Hello, my name is Matt Freed. I grew up in Indiana, surrounded by corn and soybean fields. In Arizona now, one might say I’ve gone from corn to cactus. Regardless of location, my passion for design and art remains constant.

I used to watch my mom sitting at her wooden desk in the warm summers. With the windows open, and a slight breeze, she would dip her pen into India ink, and I would hear the sharp metal tip scratch against the rough paper.

Over and over, dip and scratch, dip and scratch, for hours until the dark lines formed recognizable shapes. Later after the ink dried, she would go back with loose watercolor strokes to add depth and life to her work. She would frame her art and hang it on our walls.

Those memories are vivid to me, and I knew I wanted to be an artist.

>>> Keep scrolling to read more of my story.

Watercolor painting of a small tree with black trunk and branches, decorated with purple and green splashes, framed with a dark purple border.

By fifth grade I was well on my way to becoming that artist ;-)

A pointillist-style drawing of a teapot and two chess pieces, with a small table in between, on a flat surface.

In eighth grade my art teacher, Mr. Rasp, encouraged me to submit this stippling work to a local art contest and I won. As the winner, I got to show my artwork on a local television show and was interviewed. This event changed how I thought about art – art could open doors.

Let’s skip high school – does anyone make good decisions in high school?

I was ready to prove myself when I got to college. I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer and needed to pass several art foundations courses to be accepted into the graphic design program.

Abstract black and white painting with bold brushstrokes and splatters.
Black and white geometric pattern featuring concentric squares and rectangular shapes.
Black, white, and gray painting of a wolf's skull and face within a circular frame
Close-up of a black-and-white abstract artwork depicting a person's face with closed eyes and flowing hair, rendered in shades of black, gray, and white.

I enjoyed the classes. Art history, design theory, and painting were all amazing, but my favorite was drawing. I loved the control of a pencil to get fine details and a large tonal range.

Drawing of a man lying on the hood of a Chevrolet truck in an open field, with a rural landscape in the background.
Black and white pencil sketch of a young man wearing a backward baseball cap, with facial features and shading detail.
A black and white artistic portrait of a woman with her hands on her forehead, looking directly at the camera with intense eyes.
A pencil sketch of a cow's skull on paper, with some unfinished outlines and shading.

 

I left college before I got into the graphic design program, and I went seven years without creating art.

I was on the path to becoming a high school history teacher. Then in 2001, the opportunity to design presented itself.

A small technical college was hiring a graphic designer and I was able to get an interview. Panicked, I had about a week to create a portfolio of work from scratch. I went to that interview with a printed portfolio of all new work designed in PowerPoint. To my surprise, I got the job. I found out later that it was a sympathy interview; they had already hired someone for the job, but after seeing my work the hired me, instead. I spent the first two weeks working with Adobe textbooks in my lap learning software I had never opened.

My goal of being a creator began.

The Early Days

Before I was refining brand strategies and leading creative teams, I was just a new designer figuring things out—one published piece at a time. These first ads, created more than 20 years ago, were my crash course in kerning, hierarchy, image selection, and sometimes… humility. Looking back, they’re equal parts cringe-worthy and endearing—a reminder of where I started, how far I’ve come, and that every designer’s journey is built on lessons learned the hard way.

My very first ad to ever see the light of day—over 20 years ago. Let’s just say… it had issues. Kerning? Off. Hierarchy? What hierarchy? Fonts and image choice? Questionable at best.

This was my first published piece at Rio Salado College. I still remember the uphill battle to get approval for that close-up shot of the woman—breaking free from the standard “smiling student” template.

A split spread in a sports edition publication. The layout is clean, the image is strong, and it ties nicely to the theme. There is still work that needs to be done with typography - and the copy… let’s just say less is more.

I honestly don’t know how or why this one happened. Sure, it grabs your attention, but beyond that? The reflection on the ball is nice, but the concept—if there was one—is lost on me now. What was I thinking?

This was another early batch of magazine ads. The consistency across them was a step in the right direction, but there were still some big misses—image selection, color choices, typography, and overall composition all needed work. On the bright side, the logo was clear… so there’s that. Still plenty of room to grow.

Here’s where things started to turn a corner. My love for typography began to show in these early pieces. This was a large brochure layout for some of our key program areas, and I think the clean design and type still hold up— even after 20 years.