Produced By - Designs That Rock: Infographics for the Bold and Creative | #78: Hristo Butchvarov

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

Hristo Butchvarov is a seasoned graphic designer and content creator who thrives on transforming ideas into stunning visuals. With over 15 years in the industry, he has garnered an impressive 7,500+ positive reviews from more than 4,500 clients worldwide. Whether you're a business owner seeking to amplify your brand or a content creator aiming for virality, Hristo's expertise in infographic design, personal branding, and visual storytelling can help you shine. Listen to this episode to discover Hristo’s journey across graphic design that led him to focus on infographics, find out tips and tricks on how to stand out on freelancing platforms, and uncover some fun trivia about his love for rock music. Known for his collaborative spirit and attention to detail, Hristo creates designs that not only captivate but also engage audiences effectively. Tune in to learn how he blends creativity with strategy to elevate brands and connect with people. Connect with Hristo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hristobutchvarov/ https://www.fiverr.com/rozerart  https://hristo-butchvarov.ck.page/26944597d1  Connect with Tommen: LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠⁠  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠⁠  X: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/TomasLoucky⁠⁠⁠  Podcast: Links: ⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠⁠  Website: ⁠⁠⁠https://produced-by-podcast.com/⁠⁠⁠  Support: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/ProducedByPodcast⁠⁠⁠  Produced (email newsletter): ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://produced.beehiiv.com/⁠⁠⁠ More: Trailblazed (marketing agency): ⁠⁠⁠https://trailblazed.digital/⁠⁠⁠  EpiXtory (podcasting agency): ⁠⁠⁠https://www.epixtory.digital/ Produced (LinkedIn newsletter): ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7092551882589528065⁠⁠⁠⁠  Produced By with Tommen is your weekly dose of inspiration where ambition meets creativity. Join us as we dive into the journeys of content creators, entrepreneurs, and other remarkable individuals who break barriers and redefine success. Each episode shares unique stories, challenges, and triumphs. From heartfelt struggles to incredible successes, these conversations will motivate you to push beyond your limits and chase your own dreams. Whether you're on a creative path or just love great stories, tune in and become part of a community that constantly strives to push the boundaries. Sit back, relax and enjoy. Connect with Tomas:X: https://x.com/TomasLoucky⁠⁠⁠Stan: https://stan.store/TommenLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomasloucky/⁠⁠Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisistommen/⁠⁠Unproduced:Newsletter: https://unproduced.substack.comYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@unproducednotesSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033Ddo8ibDlLYoaP7FFLIWMore:Links: https://linktr.ee/produced_by⁠⁠⁠Newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://producednewsletter.substack.com/⁠The Podcast Club: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/25420030/Tools & gear that support the show:Metricool: https://f.mtr.cool/HRJBZKRiverside: https://riverside.sjv.io/vDnDodFavikon: https://www.favikon.com?fpr=tommenRa Optics: https://ra-optics.myshopify.com/discount/TOMMEN?rfsn=8803777.591d19JamX: https://jamx.ai/podcasters-offer?ref_id=e02d48af-ef66-4e76-b804-c2e8d282a8bfSome links are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. If you find them useful, using these links helps keep the podcast running. Thank you!  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I believe that the visuals and infographics in particular are very important in today's landscape of the digital communication, because we're all very busy and we're exposed to all kinds of information and everything. And we're visual creatures. We don't want to waste time to read long paragraph of text. That's why we use bullet points. The same goes with images, with illustrations, with infographics. That's why ads, when you see some ads on the street, on a billboard, it doesn't have a lot of words in it, right? It has just visuals.

It has the hook and some text. I should mention that I don't suggest to use only infographics. I don't want to use only text. I want to use both of them because they work together. Before we dive into today's episode, please hit that subscribe button. Your support helps us grow and inspire more people on their journeys. Thank you. Hello, Hristo.

Thank you for Jinnat today and welcome to the show. To start with, can you please introduce yourself? Okay, my name is Hristo. I am a graphic designer. Actually, I'm an infographic designer because this is exactly what I do. I create infographics. I'm in graphic design since 2010, started with everything from logo, banners, book covers and so on. Back in 2012, I created my first infographic, and since then, that's mostly what I do.

