Trevor Nielsen, LLC

Freelance Product Designer

Kleo

Kleo is the free browser extension that helps you discover and create the best LinkedIn content.

Co-Founder

Giddy

*43% company wide layoff 

• Designed & launched mobile app from 0 to 1
• 500k app downloads + 50k active users in 12 months
• Reached 1,200+ reviews averaging 4.7/5.0 stars
• Created crypto wallet circulating over $50M transaction volume
• Built design system from 0 to 1 with engineering
• Contributed to library of 40+ custom illustrations

Senior Product Designer

NOCD

• Helped mobile app reach 8.6k reviews averaging 4.9/5.0 stars
• Designed tools resulting in 10% increase in therapy effectiveness
• These tools allowed members to get better up to 6 weeks faster
• Lead 10+ user interviews testing product from user feedback
• Created dashboard allowing members to view their progress
• Established a design system unifying app styles & components

Lead Product Designer

Newfold Digital

• Shipped Office 365 offering to 800k HostGator users
• Audited 200+ styles & components throughout the product
• Involved from 0 to 1 creating design system for product
• Art direct the new and improved UI refresh

Product Designer - HostGator

• Provided art direction for marketing & product team
• Supported the marketing team with all advertising assets (online ads, email marketing, print collateral)
• Worked closely with devs to design and build landing pages for marketing campaigns
• Created illustrations for the website and marketing

Senior Designer - MOJO Marketplace

Canopy, Inc.

• Played significant role in the rebrand of Canopy
• Full redesign of the company website
• Booth design + sales collateral for 70+ tradeshows
• Designed 50+ custom icons & illustrations
• Created 5 ebooks in collaboration with copywriters

Visual Designer

ICON Health and Fitness

• Technical image editing: color correction, manipulation, compositing
• Retouch, manage, coordinate, and care for all of ICON's imagery - created internally and externally
• Use of tools such as: Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, Illustrator
• Maintain distinct brand image styling for multiple world class brands including: Proform, Nordictrack, Altra, iFit, Gold's Gym, FreeMotion

Senior Photo Retoucher

• Collaborate with clients to produce print/digital content including: logo, website, flyer, poster, business card, letterhead, infographic, iconography
• Assist clients in producing branding standards and guidelines

Owner / Designer

Malouf

• Product image preparation for web, packaging and catalog
• Creative image compositing
• Digital tech on site and in studio photoshoots
• Package file resizing and preparation for print
• Content creation for web and online channels

Photo Retoucher / Graphic Designer

Aggie Idol

• Raised over $3,100 in monetary donations and over $10,000 in value as a team for charity event through donations by local sponsors and time of well-known community personalities
• Co-managed event that was recorded for having the biggest crowd ever at Utah State University for a non-school sponsored event with approximately 1,200 in attendance 
• Designed posters, flyers, banners, and ground signs to be posted & distributed throughout the community and university campus. Also designed the 12 page final event program
• Marketed event to the community through print, radio, Facebook, Youtube, and movie theater commercials

Graphic Designer / Co Founder

Part of the bottom 99% of designers. Building Kleo. Serving teams with fractional product design.

Services: www.trevornielsen.com

I’m a seasoned visual designer, naturally turned product builder. I’ve had years of experience fine tuning the craft of visual storytelling and creating compelling aesthetics that have helped brands and products reach their goals across the world.

I got laid off 1 year ago.

I'll never forget the call with my manager, it was surreal:

“We’re doing layoffs and we’re letting you go.”

Nothing can truly prepare you for that moment.
It's like jumping into an ice cold lake.

It takes your breath away.
Your heart rate goes through the roof.

I had imagined how I’d react to that news.
But to experience it first hand was unreal.

The panic.
The sense of: “I need more time.”
The immediate urgency to move quickly.

I'm relieved the 12 months since went surprisingly well.

—

Here's 9 highlights from my 1st year of self-employment:

1. Worked with 10 total clients
2. Recouped 96% of my previous 12 month income
3. Designed 20+ robust features for different clients
4. Conducted 2 intense product UX audits
5. Co-founded Kleo (we just hit 26k users, yay)
6. Created 4 design system/UI kits for startups
7. My longest standing retainer is 9 months
8. Designed and built 3 websites in Framer
9. Completed 2 branding + logo projects

I've had low moments along the way, but I can't complain.
The wins overshadow the losses.

I hope sharing my experience helps some who read these posts. 

I hesitate to share wins. Many are struggling to get a win.

But I'm inspired when others share their victories. 
I hope I can also inspire a few along the way. 

I want other designers to succeed post-layoff.
I want other designers to succeed with self-employment. 

Seeing it's possible for someone else can help you believe it's possible for yourself.

Trevor Nielsen

I can’t overstate the importance of sharing design work publicly.

But it’s not easy.

Here are 5 reasons designers don’t share their work publicly.

(And what you can do about it)

1/ Lack of client/company permission

- Ask for permission. Companies may allow sharing after the work has shipped.
- Remove sensitive info and focus on design process and outcomes.

