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The Design Diaries
Alyssa Nguyen (@atnndesign)
48 episodes
4 days ago
The Brand Designer's Podcast Diary: self-taught brand designer Alyssa Nguyen (of @atnndesign studio) shares advice and tips for fellow creatives, freelancers, and business owners along with honest experiences to help you learn from her mistakes. No gatekeeping here—Alyssa creates episodes on all topics, ranging from design projects to client management to marketing and finance with the aim of helping other creatives reach their goals.
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All content for The Design Diaries is the property of Alyssa Nguyen (@atnndesign) and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
The Brand Designer's Podcast Diary: self-taught brand designer Alyssa Nguyen (of @atnndesign studio) shares advice and tips for fellow creatives, freelancers, and business owners along with honest experiences to help you learn from her mistakes. No gatekeeping here—Alyssa creates episodes on all topics, ranging from design projects to client management to marketing and finance with the aim of helping other creatives reach their goals.
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Arts
Episodes (20/48)
The Design Diaries
Ep 39: How to Start Offering Web Design with Olive St. Studio

If you're a brand designer that wants to start offering web design but doesn't know where to start, just press play—we got you! I sat down with Olivia from Olive St. Studio, the creator of Slayin' Showit (a course I just joined) and website wizard! In this episode, we talk how to start, choosing a platform, mistakes to avoid, pricing, and more!


Check out Olivia's socials and her course!

@olivest_studio

Slayin' Showit Course

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7 months ago
47 minutes 25 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 38: How to Use Instagram to Book More Design Clients in 2025

Instagram is always changing, and it feels like as soon as we figure it out, it's been updatedagain. But fear not —I’ve got you covered! The Design Diaries is BACK — In this episode, I’m breaking down thesix key strategies you need to know to grow your brand, connect with your audience, and actually enjoy the content creation process, all based on what’s worked for me and what I’ve learned the hard way. 

From why quality matters more than consistency, to how micro-selling can help you land clients without feeling sales-y, this episode is packed with practical advice you can apply right away. Plus, I share my personal approach to using Reels, structuring your portfolio, and making sure your profile reflects the best of what you offer.

Time Stamps

  • [00:00] Podcast Returns! —Why I took a break and what’s coming this season.
  • [01:00] The Ever-Changing Instagram Game – Why your strategy needs to evolve.
  • [02:00] Quality > Consistency – How to balance posting frequency and value.
  • [06:00] Show, Don’t Just Tell– Why portfolio work matters more than ever.
  • [09:00] Reels Strategy – Picking the right style for your personality & audience.
  • [14:00] Repetition is Key – Why posting about your offers once isn’t enough.
  • [18:00] Micro-Selling 101 – How to sell without being pushy.
  • [24:00] Your Profile is Your Portfolio – Making your feed work for you.
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9 months ago
24 minutes 47 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 37: 3 Ways I Started Booking Clients Again

Brand designer Alyssa Nguyen shares 3 strategies for booking clients after a slow period in your business that helped her go from slow quarters to booked out 2 months in advance.

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1 year ago
16 minutes 30 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 36: Business Insurance for Designers

Brand design studio owner & designer Alyssa Nguyen shares why professional liability insurance is essential for creatives and some tips on how to get it and what to look for.

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1 year ago
13 minutes 46 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 35: How to Consistently Grow Your Business (Without Burnout)

Brand designer Alyssa Nguyen talks 3 key things to consider when approaching growth strategies for any part of your design or creative business. These tips will allow you to make actionable steps towards building a sustainable growth plan that won't overwhelm you.

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1 year ago
17 minutes 44 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 34: Avoiding Legal Issues & Hiring a Lawyer with Guest Attorney Ivy McNeill

Guest speaker and Business & IP Lawyer Ivy McNeill joins us to discuss legal strategies for assessing legal risk and avoiding legal issues. We discuss questions to ask your clients to minimize your chances of trouble and questions to ask a lawyer when considering hiring representation as a brand designer. This episode will help you understand what a designer-attorney relationship can do for you and how to take the first steps with forming one.


You can sign up for the FREE questionnaires that Ivy has provided us by opt-ing in to our mailing lists here!

You'll get:

  • The Legal Checklist for Brand Designers: 8 Key Questions to Ask Your Clients
  • Lawyer Up: The Brand Designer's Guide to Hiring an Attorney

These resources are only free and available to our listeners for a limited time, so sign up now before it's over!