I'm creating everything else, but in very small portion. Maybe 90% of my designs are infographics right now. What do you think that makes visuals essential for enhancing engagement and branding? 90% of the information transmitted to the brain is visual. We are visual creatures and that's why it's so important to use if graphics and images write because our brain is able to transmit 60,000 times faster images than text. That's why it's so powerful. And I'm always saying that my visuals are my hook because I circuit writing.

Can you tell us more about your background, such as where do you come from and how did you end up where you are? I'm from Bulgaria. Back in 2004, I came to Plovdiv. It's the second biggest city in Bulgaria. I came here to study, not graphic design. I studied sociology and after that diplomacy and social relationships. I finished both but I didged them for graphic design because back in 2009 found a passion. My passion was Photoshop and everything that I could create in it.

So I ditched everything else and started with graphic design. Why do you believe that visuals are essential in today's digital communication landscape? Of course, if that's something that you believe in. I believe that the visuals and infographics in particular are very important in today's landscape of the digital communication because we're all very busy and we're exposed to all kinds of information and everything. and we are visual creatures, we don't want to waste time to read long paragraph of text. That's why we use bullet points. The same goes with images, with illustrations, with infographics.

That's why ads, when you see some ads on the street, on the billboard, it doesn't have a lot of words in it, right? It has just visuals. It has the hook and some text. That's why it's working so good. But when I say that, I should mention that I don't suggest to use only infographics. I don't want to use only text. I want to use both of them because they work together. The most important thing in an infographic is not the visual, is the text.

Because the illustrations and icons bring the attention, but the copy keep the users they keep it engaged that's why it's so important to have it. Back in 2012 I created my first

infographic it was my infographic resume I saw the idea somewhere I think on Pinterest and it was amazing I really loved this format and then started exploring

it more and more I started to offer it as a service and suddenly it exploded. It was the right timing back in 2012. Everybody was using infographics. We were using them to generate backlinks for websites, and so on. And it was a huge niche and there was not a lot of people who were creating infographics at that time.

So my service just exploded. And this is one of the reasons I stick with it because I really enjoyed creating infographics. Right now I can create an infographic. I can create a logo. But if it took me maybe five hours to create a great logo, but it will take me an hour to create a great infographic. Are there any steps that you would recommend for someone looking to create a strong personal brand with design? I think one of the biggest mistakes I see in personal branding design is actually the quite simple one. They're not choosing the right fonts. They're not choosing the right colors.

They just pick something that they like. Maybe they pick blue or red because everybody is using it. And they use Ariel or Helvetica because they're most popular fonts. I don't think this is right. It's not working really well. When you're building your brand, you should think about your personal values. You should think about what you're trying to communicate. And remember that there is something called psychology. it's how people

understand the same goes with fonts each font have its own personality and it's really important to understand which font and which color will align with your brand

with the tone of voice that you're trying to in your experience what are some mistakes that people make when it comes to personal branding and how can people avoid them? When creating an infographic, there are a lot of elements and things that you should consider, starting from choosing the right colors, the right phones, the audience that you're trying to talk to. One of the most important parts of infographic for me is

the visual hook. Usually I have a big illustration or a person image maybe sometimes that is acting like a visual hook. You see, if graphic has to have something to bring the attention to it,

if it just text or bullet points, nobody will have instinct to look at it, but you have a nice looking image and surrounded by all other elements. That's completely different story.

Can you tell us how did you get started on freelancing platforms, whether it's Fiverr, Upwork or even something else? I started working on freelance platforms back in 2010. Actually, my first eight months, I was scrolling to freelancer.com every single day in hunting for my first projects. It was in real pain because every single day. day in the morning, in the, I was searching through the website, looking for jobs that I can apply, and it was really patient with it because nobody was replying to me. Until one day, one person from India contacted me, he wanted something really, really small, simple and stupid, and we did it for one door.

one single dollar. This was my first freelance project and yeah, it's not a huge start, but it was a start for me because after that I started exploring more and more freelance platforms, but then there was no many of them. I registered back in 2012 on Fiverr. Back in the days, there was just $5 each gig, nothing else. After that, they started adding extra gigs more option to order more gigs at one time. Today, you can have an order, I think, to up to $4,000 on a single order. And the quality of the work, the quality of the project is way better than back in the days. It was starting for five or two.

