Sarah Drexler
Freelance Art / Creative Director / Designer / Visual Storyteller
Austin, Texas
drex.studio
instagram @drexy___spice
Q What do you do?
“I collaborate with brands, clients, and teams to help them find and define their purpose, process, visual language, and place in the world. ”
Helping them craft beautiful, meaningful and inspiring creative solutions and campaign narratives.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
Woof, it’s has been a long journey leading up to my full-time freelance era.
(To whomever is reading this sorry in advance for the novel written below.)
Where do I start...
I was incredibly fortunate to grow up in Houston, Texas surrounded by incredible art, food, music, culture and extremely supportive friends and family who have always empowered me to explore/express my creativity to the fullest. When it came time to start my creative career I didn’t want to waste any time, I was just ready to get out there and make things. While getting my BFA in graphic design from the Art Institute of Houston, I used my photography and photoshop skills working two part-time jobs photographing, photoshopping and retouching art and antiques at local frame and furniture shops; Helping them get their inventory onto 1st Dibs and designing their emails. After graduating in 2011 I interned for a letterpress/engraving shop and fell in love with paper. My first few full-time jobs were not so glamorous (working behind a curtain in the corner of an upscale events/gifts shop designing invitations for wealthy socialites and bridezillas, to then designing catalogues, mailers, kids brands, and coupons for a chain of department stores). I gave freelance a first shot when I met my now husband who swept me off of my feet in 2013. He said he saw something more in the cards for me and shared some of his clients and contacts. Then the universe finally gave us a chance to get our big break when we moved to NYC together the next year.
During my near 5 years in the greatest city on earth, I tried, did, and absorbed every experience that I possibly could. From collaborating with Emily Oberman’s team at Pentagram; discovering that product design was not my favorite with This Also; and shooting, styling, and helping to develop an in-studio content creation process with Wondersauce; to designing beauty content and creative with the in-house Birchbox team. I even resorted at one point to bartending for a friends art gallery openings under my nickname *Drexy Spice* until finally, something really clicked in my role as an art director/brand lead at THINX.—By making creative that was not only bold and beautiful but educational, de-stigmatizing, taboo-breaking, and empowering for products that were literally changing lives; I found that telling real, meaningful, and relatable stories through impactful visual narratives for people who want to make the world a better place is all I’ve wanted to do for clients and brands ever since.
My NYC era ended in 2018 and was followed by my West Coast era. —(2 years in SF seeing how the other half lived working as a Sr. AD for sustainable shoe brand, Rothys) and then of course *Entered the Pandemic era* that brought me back to TX and lead me to finally pursue freelance full-time, slow down, vote for change, and be closer to family again.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
A colleague once told me that I couldn’t fit in even if I tried, good thing I’ve never wanted too. I’ve never been afraid to express myself in fresh, fun, and unconventional ways.—For me everyday is a new m00d and a new story to tell. ✨
Professionally I am always looking for bold, clever, and creative ways to *spice* things up for my clients too.—Meeting brands and teams where they are. Inspiring them to step outside of their comfort zones, dig deeper in connecting with their audiences in more meaningful ways. Guiding them in expanding, defining, or redefining their place in the world through beautiful, authentic, and purpose driven creative solutions.
Q What are you working on right now?
Taking care of myself, dusting off a few personal projects, living/learning/loving, and searching for new collaborations. 🔮
Q What’s your style?
I’m a 90’s kid and it shows! Growing up during the AIM/Buffy Butterfly Clip Realness/Early Internet/Girl-Power Girl Band/Nickelodeon Slime era had a huge influence on my personality, personal style, and creative aesthetic.
It was just such an expressive, empowering, experimental, future positive time to spend my formative years and I think that energy and approach is embodied in all of my work and everything I do. 🙃
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I’m a true hybrid of creative direction and brand/design and it is always hard to find the perfect balance of the two worlds. I’ve spent the last few years focusing mainly on high-level creative direction and strategy for campaigns and photo/video productions (which I’ve loved every min of) but it would be nice to mix it up and find an opportunity that allows me to return back to my roots and flex my branding/traditional design side of the brain again. No particular focus industry-wise I would just love to explore more themes using art, architecture, visual storytelling, and graphic design to initiate innovative ideas with fellow disrupters and forward thinkers.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
I def need to be more diligent in local networking.
Since being back in Texas it’s been a little tough to get acclimated, and find local work/creative connections outside of my group of friends. However, there is no shortage of creative energy here so come on over y’all the water’s fine.
Currently, all of my contracts are still based on the east/west coast. (luv you too bbs!) 💗
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Can someone plz help me organize my clothes? They have buried my couch. 🙈
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
My dad passed away suddenly in the summer of 2019.
I wish I would have told myself in the years prior to snap out of it, not get so consumed by work, and realize what things matter most in life. Our people are our homes. Make time to visit home more often because they wont always be there.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Probably video editing or 3-D animation. ...On the other hand, I have always wanted to be a DJ or a Drag Queen. 💖
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
I hope to do beautiful and meaningful work.
with...
Change-makers who are doing the greater good for all people and the planet. 🌎
Cool humans fighting for good change. 🌱
on work that…
Pushes creative boundaries, breaks taboos, has wide reach, represents and touches all communities. 💪
Stays fresh and relevant but has a clear, unique, and firm voice. 📣
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
I just want to make rad work with rad folks who are passionate about making the world a more rad place to coexist in. ✌️ I feel like I’ve been really blessed to work (and have a blast) with some incredibly talented teams and individuals and I can’t wait to keep making more connections and collaborations. 💕
Q What is your rate?
My rates vary from project to project and flex based on the timeline, deliverables and my level of creative involvement. Don’t be shy honey, HMU! I love to connect first with ea. potential client/collaborator, and get to the heart of your specific creative needs to then craft our own unique process of working together.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
DM me/Email me with your name/creative needs/budget/scope/project timeline and the answer to this question:
If you were a Spice Girl what Spice would you be? (No wrong answers)
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Sheesh! Too many to count.
Anyone that is mentioned and tagged in the credits on my posts and project pages...
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Of course shout out to my bffe, husband, collaborator, cheerleader, and creative spirit animal Antonio Mondragón AKA The Hype Daddy™ of design, master of brand, and wizard of type. amondragon.com/ @afmondragonb 😘
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Reset in nature, get re-inspired by art, and stay curious.
This member profile was originally published in April 2023