Meet Cam Sherrill, ’18, a freelance graphic designer and a businessman. He is currently working toward a degree in graphic design and interactive media studies with a focus in marketing. Sherrill is also interested in cartooning and 2D and 3D animation.
Abby MacLachlan: Can you tell me what inspires your work?
Cam Sherrill: I am inspired equal parts by good marketing brand strategy and on the more fun side, animation and cartoons. My work is split some with corporate marketing to help brands develop themselves in new media, but I also work heavily on animation and illustration.
AM: Can you give an example of good marketing brand strategy?
CS: You want it to be simple and bold. You should start by defining a color palette and a logo or some patterns that all work together and stick to them. You want the brand to be easily recognized by some recurring assets. Along with that, you want to come up with a catchy tagline that can be spiced up for different events and purposes. For example, if I have the tagline for a soda company “bubbles in every sip,” I could change that seasonally or for different marketing campaigns, such as “joy in every sip” for the holidays. With all that, you should be able to build brand recognition.
AM: So, kind of like the golden arches and “I’m lovin’ it” for McDonald’s?
CS: Spot on.
AM: How did you get into this?
CS: I have always drawn and wanted to be an animator since I was a kid. I loved cartoons like “DuckTales” and the classic “Mickey” shorts. I have also always really enjoyed strategy and putting together that puzzle so it was kind of just a natural fit!
AM: I definitely see the “Ducktales” inspirations in your shop. Can you tell me more about your freelancing work?
CS: It’s a lot of networking and self-promotion. You really have to do your research to know the industry standard pricing and stay confident in negotiations. You definitely have to have a lot of passion and stamina to keep up with networking and marketing yourself.
AM: How did you get into freelancing?
CS: Well, I started my shop first and worked exclusively on that for awhile. As that became more successful, a few jobs came my way. So I decided to break into that market!
AM: Do you have any tips for people just starting out with art and/or freelancing?
CS: Practice and build confidence. Don’t undersell yourself. People will consistently understate the value in what you do, and as hard as it is, you can’t take those jobs. You have to define the caliber of work you want to do, research it, learn it and stick to it. It requires a lot of patience, but it’s a fantastic and gratifying payoff.
AM: Are you working on anything interesting now that you can tell me about?
CS: Yes! I am working on a children’s book that should be done soon. It’s a cartoon series with a fairly popular podcast group, along with consistently updating my shop with new designs (most recently the chicken nuggets collection).
