Happy new year! <3
Reflections on the past, plans for the future, + advice and inspiration to guide you through your own journey.
Happy new year! I’m grateful to have you here in this little Happy Hadley House, and I’m wishing you the best of things in 2025.
I quite enjoy hearing people’s end of the year reflections and goals, but I know for some it’s like, “okay, we get it—you’re reflecting!” So! I thought I’d include a few things in this post in hopes that you may discover something new…
my yearly reflection & goals for 2025
favorite reads of 2024
tools I used in 2024
favorite resources of 2024
& more!
A reflection on 2024
2024 was one of my most stressful, but also most hopeful, years. At its start, I was designing here and there, but I was mostly working at Reckless Records, trying not to spend my paycheck buying original pressings of New Order, Pylon, Sonic Youth, etc.—there were so many goodies!
Now I’m designing full time, with not only more knowledge about editorial design and typesetting, but also administrative tasks, project management, taxes, bookkeeping, contracts, websites, and more.
2024 was the first year that I actually reflected on, and here are some noteworthy things that happened and that I’m proud of. I…
went to my first AWP in Kansas City and met lots of lovely people
attended The Designer Boss online conference
went to Brooklyn Book Fest and met lots of lovely people there too
made and revised (many times!) an invoice, contract, email templates (no AI here—all me and my big brain thinking up these emails), project overview, client forms, a price list, client portals, and a welcome packet
completely revised my website!
synthesized a schedule that works for me
devoted 1 month to taking as many Domestika courses as I could and 1 month to LinkedIn Learning courses (I’m thrifty with my free trials)
started this newsletter (-;
made my first business cards, then completely revised them
realized that true “networking” is no different than making friends and building community
volunteered at the Design Museum of Chicago to help with an exhibition installation
guest lectured at NYU for two design courses about business cards and representing yourself professionally
and more!
A look at 2025
Though I’m quite happy with my year, there was a plethora of “to-dos” still on my list, and I devoted this past Sunday—though I wish I had more than a day to do this—to creating big goals, breaking them down into small tasks, and assigning them dates on my calendar.
Here are some of those goals. We’ll see how things go once the year starts rolling, but I’m hoping to complete most, if not all, of them.
Take more notes on the educational books I read & review those notes
Improve my knowledge and skillset in editorial design and typesetting by taking more courses
Form an LLC and learn more about legalities and accounting
Streamline administrative and project management tasks
Get better at marketing myself
Improve my knowledge on licensing and copyright to create passive income / products
Create a print magazine with Alex
Favorite reads of 2024
Literary magazines
Blue Earth Review Issue 25 Fall 2020
Educational / informative
On Book Design by Richard Hendel (Yale University Press, 1998)
Book Design Made Simple by Glenna Collett & Fiona Raven (12 Pines Press, 2017)
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines - 16th edition (MIT Press, 2021)
Fiction
I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (Transit Books, 2022)
What Kingdom by Fine Gråbøl (Archipelago, 2024)
Through the Night Like a Snake - multiple authors (Two Lines Press, 2024)
Tools I used in 2024 & my thoughts on them
Notion (10/10): my friend Asha put me onto this project management tool (thank you, Asha!), and it is hands down the best thing I’ve ever used. My thoughts often feel like a spiderweb, everything spiraling and tangling, but Notion is like an extension of my brain in the way that it mimics how I think but organizes it in the most seamless way imaginable. (I’m only using the free version, and it works wonders. I use it for everything!)
WordPress + Elementor plugin (8/10): I switched from Wix and rebuilt my website using Elementor. It has a bit of a learning curve, as most web builders do, but there’s no coding necessary as everything is drag-and-drop. It costs much less than I was paying for Wix, and I’m pretty content with it for what I use it for. I have been thinking about creating a Notion website or using Figma, but I’ll likely stay with Elementor for a while.
Calendly (5/10): I had to pay for this because the free version wouldn’t do what I needed, and most people would still just email me instead of using my calendar link to book an appointment, so I thought what’s the use? I’m interested in looking into the free plans on TidyCal and Cal.com as I think they have better offers (also—Notion appears to be making some developments with their calendar’s Share Availability option, so I may just be able to use that!).
Toggl (9/10): There’s really nothing wrong with Toggl, but I forget to use it on half of my projects. It allows me to see how much time I’m spending on different tasks so that my project rates can pay me a livable wage (tracking my time made me realize I charged myself less than $10/hour for a project last year—no more!!). But! I just downloaded one of Matthias Frank’s templates that allows me to track my time through Notion, so I think I may start using this instead in hopes that I’ll actually remember to track my time.
BTW: this is not a paid partnership with Notion, but it probably should be.
Favorite resources of 2024
Events & communities
AIGA Chicago: design events in Chicago
Chicago Graphic Design Club: Chicago graphic design community sharing events, work, advice, resources, etc.
Freelancers Union: all things freelancing—blog, events, legal contract templates, resources, & more
LAIDUG: InDesign community that shares resources and events
Pilsen Community Books: local Chicago bookstore that hosts fun events
Editorial design & ebooks
Book Design Made Simple: blog and resources on book design, typesetting, InDesign, and publishing
Laura Brady: blog about accessible ebooks
PRINT Mag: all things print design!
Magazine catalogs (for inspiration…& shopping!)