Make sure to follow @legallyivy on Instagram and our studio profile @atnndesign for updates on our upcoming workshop: The (Must-Have) Legal Workshop for Creatives


Check out more of Ivy below:

  • Follow her Instagram: @legallyivy
  • Work with Her: Canary & Hedge Website
  • Listen: Heistish Podcast


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2 years ago
28 minutes 55 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 33: Design Portfolio Tips (What to Include)

What types of projects should I put in my portfolio? How many? What do I put on my about page? What do I put in the case studies? I'll answer all of these questions and more to help you build the best graphic design portfolio possible.

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2 years ago
14 minutes 53 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 32: Red Flags in Clients, Coaches & Contractors

Figuring out if a client will be hard to work wit, if a contractor will be reliable, and if a coach will be worth it is hard! Here are 3 red flags that I look out for in each to maximize my chances of a good match.

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2 years ago
20 minutes 17 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 31: How I Found my Design Style

Let's talk about finding a design style! In this episode, I break down the difference between a design style and a design aesthetic and then share my journey with finding my own. I'll tell you all about my strategies for figuring out your signature and give you 3 tips to start.

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2 years ago
18 minutes 25 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 30: Finding Community & Fighting Loneliness

Let's talk about how lonely it is to be a self-employed creative...and then let me give some tips for finding community when you work by yourself! It's so important to take the time to connect with people in our industry, but it can be hard to figure out when, where, and how to do it. My best tips are in this episode!

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2 years ago
21 minutes 35 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 29: The End-of-Year Checklist for Creatives

"What am I missing???"
I know it's stressful leaving for the holidays not knowing if you've done *everything* you were supposed to, so here's a checklist of things I recommend doing at the end of the year to help you prep for the new year! In this episode, I'm talking accounting, improvement, planning, marketing, and more, so give it a listen and let me know what you think!

This is the last episode of season 2, so leave us a review and DM us on Instagram to let us know what you're thinking of the podcast so far!

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2 years ago
22 minutes 37 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 28: My Annual Budget as a Creative

I spent HOW MUCH?? I spent almost 40k this year, and in this episode, I break down all the categories for my expenses and tell you exactly how much I spent and on what!

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2 years ago
21 minutes 16 seconds

The Design Diaries
Diary Entry: My 2023 Business Goals

It's a little early, but I'm sharing some of the goals that I have for the new year!

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2 years ago
18 minutes 8 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 27: TikTok for Creatives

In this episode, I'm giving you my top 5 tips for optimizing your content for TikTok because YES it's completely different from Instagram.

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2 years ago
15 minutes 20 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 26: Avoiding Burnout (Especially During Q4)

In this episode, I'm sharing my best 3 tips for avoiding burnout to plan your year more intuitively and give yourself a break.

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2 years ago
21 minutes 21 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 25: Budgeting 101 - Self Employed Edition

I'm covering my tips for figuring out how to budget yourself as a self-employed freelancer or creative! I discuss tracking expenses and income and figuring out how to pay yourself!

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2 years ago
19 minutes 46 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 24: Courses & Coaching: Are They Worth It & How to Pick the Right One for You

In this episode, I cover how to decide if a course is going to be worth your time and money and how to go about deciding if one is right for you!

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3 years ago
22 minutes 21 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 23: Dear Diary... (Declining Work with Family, Feeling Unprepared for Business, and Work-Life Balance)

In this episode, I asked you, my listeners, to submit some struggles that you need help with for this new advice column-style episode "Dear Diary." I'm giving advice to 3 different submitted situations: saying no to working with friends and family; holding yourself back from starting a business; and struggling to balance work and life as a freelancer without a formal schedule.

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3 years ago
33 minutes 45 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 22: Contract Must-Haves for Creatives

I'm listing the top 5 sections that I always look for in a contract that I highly recommend you have in yours!

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3 years ago
18 minutes 2 seconds

The Design Diaries
Ep 21: Legal Mistakes that Freelancers Make!

I'm talking through 4 major legal mistakes I've made in my business and giving you the tips and honesty to help you avoid making the same ones!

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3 years ago
20 minutes 6 seconds

The Design Diaries
The Brand Designer's Podcast Diary: self-taught brand designer Alyssa Nguyen (of @atnndesign studio) shares advice and tips for fellow creatives, freelancers, and business owners along with honest experiences to help you learn from her mistakes. No gatekeeping here—Alyssa creates episodes on all topics, ranging from design projects to client management to marketing and finance with the aim of helping other creatives reach their goals.