RegardingDesign

Must have been an inside job.

“When I told my boss I was going to start freelancing for the parent company of the place I was working for, she said, ‘That’s not a problem. Why are you even telling me?’ I replied, ‘Because these situations can become a problem when people find out about it later, especially if I didn’t tell anyone.’ The point is to be sure to know the policies of the place you work for before you start freelancing. Some may not only allow freelancing, but might also let you use their equipment and send emails and conduct outside business during your lunch hour. But if they don’t, then you shouldn’t.” -Donovan Beery, Eleven19 Communications, Inc.

Many designers start their freelance careers while working as a staff person. Knowing the financial, personal, and creative risks inherent in leaping out into the void, you may be tempted to take on a project here and there and utilize the vast resources of your employer. After all, why make a trip to Kinko’s when there’s that great laser printer just down the hall? Well, if your employer catches you running out page after page of full, four-color printouts for some client that’s not on their roster, you might find yourself out on your butt and behind the counter at Kinko’s. Your boss, more than anyone, knows just how much time, energy, resources, and attention it takes to start your own freelance career – after all, he or she probably started that way themselves. While they might appreciate your need and desire to have creative outlets beyond the current client list, and they may think that letting you do the occasional freelance gig is a good way to keep you fresh and interested in that current client list, you have to always remember that until you leave the party, it’s a good idea to dance with the one who brought you there.

Creatives Need Creative Too!: An awesome suggestion from a great pal, Eric Hines of Honest Bros. Concept Mechanics

“Do work for artists in different areas of the creative fields, and you may create a symbiotic relationship. Most of our work starting out came from an entire identity we did for a photographer. He and his rep landed six or seven jobs for us in the following months after the materials and site were done. We continue to do work for him and we continue to get referrals.”
 
Working with other designers and creative professionals isn’t always about working on the same project together. The creative may in fact be the client. And they can make really good clients, not only because they understand and are sympathetic to the process, but also because their clients may become your clients. Few referrals carry more weight than those from one creative person about another creative person.

Going Solo Doesn’t Mean You Can’t be Part of a Team (a great habit from a good friend, Jeni Herberger)

“Isolation is not the most creative situation for an independent designer. If you look in the mirror and realize you haven’t taken a shower in a few days and can’t remember when you last missed the Ellen Degeneres show, it might be time to get out and work in a team environment for awhile.
 
When working solo, you don’t have the complexity of dealing with others, but you miss out on some of the collaborative coolness of being on a team.”
 
Here are a few ideas about how you can inject some teamwork into your freelance work:

• Introduce yourself to specialty shops that might need design help from time to time, such as interactive-only studios, or an agency that just landed a big client.
• Remember that larger agencies often need freelance help; build a relationship with a local firm and you may get not only steady work, but steady opportunities to go into an office with better equipment and interesting designers.
• Bring in another freelancer on one of your projects. Even if you simply buy a few hours of their time to give you feedback on your design concepts, you might come up with some invaluable inspiration.
• Create a monthly lunch or dinner or other outside-the-office events for yourself and other independent creatives. Have a topic to discuss, bring in a speaker, or just hang out and talk shop.

Collaboration is Key

Sadly, many designers view other designers as nothing but competition for clients or recognition. Like opponents in a classic kung-fu movie, put a bunch of creatives in a room and at least two of them will begin circling one another with squints and frowns, muscles tensed, waiting for the other to make a move so they can counterattack.
 
However, having allies and colleagues among other creative types is incredibly valuable. If you’re working solo, you will eventually find that your pets don’t answer your design questions, family members and friends don’t really understand what you do, and you’re itching for someone to talk to about fonts, search engine optimization, photography angles, and paper choices. In order to stay creative, it’s critical to find ways to interact, share ideas, and even collaborate with others in your field. And even out of your field, as well.

Making and Maintaining a Profit

So now you’ve won a few awards, got mentioned in a couple of publications, have some clients calling you back, and maybe even your Mom finally kind of understands what it is you do (even though she’s mostly just glad you moved out of the basement). You think you’re set up and going strong and the business side of things will take care of itself as the projects move in and out and the checks follow not far behind. Well, you’re wrong.
 
