Manu's Creative Journey: From Office Work to Graphic Design Enthusiast

Today, I'm thrilled to spotlight Manu, who’s creative journey is a testament to the transformative power of following your instincts. From his early fascination with Photoshop to earning 10 certificates on BYOL, Manu has continuously found ways to pursue his love for design. 

It’s inspiring to see how he has continued to develop his skills and confidence. I hope you enjoy learning about his journey and future plans as much as I did! 

Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

Hi! I'm Manu, I was born and raised in a small town in Switzerland and I've been a fan of good design for as long as I can remember. Way back when I was a kid, I got my hands on a very early version of Photoshop on our family computer. Being able to entirely change the look of a photo immediately fascinated me, and I started digging for as many tutorials as I could find online. Mind you, we're talking early 2000s here, a time before YouTube & social media, which didn't make finding good instructions the easiest task - especially coupled with a sluggish dial-up internet connection. While the things I was creating probably looked terrible (and mostly involved putting our family dog into all sorts of ridiculous scenarios), for the first time I found a hobby that fully made me lose track of time and gave me the feeling that I found something special. 

This suspicion was confirmed a few years later when I was asked to create an invitation for the annual Christmas dinner for the company I worked at. Every year's apprentice had to do it and it was always a task my predecessors dreaded, and that definitely showed: there were stretched-out clipart images of pixelated Christmas trees, very "interesting" color choices, and fonts that made Papyrus look like an okay pick. I knew I had to use my rudimentary skills to make up for all those crimes against design and I started working on it in Photoshop every day after work. The reactions I got from my coworkers when the flyers finally got sent out were beyond heartwarming and I still look back at this fondly.

Tell us about your career path.

When I was 15, I started working at a medium-sized company that produced cladding systems for medical and railway industries. Most of the work consisted of inputting various numbers into a gray interface and archiving documents into folders. To say that I hated it would be the understatement of a century, and the only good memory I have from the 3 years I trained there is the above-mentioned story with the Christmas flyers. After finishing my apprenticeship, I did my military service (mandatory for men in Switzerland), which after the initial tough soldier training consisted of even more boring office work. When I was done with that, I didn't really know where to go from there - all I knew was that I wanted to get as far away as possible from boring office environments. I completely changed directions and started working at a small mechanical workshop. I traded sitting at a computer the whole day for standing in front of CNC turning machines, and I got to see how a small business operates. Most importantly, at the end of the day, I could finally look at the actual things I had made. After some bad decisions changed the company's situation, I took the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream: traveling. Unfortunately, that came to a halt with the pandemic, and then got even more difficult after adopting an absolutely lovely but very difficult dog - so now I'm exploring new opportunities!

How did you come to BYOL?

In 2019, I came across BYOL’s Adobe Illustrator Essentials course. I was immediately drawn in by Dan's upbeat, light-hearted, and engaging teaching style. Dan breaks down seemingly difficult tasks into easy-to-follow steps and his fun assignments strengthen the skills you've just acquired. For the first time in my life, I was actually looking forward to homework (sorry, "class projects")! It was a no-brainer to sign up for BYOL.

What role does BYOL play in your life?

The students & teachers here at BYOL have helped me break out of my shell and I've gotten more comfortable sharing my designs and feedback with others. I love learning from other students and helping them out as best as I can. I'm trying to answer questions, give helpful feedback, and make visual guides that people can download when they need them. The community has become an important part of my life and you could say I've become somewhat of a BYOL superfan over the years! :)

What is your favorite BYOL class? Why do you like this BYOL class?

There might be a bit of a recency bias, but I am thoroughly enjoying Dan's new revamp of the Illustrator Advanced course. I've refreshed some old, forgotten skills and learned a ton of new ones. The projects are so much fun and really let me tap into my creativity. A close follow-up would be the Photoshop Essentials course which made me remember how much I used to love messing around in Photoshop when I was a kid.

What advice would you give to someone looking to grow their design skills?

One of the best pieces of advice I've come across is: Go within and ask yourself, what do I genuinely want to design, what would I like to see created? Nothing has helped me develop my skills more than honestly answering those questions and then starting from there. Whatever you create that way is more authentic and true to yourself, and you'll be enjoying the process a lot more.

What is next for you? Do you have any future aspirations related to design?

I don't have very precise plans for the future but it would make me really happy to eventually use all the skills I'm learning here professionally. As far as BYOL goes, I'm currently working on my 10th certificate and I plan to earn all of them in the near future. I would love to see the BYOL community grow and help more people develop their skills and passion for design along the way.

Anything else you would like to share that we should have asked you?

I'd like to give a big shoutout to all the people I've interacted with here at BYOL, most of all to Pedro and Kotryna, with whom I've had long discussions and fascinating conversations - your support and reassurance are invaluable! A special thanks goes to John Carney for his incredible support and feedback over the years, I don't know if I would have continued without his wonderful words of encouragement! And a big hug to all the other team members who keep making BYOL a very special place: Mary, Stephen, Victoria, Stevan, David, Emma, Astrid, Tayla, and of course, Dan - thank you for everything you do!

Thank you for being part of the BYOL Community, Manu!