How did Holly B. Design begin?

Since I was younger, I always had a passion for crafts, arts and all things creative. Every chance I had, I would take up an art or visual communication design class at school, on weekends I would resort to my trusty old paints and hot glue gun, and when they weren’t enough, a plank of wood, nails and bottle caps would do the trick. I used to watch over my nan who was a skilled scrapbooker, having the ability to turn a single page in a beautiful piece of art. I tried replicating her skills, but back then my eye for design had not fully evolved yet. Playing dress ups was also an old favourite of mine, but who ever wanted actual costumes when you could make your own up out of plastic bags?

 I never thought about one day running my own design business, even to the point in VCE when I had to select my university degree, I thought teaching was the way to go for me. After pulling a few strings once first round offers came out, I was lucky enough to land myself a spot with Swinburne University of Technology, studying a Bachelor of Design. Now this is where I wanted to be, I was in my element, studying and classwork was all exciting and not once did it ever feel like “work” to me.

Creativity is my passion and to be able to outlet that into a career soon turned into the main goal for me. However, with the lack of experience I had while I studied my degree, I knew it wasn’t quite the right time to start on my own. I did some freelancing here and there, but I knew there was always more I could be doing and pushing myself further. 

Over the last few years, I have been working hard to build my portfolio and gain experience in all areas of graphic design, print & digital marketing & social media advertising. In the last year of university, I began to push my experience and gain more projects, I worked alongside some local design studios from back home; Vardy Creatives and The View From Here, and even helped establish and reinvent local businesses, to the point where I was proud to say “Hey, I designed that!”.

But hey, I’m only 21-years-old, aren’t I too young to be running my own business?

Well, my first business I actually ran was back in 2014, when I took over the family lawn mowing business from my brother, “The Lawn Barbour”. We had the pleasure of pushing the lawn mower up and down the street to our neighbours houses to earn a bit of pocket money. When it came time for him to complete his VCE, it was my turn to take over and I never thought at the age of 15, I’d be doing my own bookkeeping and sending invoices to customers. But I guess that was my first taste of how to provide great service and customer care to my clients. 

Since then, my goals and mindset has changed, I now have more confidence in the work I do and my communication skills. I dream to one day work with or own a design company with others to collaborate with and to share ideas, inspirations and passions with. But for now, you will find me in my office at home, tucked away with my pencils, paints and creativity. I am so lucky to have such great support from my friends and family, I don’t know where I’d be without them.

So what is Holly B. Design? We are an independent design studio, specialising in graphic design, print & digital marketing, social media and brand development. We create and showcase designs and identities for businesses across Australia. We believe that all businesses can provide value to their consumers, but the way their brand approaches this is the key to everything. In such a competitive arena, your business needs to stand out from the crowd if you want to succeed.

If you are unsure of where to start? Get in touch with our team and see how we can work together to turn your ideas into a reality!