Ali Rahmon is a graphic designer who fled to Romania in 2014 to escape the war in his native Syria.
He later founded his own company and focused on creating design templates for sports teams.
He received more attention through social media and was able to increase his sales.
I started my career in 2011 as a freelancer graphic designer in Syria, where I grew up. Starting in 2012, I started selling templates on GraphicRiver—a marketplace where you can sell digital templates, vectors, and Adobe add-ons—to diversify my income.
I moved to Romania in 2014 due to the ongoing war in Syria. My freelance earnings and professional portfolio were enough for the refugee visa. In Romania, I focused my freelance activities on creating templates for client branding, web design and 3D design.
A printable graphic, such as a logo or illustration, is a static visual asset. It is less attractive to buyers because they can only use it once and there is a risk that other projects will use the same graphics.
read too
After designing templates for two years, I decided to focus on sports templates as my niche. I was inspired by the importance of visual identity for US sports teams. I posted a sports template on GraphicRiver and got an overwhelming response. My Design for $15 has 1600 sales on the platform which puts me in the top 20 sellers.
I made a website and focused on sports graphics
I’ve always thought about showcasing my work in one place and my sports template sales gave me the impetus. I paid $2000 of my life savings to a professional website developer to build a custom WooCommerce website.
Die Website went online in February 2016. I sold Photoshop templates and mockups for the sports industry, such as helmets, jerseys, and tickets. Within the first month, I gradually withdrew from my long-term clients to focus on marketing my digital products.
I have Twitter-, Instagram– and Facebook-Set up accounts all linked to my website and shared demos of how people could use my templates. These posts sparked some early sales. In addition, I have Youtube influencers from the fields of design and Sport contacted who had about 50,000 subscribers. I paid them $50-$100 to promote my work in a video. This has helped me gain credibility and trust in the industry.
read too
In 2017, I was approached by the creative director of ESPN, who found me through a Google search. He asked for an individual template. ESPN paid me $2500 for the template. I put a lot of effort into the template and while the payment didn’t cover the time I put in, the credibility of having ESPN as a customer made it worth it.
After working with ESPN, used that NBA-Team Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2017/18 season one of my templates on their website to order show their new jerseys. You bought the template from my website for $60.
I advertised on my website that I worked with these big names, which helped me get other clients. Other sports teams such as the Phoenix Suns or the Los Angeles Kings ice hockey team then used my templates. I was making five times what I was making as a freelancer from my template business and it was less stressful.
Tiktok has helped me to skyrocket my business and increase my sales
I started 2020 with Tiktok to experiment to my business amidst the Pandemic to scale. I created the What If NBA Logos Were Minimalist series to show off the templates I’ve used. I converted NBA logos into minimal designs and included them in my templates to show how my redesigned logo would look on a fan t-shirt or jersey. These videos went viral and some has been viewed over four million times.
When a video went viral, I saw a 20 to 40 percent increase in my website sales over the next few days. NBA teams started engaging with this content on Tiktok. I had around 20,000 to 30,000 followers within two months of being on Tiktok.
I’ve also reused the content to grow my followers on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I now have almost 200,000 followers on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Tiktok.
This is how I earn between 10,000 and 15,000 US dollars per month
It was enough to hire a small team to diversify my product offering. We now create a lot of animated graphics to compensate for the shift of social media to video formats. My team grew from one designer to five working remotely.
Now my job consists of checking my website daily for updates, doing extensive research, analyzing market trends, and letting people know what’s new and valuable. I spend 2-4 hours on daily updates and 8-10 hours releasing new template designs.
read too
I’ve been successful because I’ve found a niche that combines my love of sports and my graphic design skills. I was able to use my personal interest to make a great product.
In all the years I’ve struggled to build this business, I’ve learned the importance of having a personal presence online, especially as a graphic designer. Investing in a professional online presence was also crucial. A well-designed website showcased my work and gave my business credibility, helping to attract customers and build trust. It is also very important to keep up with industry trends and customer needs and be ready to adjust offerings.
This article was translated from English by Klemens Handke. You can find the original here.