Back in the days, there was many people holding a sign with your logo. There was 50 years a guy on a lady's talk who was dancing and singing. and singing a happy birthday to a person you can choose. But today, this is a completely different story. Fiverr has nothing to do with the old days. They're a very professional platform, and I love it. Upwork the same. I registered there a little later

because all my projects from Fiverr was consuming all my time. but after that I increases my prices and because of that I was able to take some more projects. As someone as experienced as you are, what do you think that makes a successful freelancer stand out on these platforms? Something that I see very often in all freelancing platforms is that people are using their walls. Don't do that. Use your photo, your image. You are the face of your brand, not your role. Also, something that they see very often is people are not using their real names. They're using their brand names.

They're using some nicknames. It's also not looking very professional. So my two rules are use your face, use your name. And also stick to the same color and fonts that you choose to. all your social platforms, all freelancing platforms everywhere. You have to be consistent in the image. So if someone from LinkedIn sealed out Fiverer, he has to understand that this is you.

It's simple. Something I would regret not asking you. When and how did you discover the power of LinkedIn? I had a LinkedIn account for many, many years, I think maybe over 10. but I never really used it I didn't have a photo, banner or anything else I just had a registration there

and I'm a very big Chris Doe phone fan Chris Doe is amazing and I always watch his channel on YouTube and one day that guy Yasmin and they two talk about it and Yasmin was so great at what he's saying

saying that he instantly made me try it. And one tip I like very much is commenting. His commenting techniques is amazing, no doubt about it. Back in the days, I was trying to grow a Facebook account for my business. I tried several times to grow Instagram account. I even tried TikTok at some point, but nothing really works for me. because I didn't get the engagement, I didn't get any result or followers. I decided to try LinkedIn.

I logged in, I made a simple banner for myself, and then I started to comment. I'm not sure. I think I left maybe 10, 20 comments on a random post. And the same day, I got eight followers. That was huge for me because I used to get eight followers on LinkedIn for a month. It was not working for me. But it was amazing here. And so I decided to try the next day too.

And I got 14. So I decided, why shouldn't I try it? I already had some content from my tries at Instagram. And I tried. uploaded, I get some traction, and today I'm very happy with the results. I started February 2020, and eight months later, I have 8,000 followers, which is pretty decent for me. Are there any tips or advice how to grow on LinkedIn and boost your engagement? One tip that I can share that boosted my engagement is actually to engage with people.

So every time when I plan to post, I open LinkedIn, I check out my DMs, I check out all my notifications, I check out my feed, leave some comments. This takes maybe about 30 minutes. After that, I made the post and I stay at the busy. for at least an hour so I can engage with all comments and engage with some more posts from my feed. I think this is number one tip for everybody and this is the reason why I don't post more often because they just have a lot of work at my graphic design projects and I don't have these two hours every day to spend engaging, posting and so on LinkedIn. I can take 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there throughout the day, but I can't take these

two hours at one time. And that's the only reason why I'm not posting seven times per week. Are you looking to elevate your online presents? Check out Trailblazed, our digital marketing agency. Whether it's standing out on social media, craft, a stunning new website or developing impact visuals, Trailblazed has got your back. Visit Trailbased.digit.org and reach your online potentials a day. As a professional designer, how do you maintain creativity while balancing everything,

whether it is personal life, work, hobbies or even something else? When you're juggling through many things, the balance is hard. Sometimes it's really hard for me to do all my graphic design projects. to do my second business, which I won't talk here, to be on LinkedIn consistently and to take care of my daughter. All this happening all the time is really hard. And one thing I do is I plan my day. Every day I'm making a very, very simple-to-do list. I just take a pen and paper and write everything that I should do.

If I manage to do it, I cross it over and that's it. And at the end of the day, I like to tear this to-do list and that's perfect. One tip that I can give to everybody is try to get up early. I get up at 5.30 every single day, no matter if it's a holiday, no matter if it's a Sunday or Saturday, I get up every day exactly at 5.30, but I take a nap on the noon at least 30 minutes. It is totally recharging me. So how important is education in the field like Graphian Design and how do you manage to make time for it? Every day I try to learn something. I have a few notebooks around here. I have one in my backpack.

I have a few folders on my PC. I take a lot of notes. I take a lot of screenshots and ideas and this is really helping me to be creative because for me ideas strikes on very different places. Idea for a post can be when I'm under the shower, the next day it can be when I'm on a walk with my daughter. So it's important to have a system and to write this down, because Because in five minutes, you will be forgotten about it. One thing about me is that I don't watch TV at all. I don't watch news, I don't watch movies.

