Adam Martin

Tell us who you are and what you do.

My name is Adam Martin. I’m a freelance graphic designer in Lexington, Kentucky, and owner of the Martin Design Studio, LLC. My studio specializes in print, publication design, and identity development. I also do a bit of web design as well.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, about your life? What helped prepare you to become the artist that you are today?

I am a born and bred Kentucky boy, raised in Mount Sterling, KY, around 30 miles east of Lexington on I-64. I grew up raised in the Southern Baptist faith and continue to practice that faith today. I also grew up on basketball, something not too unusual being a Kentuckian and I played in high school and considered playing in college before focusing on my more realistic dreams. Along with that I am also a newlywed (July 19th, 2008) and a passionate Kentuckian.

My preparation in becoming a designer today has mostly come from my mother and her mother. Both of them were very creative people and always into doing crafty type things. Be it painting, stitching things, weaving baskets, they were always doing something creative. I also grew up drawing, a lot. As a matter of fact, I used to be able to draw for hours at a time and even took 5 art classes in high school because I loved it so much. I then attended Eastern Kentucky University where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in art with an emphasis in graphic design. I was one of the ones lucky enough going into school knowing what I wanted to do. My original goal was wanting to design shoes for Nike but then I found out that was more industrial design, which involved a lot of math and engineering…things as an artist I hated. Fortunately I picked what I felt like was the next best thing, graphic design. Now I’m in love with it.

What advice would you give to an up and coming designer?

My advice for people on their way in this field is to just chase your dreams in this field. Whatever they may be. Do personal work, draw in sketchbooks (even though I don’t take that advice as much as I should but Lafe keeps me in check haha), do research and most of all read…a lot. I read a lot of design books, business books, websites, etc. You have to stay in tune with what is trendy in this world to be a good designer in my opinion so I’m always searching the internet and checking out design firms online. I’d also recommend networking as much as possible. Get out there and meet people, ask questions.

If people would like to contact you, how would you like to be contacted?

The best way to contact me is through my email, amartindesign [at] gmail.com. You can also go to my website for a central hub of mine at www.amartindesign.com. Best of luck to all you young designers. Work hard.