By Kaylee Beck
Jennifer Enciso is a graphic designer and small business owner creating vibrant, eye-catching merchandise. With a passion for art and design, Jennifer has developed a colorful, unique style inspired by her love of books and childhood imagination. She specializes in working with musicians and bands and brings their vision to life with merchandise that reflects their sound and style. You can find her work and store it through her website or her Instagram.
Kaylee Beck, a University of Montana Media Arts student studying graphic design, interviewed Enciso recently about their usage of social media in regard to their career. What follows is a transcript of their conversation, edited slightly for clarity and brevity.
Q: Given the competitive nature of the fan merchandise market, how do you use social media to differentiate your brand and connect with your target audience?
A: I have this motto I made that I go by “Make really cool merch”. When I see bands tour merch and I don’t think it’s really good, I tell myself what would I do to make it better. I really don’t look at others’ social media accounts. I just try to post once a day of what market is coming, new merch, and even pictures of all the inventory that I have. I connect really well with my audience because I’m also part of it. When I design stuff it’s usually because I like it, I’m not really focusing on a certain audience. When I design something it’s because I’m either really obsessed with it at the moment. I like to design stuff that I would want for myself if I saw it. Even at markets people would come up to me and say “Wow you really nailed your audience”, but in reality, I am part of my audience.
Q: What role does social media play in your product development process? Do you gather feedback from your followers to inform your design choices? Do you feel there is a difference in what you want to make/design compared to what you think will sell or do well on social media?
A: For me social media plays a huge role when making products because most of the things I make are related to pop culture or music I’m into. I try my best to be up to date on what people are listening to or even when artist go on tour. I’m heavily inspired to make better merch whenever I see an artist I like to go on tour. There are moments where I do ask my followers when I’m debating on the color of the tees or artists people want to see me design merch for so I make a poll to help me decide. When I design something it’s usually because I want to make it and I’m obsessed with the idea. There are times where I think “this would sell really good right now” but often times it doesn’t sell as much asIi would have expected. It’s always the designs that you make that you think less of or make really quick overnight that become best sellers.
Q: How do you balance the demands of running a small business with maintaining a strong social media presence?
A: Sometimes I’m not sure how I balance anything at all because I’m all over the place. I don’t have a schedule or a specific day to work on stuff for the month. I just set goals for each week, if I have a market or I need to create new designs for upcoming collections. There are moments I do get overwhelmed since I’m doing the designing and the whole production of making the products, from making the buttons to screen printing the shirts. As for social media I just do my best keeping up with trends and designing what I love the most.
Q: How has your personal brand evolved over time? What role has social media played in shaping your online identity?
A: I started my brand during the pandemic about four years ago, which surprisingly hasn’t changed much but it’s been pretty consistent so far. Also around last year I started to include other designs that don’t involve music like sonny angels and films i’ve been watching that I make merch around. So, I can say that has directed me to another field of interest.
If I were to think about how social media has shaped my online identity, it is that its helped reach my audience and even potential clients through tik tok and instagram. Posting on social media about my process and just being myself in front of the camera has allowed me to project my image of being a latina who designs cute merch,which I’m really proud of and I hope to inspire others as well with graphic design. In other words, I think social media has had a great impact on my career and my online identity, which I always tell other designers to keep posting.
Q: What are your biggest challenges in maintaining a consistent aesthetic and voice across your websites, markets, and social media?
A: I’m not sure if I have any challenges in keeping a consistent aesthetic. I end up just sticking to the colors I gravitate the most or things I love. Somehow everything ends up looking like they pair up with each other without even trying. So just go with your guts and you’ll be fine.
Q: How do you manage the pressure to constantly create new content and engage with your audience on social media?
A: There’s not too much pressure when creating content at times because I usually just make the designs whenever I want to or whatever I’m feeling at the moment. The only time I do feel pressure is when I have markets and need something new released.
For me I still find it hard to engage with the audience on social media because I have one account and I use it for my own portfolio for clients to work with but it’s also my shop which can get a little confusing at times. There are moments where I want feedback from the designers perspective to critique my designs and work, but then I want it from the consumers point on what they would to see sometimes. So im still trying to figure out that part of managing my social media presence
This Q&A is part of a series created by students in Courtney Cowgill’s Social Media and Audience Engagement course at the University of Montana School of Journalism. Students sought out people in media who are doing social media for good to offer tips and insights into the ever-evolving landscape of social media.
Montana Journalism 