Business
Some advice from me 2 u
Devour all the resources you can get your hands on
Find blogs, podcasts, software/tools, communities, etc. that resonate with you. Compile them into a “Resource” list, devote 15 mins a day to reading one post, scrolling through the community Discord, whatever it may be. Since I set aside an hour for learning, I always have 4 resources that I look through every morning.
Keep learning!
Reach out to people and ask them questions. Experiment with new ideas. Sign up for free trials on Domestika, Skillshare, LinkedIn. Read different kinds of books. Learn about your clients and yourself.
Try not to get overwhelmed
Living in a period of information overload means it can be paralyzing to decide which pieces of information are worth looking at. I struggled with this a lot when I first started compiling resources. I felt more in control when I picked resources where I saw an end in sight (knowing how many blog posts there are to read, signing up for free trials because they’re cheap and force me to complete as much as I can in a month, etc.), or creating an artificial end through time blocking or something else that’s numerical and tangible (checking a Discord channel once a week for 10 minutes, for example).
Learn how to network
I’m quite introverted, so networking doesn’t come naturally to me, but after forcing myself to talk to people (even though I know I was pretty awkward in some conversations), it became a bit easier. As time went on, I realized that the people I make the best relationships with are the ones that I have the most natural conversations with, like I’m just talking to a friend.
Figure out where your people (clients and/or fellow designers) hang out, what memberships they’re part of, what events they go to, what blogs they read, etc. → and do the same thing!
Go to the conferences, events, festivals, readings, etc. that they’re going to. Read the same books (or, read their books). Be a part of the same communities. You’ll start to realize how small the world is and how many similarities you start to share.
psst! Have a piece of advice for me too? I have quite the list of goals this year and am always eager to hear others’ advice and experiences. You can reply to this email or click on the buttons below to share something with me.
Inspiration 4 u!
3 Steps to Get You on Track by Justine Clay (Freelancer’s Union, March 2024): Justine walks you through identifying where you are and where you want to be, asking reflective questions, and how to map out quarterly goals.
IG: @iidkkkkkkkkk posted these questions to ask yourself on their story. I thought they were useful for a yearly reflection and wanted to include them here:
Remember why you started doing what you love
How did it make you feel?
How does it feel now?
Is it the same?
Is it different?
Has it changed?
Do you love doing different things now?
What do you love?
Who do you make things for?
Why do you make things?
Is it for you?
Is it for others to see?
Do you like to share it?
Is it hard to share?
What does sharing feel like?
And if you’re curious about my own reflective process, it went something like this…
Looked through my calendar → wrote down every noteworthy thing I did for each month of 2024
Wrote down my goals for 2025 → distilled and combined them to create 4-5 overarching goals
Looked through my to-do list → moved all to-do items under the respective goal it corresponded to → added anything else that I’d need to do to achieve the goal (and anything that didn’t fit under a goal was labelled “miscellaneous”)
Organized these to-dos in the order I’d need to complete them for each goal
Set quarterly deadlines for each goal
Time blocked the to-dos on my calendar by estimating a reasonable amount of time each one would take me so I could finish my goals on time
news
Pantone’s Color of the Year 2025 is…Mocha Mousse: “simple and comforting, thoughtful indulgence, relaxed elegance”
PRINT Mag’s Brand Design Predictions for 2025: interesting forecasting for brand strategy trends, design trends (minimalism becoming a thing of the past—as a maximalist, I’m excited to see more bold designs), and emerging practices
The 80s are back, baby: um…I love. The 80s is my decade, and I love the return to vintage designs. Big hair, bright colors, bold choices—maximalism, baby.
And here are some lists of the best book covers of 2024…
SPINE Mag’s 2024 Book Covers We Loved!
Casual Optimist’s Notable Book Covers of 2024
PRINT Mag’s 100 of the Best Book Covers of 2024
LitHub’s The 167 Best Book Covers of 2024
what i’m reading
Woodworm by Layla Martínez (Two Lines Press, 2024)
The Intellectual Situation: The best of n+1’s second decade (n+1 Foundation, 2024)
Getting Your Sh*t Together: The Ultimate Business Manual for Every Practicing Artist by Karen Atkinson & GYST Ink (GYST Ink Press, 2014)
what i’m listening to
Basic Channel | Quadrant Dub (1994): dub techno
Nabihah Iqbal | Weighing of the Heart (2017): dream pop
Sally Dige | Forget Me / Losing You (2013): post-punk, minimal wave
Dear Reader...
I’d love to hear about your year reflections / goals. Are you struggling to come up with some, or is the yearly resolution ritual not really your thing? No matter if it’s good, bad, sad, or exciting—tell me what you’re leaving behind, what you’re taking with you, or what you hope is to come.
And—if there’s a topic or subject that you’re interested in hearing my thoughts on, please let me know. I’ll consider writing a post about it.
You can reply to this email, leave a comment, or click on the buttons below. I respond to every message. (^:
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And, in case you missed it…
Hadley Hendrix is an Editorial Designer based in Chicago, specializing in publication design and typesetting. She works with magazines and publishers to design, layout, and typeset the covers and interiors of their publications. From ensuring an authentic representation of a publication to using em dashes and en dashes correctly, she immerses herself in the details of every project to create a polished product. Visit her website to see some of her work.
Need a designer or typesetter? Just want to pop in and say hi? I’d love to talk with you! Please email me at hadleynikolehendrix@gmail.com, or connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn. (-:
