Beau Knows Edits: Penn State Wrestling Commit Pursuing Passion For Graphic Design
If you’re a follower of Penn State wrestling, you’re probably excited for the arrival of renowned recruit Beau Bartlett. The Phoenix, Arizona native is the No. 1 138-pounder in the nation and a four-time prep national champion.
What most people don’t know about Bartlett, is that aside from his skills on that mat, he also dabbles with graphic design in his free time. When he’s not too busy winning four national prep titles at four different weight classes, he makes graphics for other wrestling commits across the country.
Bartlett started making graphics as a freshman in high school. Over the years, he’s gained some impressive skills, and even has his own separate Instagram page, Beau Knows Edits, which he created more than three years ago, to showcase his work.
After a photographer from New York made a graphic of Bartlett, the high school standout decided he wanted to try make his own.
“[The graphic] was going around, and every time they had to use a picture of me they used that one — and I was making a funny face and really didn’t like it,” Bartlett said. “So I decided to figure out how to make them.”
Bartlett credits YouTube for teaching him how to make the graphics. He used the videos to teach himself by using his editing account. He mentioned there’s definitely been a learning curve since making his first graphic.
“If you look back at like my first post, it’s of me and it’s just terrible, but it’s kind of cool to look at,” he said.
One of the aspects Bartlett likes most about making graphics for other commits is that he gets to know where other top wrestlers in the country are going before anyone else does.
“It’s always pretty fun because I am usually one of the first people to know outside of their family and their coach,” Bartlett said. “It’s really interesting that I have made them for people that I know, people that I don’t know, people I go to school with, people I’ve wrestled, and it’s really fun.”
While Bartlett charges money for most of the graphics, he always makes them free for his high school teammates and Penn Staters. He sees it as an asset to make cool graphics for his future teammates.
Since he’s started his Instagram page, he’s gained quite a following from other wrestlers at all levels around the country. He has more 2,200 followers and more 160 posts. His favorite graphic is the one he made for the U.S. World team.
“There were a bunch of grown men and they were posting it all over the place, so that was pretty cool,” he said. “The only problem was I didn’t know the whole rights to photos thing, so I had some major photographers I apologized to. In the moment it was really cool.”
Most of Bartlett’s graphics are of other wrestling commits, but he said he’s done some for other athletes that he knows.
“I’ve made a couple field hockey ones for girls at my school, I’ve made two basketball one’s too. It’s really a whole different thing, a different crowd that I gotta tap into,” he said.
Once he finally arrives at Penn State, Bartlett wants to continue making graphics, but his focus will likely shift a bit. After all, he’s joining a perennial national title contender and could have a chance at breaking into the lineup early on in his career.
“It would definitely be fun to continue to do it, but it wouldn’t be my main focus,” he said.
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