Make and Design with Carina Gardner

Looking for new business opportunities? Your Silhouette and Cricut design projects can help you bring in extra income! In this episode, Carina Gardner talks about the benefits of pursuing Silhouette and Cricut design projects, using Illustrator to create designs for multiple platforms.   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Desig...

Focused on finding your next contract? In this episode, Carina Gardner talks about the importance of planning ahead as a surface pattern designer. There are so many ways to make money with surface pattern design, and Carina will share more opportunities that you can pursue in your business. __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern De...

Are you struggling with the quality of your work? In this episode, Carina Gardner talks about the importance of getting over the idea of perfection. Learn how to embrace your journey, and to complete work to the best of your ability based on your current skills. __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.co...

Is design your hobby or your business? In this episode, Carina Gardner talks about the importance of designing every day. With a few simple tips to improve your design process, you’ll go back to your business with more drive and time management skills. __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY  ...

It’s time to work smarter, not harder! In this episode, Carina Gardner talks about the importance of designing in batches. By producing more work in a shorter amount of time, you can build a successful business without draining your energy.   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY   _________...

Stuck in a rut? In this episode, Carina Gardner shares why the design market isn’t as saturated as you think. Learn tips and tricks to jump start your design business, identify holes in the market, and get ahead of the competition in 2022. __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY   __________ A...

With all of the information available online, why should you have to pay to learn new skills? In this episode of the Make and Design podcast, Carina Gardner shares the number one thing that people hate paying for. Learn why it is important to pay for information to level up your business and learn new skills as a designer.   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You...

Want to know if your design business is on the right track? In this episode, Carina Gardner shares three ways to know if you are thinking like a designer. These tips will help you refine your design business and set you up for success in 2022.   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY   ______...

Searching for the best surface pattern design trends? In this episode, Carina Gardner discusses what surface pattern design will look like in 2022. Learn how to leverage your design skills to build a thriving surface pattern design business this year! __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY  ...

Do you ever wonder how to fit it all in with only 24 hours a day in a busy world? On this episode of Make + Design, Carina gives her tips on doing consistent, meaningful design work—especially during times of the year that are full of distractions—every single day.   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepu...

Trends are AWESOME. So how do you, as a designer, ride the wave? How do you plan a year out to be on trend by the time the product you’re designing today comes out in a year? Carina gives you all the tips on trends in today’s Make + Design.   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY   _________...

Where does freelancing fit in with launching a design career? In this episode of Make + Design, Carina breaks down all the reasons that freelance work can be a vital part of learning to design, getting experience, and learning to work with clients. Listen in for great tips on how to be successful with freelancing.  __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Beco...

Surface Pattern Design work is a hot field in the marketplace right now. So how do *you* get a career in surface pattern design started? Tune in to this episode of Make + Design to get Carina’s expert advice on where to start! As usual, Carina gives you real-world examples that help you become the best that you can. __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Bec...

Everyone loves free stuff and the internet is full of chances to get free stuff. But are the endless freebies available online really getting you what you need? On today’s episode of the Make + Design Podcast, Carina discusses the drawbacks of relying on free stuff and gives concrete examples of how investing in yourself (and an inexpensive course) will help you level up much more quickly. _______...

The name “surface pattern design” keeps coming up. Have you ever wondered how it differs from regular graphic design? In today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina breaks down the difference between the two and gives you tips on how to become the designer you’ve always wanted to become! __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer...

Lots of people “flirt” with the idea of becoming a surface pattern designer or paper designer. Fewer people commit to the idea and even fewer make it their Plan A. Where do you fit in?   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY   __________ About Carina Gardner: Carina Gardner is a fabric desig...

You can build small habits into your day to make the design process easy. On the other hand, you may have habits that also hinder you. Carina talks about some of the small habits she has that both help and hinder her in the hopes that you can also build amazing habits and get rid of the bad ones!   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pa...

Carina talks about the 5 levels you can hit as a designer. You could be at any one of these stages, but the goal is always to get to the next level! Identify where you are and where you want to be!   __________ Download Carina’s free guide: The 7 Tips Nobody Will Tell You About Becoming a Surface Pattern Designer here: http://eepurl.com/dN2RcY   __________ About Carina Gardner: Carina Gardner is a...

Carina welcomes her friend Crista Grasso on the podcast to talk about strategy, systems, and team! As designers we are always looking for ways to up level our business and Crista knows alot about taking companies from single entrepreneurs to growing and scaling.   Listen to Crista’s practical tips for building systems in your business and thinking strategically!   You can find Crista Grasso at htt...

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina talks about Imposter Syndrome. She finds that Imposter Syndrome only pops up when we compare ourselves to others. In that way, it’s not really Imposter Syndrome, it’s Comparison Syndrome. Have you ever had a moment when you look at someone else’s work and you think, “Wow. I’m not as good as them.” The feeling that gives us often makes us feel like an imp...

Carina’s sister and Etsy expert SuiKim Friedmann joins the Make and Design podcast today. The sisters laugh a lot and discuss which version of Pride and Prejudice they like the best.  They also take a deep dive into what it takes to set up an online coaching and mentoring program. This includes talking about how gratifying it is to see help people along in building their own careers. Their discuss...

On today’s episode of the Make + Design Podcast, Carina talks about three powerful design strategies that will help keep you motivated and leveling up. These are strategies that will help you get paid for your design work.    Strategy one: you need to work smart and hard. You need to be going out of your way to work smart. As you do, you will get better at design to the point that design work can...

Today on Make + Design, Carina takes a quick look at the differences between Photoshop and Illustrator and gives some of the reasons that good designers use both tools. Photoshop is super useful for everyday things like editing photos. Illustrator is the main tool for professional designers though.    The first difference that Carina goes into is the difference between pixels and vectors. In Photo...

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina welcomes master of negotiation Susie Tomenchok. With years of experience negotiating deals for some of the largest companies in the world, Susie came to the realization that negotiation goes on all around us in every facet of life. Susie tells us about one of the opening stories in her new book, “The Art of Negotiation without Manipulation,” where her ki...

On today’s episode of Make + Design, Carina talks about the progress that designers make over time. She talks about taking a somewhat embarrassing (for her!) trip down memory lane when she recently searched for herself on the internet. Over 15 years of search results, she saw a lot of progress in her design work. She had a similar experience when she taught college, seeing the huge improvement tha...