We have two TVs at my home, but we almost never turned it on. Very, very rare we are watching some TV series with my wife. Almost every day, we're not turning it on at all. But I'm a huge rock fan. Rock music is my style. Everything that is rock and roll is in my blood. Actually, when I started designing, I can't do it in quiet. I have to listen music.

So every day when I start working, I play. music, maybe in my earphones, if my daughter is sleeping. But I'm always listening music. I listen a wide range of music bands, but it all starts with rock and roll, heavy metal. I listen a lot of different bands. When it comes to rock and roll, I like very different bands, very different styles from Queen to Limbiscuit, to Lincoln Park, Ramstein, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Five Finger Dead Punch, and many, many more. From Motley Creole to Poison, I like all rock and roll, but lately I'm

listening a lot of Five Finger Dead Punch. Another thing is that I love going to concerts. I love going to rock concerts and every time when a rock band comes to Bulgaria, I'm there. Maybe I've watched over 50 concerts live and it's amazing experience. Are there any music bands or singers that you specifically like and why? I don't think there is a single band or singer that inspired me. maybe Axel Ross and Guns and Roses, there was one of the first bands I started when I was listening. But I love rock and roll album covers, and one of my favorite is Deep Purple's Infinite. If you can show it, it will be great. It's really, really great design because it shows the Deep Purple's,

a logo in a different way that ties it with the album title and so on. What's your opinion on AI and its impact on graphic design? Lately, everything is AI and not that I don't like it, but I don't think it will replace some of the jobs that people are afraid. Actually, yesterday I saw a post about creating an infographic. with an AI AI tool. And the result was very bad. I can beat it with no problem.

I even suggested the creator to create a battle between me and the AI. I hope he will accept it. It will be fun. But I use it. I use AI, especially for the content. When I'm creating an infographic, sometimes I need to make a research. and AI is really helpful with that.

Sometimes when I have to take some really big text, like maybe 20 or 30 pages and extract the most important parts from it, I use AI and this way it is really helpful because it can send me the most important data. And from there I can take it over and extract it even more. Also, I'm using it from very rare. rare, but I am using it when I have to find some very, very specific image. Like a few days ago, I was creating an infographic for Puyol, and the CEO of the company wanted to be a man with a beard, like me. He has to be an Indian man, and he has to be sleeping on his left side, and he's very detailed and strange suggestions. I couldn't find.

such an image. I looked through all my libraries, but I haven't found anything like that. So I tried AI. It generated the image. It wasn't perfect. I tried several times until I find a decent one. And then I made some adjustments and it was okay. And I was able to use this image in the infographic design for the people. And it was really cool because otherwise I have no option to find such an image. It's a very practical way to use AI for me. And outside of work, what helps you to unwind and relax after a busy day? They say if your hobby is your work, you're never going to work again. And that really applies in my situation because I really love design.

And even in the days when I don't have a project to work on, I'm opening Photoshop and I'm working on something. is it if it's for me or if it's for a LinkedIn post or for something else but there is no single day I can remember that I haven't opened Photoshop and to use it if we have all this that's as I say rock music I'm a big fan and books I'm reading a lot of books maybe 60 70 each year I like all kind of genres. Baby fantasy and horror are my favorite. A lot of thrillers, a wide rage. But these are my two hobbies, rock and roll music and books. Back in the days when I don't have children, I love to go to the gym. I was there five days per week for at least two hours,

but today I can't afford it myself because of lack of time. Can you share some of your goals? whether it's LinkedIn personal work or even something else my goals at this moment is to grow my audience on LinkedIn I like to expand it I like to get more leads from there I like to get more clients from there and it's happening I'm happy with the results but you know it always can be better of course as far for my freelance platforms I'm really happy with the results. I'm really happy with the outcomes from there. So nothing, nothing will change there for now. I'm planning something like a course for LinkedIn. Maybe it will go live, maybe it won't. I'm still thinking about it, still trying to gather everything together. But it's something I'm working

only in my free time because it's my home. Thank you very much, Hirston. It was a pleasure have speaking of you. I appreciate the opportunity. I will keep following and supporting you on LinkedIn and wish you all the best. Thank you. Thank you, Thomas. I want to thank you for having me here. I'm not the best speaker and I actually hate this kind of events because I'm not very good at them. But for some reason I decided to jump in this one. I'm not regretting. Not at all. thank you for having me it was fun thanks for listening

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