brian, thank you so much for opening up with us about some important, but sometimes personal topics. One that really matters to us is overcoming Imposter Syndrome because we’ve seen how so many people are held back in life because of this and so we’d really appreciate hearing about how you overcame Imposter Syndrome.

For me, imposter syndrome was something that crept up on me like a thunderstorm that comes on a sunny day. When I first realized I was feeling it, I was so deep into the feelings I didn’t know how to get rid of them. Let me set the scene…I was just given the sole designer role at a startup that found me through my posts on Instagram. This role came with more responsibility than I was ever given before in my career and I was overcome with feelings that I wouldn’t be able to deliver what they expected. I had an overwhelming amount of thoughts that they would be disappointed in my skills, feel duped by the skills I do have, and wish that they chose someone who was “better” than me. At first, these feelings affected my work and it wasn’t until I reminded myself that they chose ME, not just a designer, but ME, that my work started to come together. I was really able to overcome the imposter syndrome I felt by trusting my gut and was creating my best work when I turned those voices off and just designed what felt right. Creativity is always the superhero I need and I channeled all of these self doubts into a poster as a creative outlet. I realized that this is something everyone struggles with, but especially artists when they are given big chances. Now that I’m a bit further in my career, I’m constantly reminding myself that I am being given the opportunities I am because of the pieces that I’ve put in place and the work that I’ve done to get to where I am. Of course there is just a little luck and right place, right time involved, but at the end of the day I’m responsible for what I get to work on. I’m still just at the beginning of my career so I’m sure imposter syndrome will creep up many more times, but now I’m equipped with the tools to handle it and put it to rest.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Hi readers! I’m Brian, a freelance graphic designer (hypothetically) NYC (but realistically live in NJ). I got my start as a designer during the pandemic when I started creating posters for fun and to learn more about the programs I was taught in college. I fell in love with loud, vibrant, maximalist poster design and that is what I primarily focus on to this day. I fought against having a “style” for so long because I didn’t want to box myself in creatively, but eventually I ended up accidentally falling into one based on the methods and techniques I love to use.

I’ve designed for a wide range of clients, but I find that my creative voice is best expressed when I am designing for another artist. Whether this is in music, movies, events, or even for drag queens. I cherish being able to use my skills to showcase something for someone who may not have the same skills to get their message across in a visually creative way. I find most of my inspiration from vintage advertisements, old movie posters, 80’s typography, and comic books.

Currently, I’m working on some really exciting client projects, so stay tuned for new work from me soon. I recently vended at my first market, selling prints of the posters I design! Fear not, I do have a print store where you can get your hands on your very own brian* creation. Thanks so much for reading about me and I hope you enjoyed a peek into my wacky world.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

In my journey, I think that experimentation, inspiration, and dedication were the most impactful. When I was first getting acquainted with the programs I use, what helped me the most was just playing around on them and seeing what different functions do. I was able to find techniques organically and get a better understanding of the program and all of the tools. When I’m feeling a little burnt out or in a creative rut these days I still just open Photoshop and play around with no rhyme or reason and it always helps.

Inspiration was a huge step in helping me become the designer that I am today. It takes time, but it truly pays off to exit Pinterest and do some real digging into the history of graphic design and pull references that might be a bit more obscure than the ones we are used to seeing. It was also important to me to push myself to pull inspiration from areas that aren’t design as well. This is what really got me into doing music related design because a lot of my inspiration would be coming from the music I would be hearing. What helped me when I first started was taking small parts I loved of different references and then combining them in my design to make something new.

Above all else, dedication has made the biggest impact. It doesn’t have to be about dedicating a lot of your time to design, but dedicating yourself to your goals and your art. When I trusted myself and my abilities, the difference in my work was palpable. Just trust yourself, your vision, and what you are creating and I promise it will pay off.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

Can I be real for a second? The biggest challenge I’m facing right now is what I want the next steps in my career to be. I had very clear goals over the past couple years and I’m finally reaching them. I’ve done a lot of work to set my freelance career up and I am actually getting there! However, I’ve come to a fork in the road where I want to keep my freelance momentum going, but I also want to get my first apartment and move to a new city. Unfortunately, freelance is not giving me that opportunity financially, so I’m struggling with how to achieve both. I think that this is a common point artists and freelancers face because let’s be honest, the society we live in is truly set up for the corporate 9-5. For now, I’m going to keep pursuing my freelance dreams and see where it takes me and hopefully that fork in the road can merge into one lane.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brianraudenbush.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianraudenbush/
• Other: https://brianraudenbush.bigcartel.com