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From fashion to freelance design: Gina's Playbook journey

Meet Gina — a brand designer, art director, and Playbook user from Toulouse, France. Gina has a background in fashion design and graphic design for the cosmetics industry, and her design style reflects her bubbly personality.

“I like to work with colors,” she says. “My design style is playful, bold colors, and sometimes a cute Kawaii style, depending on the project.” 

We sat down with Gina to learn more about her journey from fashion to graphic design, and how Playbook has helped her along the way!

From fashion to graphic design

Although Gina studied fashion design, her true passion has always been graphic design, “ever since I had a laptop!” she says.

Her story highlights the importance of allowing yourself to experiment early in your design career and discover what truly lights you up. 

“I studied fashion because I liked it,” Gina explains. “But I realized the fashion world wasn’t for me.”

One of the things that attracted her to graphic design was the fact that it’s constantly evolving. As someone with a naturally curious mind, that appealed to Gina.

After pivoting to study art direction, Gina landed a job as a graphic designer in the cosmetics industry, but found that it stifled her creativity.

So she decided to go freelance and launch her studio, Hello Ginasan, in 2022.

Building a freelance business

When Gina first launched her freelance business, she worked with agencies whose clients included big names like Airbus and the French Ministry of Agriculture. 

Meanwhile, she spread the word about her work on Instagram and LinkedIn and began generating a steady stream of clients month after month. Now, she’s fully booked with dream clients in the cosmetics industry.

Gina also works with several social enterprises. “It’s great because I’ve had the chance to work with clients that have amazing projects and great values that I felt completely aligned with,” she says. “I feel lucky.”

Gina is passionate about packaging design and draws much of her inspiration from Japanese and Chinese packaging. 

“They have great packaging with bold colors and bold design, and it inspires me a lot,” she says. 

One of the artists that most inspires Gina is Japanese singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who embodies Japan’s Kawaii (cute) culture. She loves her costume design, scenography, and the graphic design on her album covers, and wants to bring the same kind of joy to the world through her own designs. 

“I want to do something really joyful, very playful, something that makes people happy,” Gina says. “That’s what inspires me the most.”

Clearly, she’s doing something right. Gina’s success as a freelance designer illustrates the importance of staying true to your design style and what lights you up, regardless of current design trends.

“When I first started, I thought I might not get clients because my style was too pronounced and minimalism was the main trend,” she says. But she stuck with it, and now clients flock to her for her unique style. 

Lessons learned from the transition

We asked Gina what the hardest part was of her transition from employment to freelancing. 

“The most difficult part was to find clients!” she says, laughing. In France, competition for graphic design work is fierce, and it pays to have a good network — something Gina lacked at the time. 

However, she quickly made new connections through social media, an aspect of her business that she enjoys spending time on. 

Through personal branding and a beautifully curated feed that showcases her best work, Gina has grown her business from scratch and never looked back.

“It’s better to be a freelancer than an employee,” she says. “You have freedom with your clients and you can talk to them directly.”

Gina’s favourite freelance design project

Gina’s favourite project since she launched her business was for a bubble tea house in Toulouse. It was a dream project: “I had a list of fields I wanted to work in, and bubble tea was number three!” she says.

She took over the branding from start to finish, incorporating design inspiration from Hong Kong but with a modern twist. “The logo is a little character with a traditional Chinese hairstyle, but with a kind of manga touch to it,” explains Gina.

Gina’s advice for aspiring graphic designers

Gina emphasizes the importance of continuous practice and working on personal projects outside of client work.

She encourages designers to express themselves authentically and not be afraid to explore their personal styles, even if that means going against the grain of current trends. 

She also recommends showcasing your work regularly on Instagram and LinkedIn. “That attracts people who want to work with you,” she explains. 

How Gina uses Playbook

Gina came across Playbook after Viviana Graphics, a designer from Italy, recommended it on YouTube. 

The timing was perfect, as Gina was looking for a storage solution to use with her clients.

Digital asset management platforms “are not usually made for designers,” she says. “The UI is not really great.”

So, she checked out Playbook, and her first thought was: “This one was made by a designer for sure, because it’s a dream. I really like the presentation and how smooth it is — it’s a perfect solution.”

Gina has been using Playbook since the beginning of 2024. Now, each of her clients has their own Playbook workspace, so she can easily share her work, get feedback, and keep track of her projects—and her clients love it. 

Some of Gina’s favorite Playbook features include the color palette feature, feedback and collaboration features, the Kanban view, and of course, the storage. She’s looking forward to trying the Playbook app, which is currently in beta testing. 

Your Playbook journey starts here

Gina’s journey from fashion to graphic design is a testament to the power of following your passion and staying true to your unique style. 

Her story highlights the importance of combining joy and fulfillment in your work while supporting it with the right tools — like Playbook, the designer-friendly platform she uses to manage and share her creative projects with ease. 

Are you ready to elevate your design process like Gina? 

Sign up for a free Playbook account today and receive 4TB of free lifetime storage. 

You’ll be joining a community of creatives transforming their workflow and bringing their visions to life with Playbook. 

Your creative journey deserves a platform that understands you — start with Playbook now!