Sarah Sarazen
Q What do you do?
“As a designer and art director, I design brand identities and websites that speak to a brand’s core essence while packing a punch of personality.”
I’m also a course instructor of the ilovecreatives Graphic Design Course where we teach new and seasoned designers everything you’d need to know to grow in today’s industry.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I’m a self-taught graphic designer through and through. I was lucky enough to attend Boston University where I earned my degree in Communications, but spent a lot of that time teaching myself Adobe Photoshop and craving more visually driven work. Post-college, I bootstrapped my way into freelancing as a “graphic designer,” mustering up a spec portfolio and hoping friends would let me design them a website for free. After creating my first portfolio with mostly spec work, I wanted to land a job as a jr. graphic designer or design intern, but I didn’t get any bites. I kept hammering away at the Adobe suite and taking on small design projects until my skills evolved to the place where I could feel myself getting better and the freelance work was picking up (yay!). I’m very fortunate to have made it though that period of “figuring it out” even though I never landed that full-time gig. This is when I met Puno and took the ilovecreatives Squarespace Design Course which sent me off to the races! Learning web design added a huge skill to my toolkit and made me such a better designer. I was lucky enough to meet Mindy, Creative Director at ilovecreatives Studio, through this process and began working with Studio on some amazing client projects (I had to learn Figma super quick!). The rest is history from here, as I’ve been doing the same ever since, in addition to creating the ilovecreatives Graphic Design Course with them a few years later.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
My playful and experimental approach to design keeps my work fresh and interesting which I think helps stand out. This is also a core value at ilovecreatives, we don’t really adhere to design “rules” and are more keen to experimenting and expressing our fun, enthusiastic, honest personality.
Q What are you working on right now?
We’ve got some exciting ilovecreatives Studio projects in the works (a slimy website, a photoshoot for our friends at KraveBeauty). We’re always working on design workshops and fun updates within the Graphic Design Course too. I’m also working on creative direction for an artist that my husband (a music producer) is developing. Lots of fun things!
Q What’s your style?
I would describe my style as sophisticated yet fun, slightly nostalgic, sometimes dramatic with a lot of heart and personality. I really loved working with Dedcool on their brand refresh and web design. I think we were able to communicate their low maintenance, honest, smart yet funny personality nicely. I also really loved our work with Good Weird (think 2000s cyber skater) and Finding Ferdindand (dark romantic, creative, sensual) as they both represent when we’re able to distill the core personality of a brand visually.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I feel lucky that I am mostly able to focus on what I love, which is design and art direction. I would love more projects looking for holistic creative direction and who love to experiment!
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Updating my portfolio and doing this profile - it’s been on my to-do list for over a year! It’s a great problem to have, I’ve been busy with client facing design projects so it feels nice to put them together and put a bow on it <3
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Help me create more social / fun / educational content, maybe a Youtube channel! I love making content, but often don’t have the time.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I could tell myself that I wasn’t behind at all! And no one is judging you that you didn’t go to design school! Enjoy the journey and be confident in your taste and ideas. Also that you’re never done learning, embrace the things you don’t know with curiosity instead of fear or intimidation/avoidance.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I still really want to learn more about 3D design and want to take the ilovecreatives 3D Blender Course Motion and 3D are amazing tools to have in your toolkit.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Brand identity and art direction projects that have a vision!
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Working with clients that have an inspiring vision yet have room for you to explore and experiment (and trust you wholeheartedly to do so) are the BEST! We’ve had some amazing clients at ilovecreatives Studio so I’m lucky to have experienced that first hand a few times. Keep them coming!
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Feel free to email me at sarahcsarazen@gmail.com <3
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Beca Duta, a lovely friend and fellow designer that inspires me to keep going!
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Traveling and visiting new places, exploring nature, conducting outside design research (my camera roll is stacked). I also love to DJ and make sets. When I need a quicker creative reset, I love making a moodboard for fun and playing music (17 year old tumblr girl at heart) <3
This member profile was originally published in August 2024.