Meet Kilian McMann | Illustrator & Graphic Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kilian McMann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kilian, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I decided to start my own business, I hoped to find creative fulfilment that I wasn’t getting out of my day job at a local print shop. When I got burned out after working there for a couple years right out of college, I decided to quit without any other jobs lined up. I had one freelance client at the time, but it was by no means anything I could afford to live on, so I was hard pressed to make this freelance thing work.

I thought back to my favorite projects I had worked on in college, and a beer label design stood out as something I could see myself doing more of. The craft beer industry was booming where I was living, so it seemed like a viable plan to build my business around design for breweries, so that’s what I did.

I made a couple self initiated beer label projects, got a ticket to a local craft beer conference, and networked my ass off. That landed me my first few real beer label designs, and the rest is history!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I work in a lot of different styles, usually described as some combination of the following words: wild, goofy, colorful, detailed, badass, metal. I love getting into the nitty gritty to create stylized realism for something like a gig poster, then pivoting to some cute, fun cartoony designs for a punny beer label. Lately I’ve been using some limited color palettes, as much of my recent work is for screen printing, and I’ve embraced that as part of my style.

I’m usually most proud of whatever I’m working on at the moment. Right now I’m really digging a personal piece that I have yet to print, “Harpy”, featuring a mythical eagle with ram horns. It feels like a creature pulled from some lost mythology, and that’s the kind of stuff that gets me really excited.

Getting to where I’m at today professionally took a lot of hard work and dedication. I’m always striving to become a better artist, but it’s the business side of things that I’ve found to be the hardest part to navigate. I struggle with undercharging for my work and have a hard time turning down projects with low budgets, which leads to frustration and stress halfway through the job. Recently though, I’ve upped my rates and haven’t gotten as much pushback as I expected, so that’s been a confidence booster.

Some lessons I’ve learned are charge what you’re worth, save for taxes, and make moves to do the kind of work that you’re passionate about. If you have a niche that you want to work in, talk to people in that industry and wiggle your way into the market. If you get stuck, create a fake project and put it out there!

I want the world to know that I just want to make cool shit for cool people.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Sacramento, CA, so all these places are in and around the city.

Breakfast & Coffee Shops:
Moonbelly Bakery – This tiny bakery is only open on weekends, but they have really great baked goods both savory and sweet!
Old Soul at the Weatherstone – This coffee shop has great coffee, beer, and vibes. It’s one of my go-to places to meet with other designers, clients, and get some work done.
There And Back Again Café – A Tolkien themed coffee shop, need I say more?

Lunch & Dinner:
BAWK! – Sweet fried chicken restaurant, and my friend did their branding!
Mendocino Farms – Delicious sandwiches
Localis – Hip and fancy restaurant
Zocalos – Nice Mexican food, great mole sauce
Slim and Huskies – Cool pizza joint with dipping sauces/drizzles

Breweries & Taprooms:
Oak Park Brewing, Super Owl Brewing, High Water Brewing, Porchlight Brewing, Bike Dog Brewing, Lefty’s, Sacyard, Urban Roots Brewing, Slice Brewing, Drake’s The Barn

Stores:
Capital Books, Downtown Sacramento – An independent bookstore owned by the same people that run There And Back Again Café, they have a great selection of books and a rad game dungeon downstairs with all sorts of nerdy stuff.
Evangeline’s Costume Emporium – Cool costume shop in Old Sacramento
Stage 9 – Fun shop with all sorts of movie and pop culture memorabilia

Climbing Gyms:
The Boulder Field – great bouldering gym, big and clean, and they have a coffee/beer bar inside!
Pipeworks – great for sport climbing and bouldering both, plus they have a brewery across the parking lot!

Disc Golf Courses:
Shady Oaks and Rocklin are some of my favorites, but there are a ton of great courses in the area.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Oh man, where to start? Well, first and foremost, I have to shoutout my amazing wife who has helped support me both emotionally and financially while I found (and continue to find) my footing as a new business owner. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her.

Next, Ryan Wheaton of Craft Brew Creative has been a huge inspiration and real friend to me since the very beginning. He’s the reason that I even knew you could build a business around designing for the craft beer industry as a freelancer, and he’s been incredibly helpful in sharing knowledge and resources that have saved me a lot of time and headaches.

I’d also like to shout out TheFutur, Aaron Draplin, Feng Zhu, Brian Allen, and Will Paterson, whose YouTube videos were instrumental in my development as an artist and business owner.

Finally, my family has always supported me to follow whatever path I felt called towards. A big thank you to them, my friends, and all my clients over the years.

Website: https://www.greatravendesign.co

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greatravendesignco/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kilianmcmann/