2/ NDA (non-disclosure agreement)

- Generalize the project. Use broad terms without revealing specific details.
- Anonymize the work. Remove or alter identifying details. Use placeholders to represent sensitive elements.

3/ Unfinished work

- Share work-in-progress shots to showcase design evolution.
- Highlight pieces of the project. Focus on parts of the design that are complete or strong.

4/ Overthinking

- Give yourself a deadline to reduce time spent perfecting.
- Imperfection is okay. Sharing your journey, including imperfect parts, can be valuable.

5/ Time constraints

- Start small. Pick one detail from your work that you can publish this week.
- Prepare templates to streamline the sharing process and save time.

—

What else is stopping you from sharing your design work online?

Them: “Company pages are impossible to grow.”

Us: “Hold my beer…”

We launched a company page that flew past 10k followers in 7 weeks.

It’s called The LinkedIn Creator.

It exists to provide immense value to content creators.

Every Sunday we share (for free):

- 5 post templates
- 3 profile examples
- 1 creator backstory

Some metrics we’re excited about:

- We published 10 email newsletters
- We published 7 weeks worth of LI posts (35 total)
- 1.3M content views (in 7 weeks)
- 10.7K LinkedIn followers (in 7 weeks)
- 4.7K email subscribers (in 10 weeks)
- Helped drive 7,741 signups for Kleo
(+48.7% vs the previous period before TLC)

I created the following design assets:

- AI avatar
- Branding
- Web banners
- Landing page
- Carousel template

Why did we create The LinkedIn Creator?

- Not a personal brand; our names aren’t attached.
- A company asset, not tied to any team member
- “Owned media” that boosts company value over time
- An “always-on” content machine promoting Kleo daily
- A blue ocean strategy; no one else does this
(Just 0.59% of B2B posts are from company pages)
(Yet over 10% of leads come from company profiles)

Why a sub-brand (TLC) vs. a company page (Kleo)?

- Branded for "The LinkedIn Creator" audience
- Feels more 'personable' than just a company logo
- Becomes its own entity that funnels into Kleo
- Easier to promote Kleo without seeming too salesy
- Keeps Kleo focused on company news only

—

Most company pages take, take, take.

The LinkedIn Creator does the opposite.

We give, give, give.

Don’t miss out on these freebies.

Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/g3NYbXXJ

Growing a company page to 10k followers in 7 weeks

24 freelancing takeaways from my 1 hour call with Chris. 

(# 23 is becoming more real every day)

1. Focus on long-term freelance career sustainability
2. Freelancing offers unmatched schedule flexibility
3. Genuine engagement builds strong connections
4. Mentorship accelerates freelance career growth
5. Consider insurance and taxes when freelancing
6. Freelancing provides scalable income potential
7. Lifestyle businesses align with personal values
8. Support and collaborate with other designers
9. Leverage LinkedIn for personal brand growth
10. Effective communication secures client trust
11. Market yourself strategically as a freelancer
12. Cold outreach works best with engagement
13. Scale freelance income with new strategies
14. Simple website should showcase your work
15. Set clear boundaries for work-life balance
16. Adapt to changes in freelancing industry
17. Network beyond LinkedIn for new clients
18. Self-promotion is crucial for freelancers
19. Align your business model with lifestyle
20. Layoffs can lead to freelancing success
21. Define personal success in freelancing
22. Master both logistics and design skills
23. Entrepreneurship is the future of work
24. Learn from early freelance mistakes

Thanks again for having me on, Christopher Nguyen! 

Click here to watch the full video: https://lnkd.in/gTUHt6Zy

How I effectively juggle multiple clients every week.

(If you struggle to balance 2+ projects, read these tips)

1/ Prioritize and plan

- Create a daily task list for each client (I use TickTick)
- Block calendar time for deep work (I use Flow Club)
- I have a weekly call with each client to plan the week

2/ Communicate early and often

- Establish a cadence for regular design reviews
- Send video recordings for async reviews (I use Loom)
- If possible get embedded into their team Slack groups

3/ Stay organized

- Create a todo list during or immediately after reviews
- Take detailed notes during calls to avoid forgetting 
- Regularly clean up & annotate design files

My goal every week is to keep each client happy.

With clear priorities, communication, and organization, juggling clients becomes achievable.

Balancing multiple clients is like juggling plates: 
When one gets wobbly give it extra attention to keep it balanced. 

It's tough to get started. But once you build momentum you'll be surprised how much work you can achieve for multiple teams in a single week. 

—

How do you manage multiple clients? Any tips to add?

Let's face it, the whole "connect" idea on here is weird.

LinkedIn asks you to only connect with people you know.

But networking requires meeting new people...

So they're at odds considering this is a networking app.

Not to mention there are: 
- creeps
- scammers
- spammy sales pitches
- random invites with no context
- connection collectors who never engage

I wonder if a video recording intro would help.
It might resolve some of the issues listed above.

So I mocked up a concept for this idea.

Imagine you could require a video intro in order for someone to send you a request. 

Good idea? Bad idea? 

Personally I can't decide...

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