Whether you got into freelance work because you wanted more creative freedom or because you thought, “Why make a salary when I can make it all?” the truth is that now you have a business on your hands. And no matter how much it may seem you’re pulling in each month, there may be just as much or more going out the next month. Many businesses with lots of clients have failed not for lack of work, but for lack of financial understanding, planning, and accountability. Whether you want to keep your doors open for a week, a year, or a lifetime, you have to figure out how to put your company in the black and then keep it there.

Working with Vendors

Back when you worked at a large agency or studio, or even as part of an in-house team in a corporation, print and paper vendors were probably banging down your door, plying you with paper swatchbooks and cool promos along with donuts and free lunches – anything to get your attention and a piece of the bigger budgets you had back then. These people may have seemed sometimes like an interruption in your busy designing day, but if you think about it, they probably also gave you lots of ideas about new production techniques, environmentally friendly paper options, or new software for the web.
 
However, now you’re out on your own with only a few, small clients who don’t have budgets for all those new tools and tricks of the trade. And yet, you still want to be up on everything that’s possible out there. Now, instead of ignoring their calls or postponing meetings, you’re the one waiting to hear back from a vendor. Maybe you’re hoping for a bit of a favor so you can impress that new client, or you simply need a call back about a price quote they promised you for a project you emailed them about last week. Fortunately, there are many ways to keep your vendors happy and helpful even without a fat checkbook. Or a box of donuts.

Creativity on a Budget

Freelance designers offer potential clients the very real bonus of great creative work at affordable prices. Not only are freelancers likely to charge less for their own time than a head honcho at a large firm, but they have lower overhead and less expenses to cover. This is not an excuse for freelancers to offer budget-basement prices and thereby drive down the value for top-level creative work. But, your clients will expect a one or two person shop, just starting out, without a fancy office, to be a little hungry and a little less expensive than the guy with the receptionist and tassel loafers.
 
Here’s the rub with the clients you’re likely to attract when you first start out: not only do they want to pay you a little less, they also have a little less to spend on materials and production. This presents an opportunity not for you to hone your begging skills as you try to convince them that they really do need eight colors and specialty varnishes for their first brochure, or that they should commission Mariah Carey to sing a special song at their sales meeting, but for you to find interesting ways to create bigger impact with fewer dollars. Do this a few times, help them become more successful, and as their budgets grow, they’ll reward your being there for them when they were just starting out.

Get published in "Graphic Recycling: Logos"

When are logo redesigns needed? And how do designers decide what to keep (and what to throw away)? You're invited to submit your redesigns of previously used logos for Rockport Publishers' upcoming book, "Graphic Recycling: Logos"!

This book will be part inspiration, part guidebook for designers to create better, stronger, and more appropriate logo designs. There are many reasons to redesign a logo: a major shift in the client's message or audience; a slump in sales; or simply a need to stay fresh.

For submission information and guidelines, please visit http://rockpub.com/cfe/logorecyclingCFE.pdf.

Landing the Work

You’ve built your portfolio, spent many mornings over coffee with experienced business folks, lined up an accountant, got the Pantone swatches and sketchbooks at the ready, loaded up your computer with time management and invoicing software … but you find yourself with plenty of time and no one to invoice. You may have skills to spare, but they’re all for naught if there’s no one to take notice other than your aunt who needs flyers to promote her upcoming garage sale. The bottom line is this: Unless you already have a reputation and clients banging on your door, no one will care about your creative acumen until you show it to them.
 
However, sales may be the hardest part of the job for a design soloist. Most creative people balk at the task of promoting their work, and thereby themselves, as it takes qualities that may seem to be in stark contrast to your artistic endeavors. But, isn’t this what graphic design is really all about? You’ve already been successful selling your clients’ products and services – you just have to learn how to turn some of those same skills onto yourself and start looking at your own business as another client. Yes it’s harder to articulate features and benefits when the product is your own work, but marketing yourself is integral to getting the work you want – and perhaps even some work you don’t want, but need, to help keep the lights on and the coffee pot humming while you search for those plum projects.

Just Good Business

You got into graphic design because you love the creative work. But you also probably got into design – rather than say fine arts – because there’s a commercial aspect to it. After all, graphic design used to be called “commercial art.” Well, it’s important to keep this commercial aspect in mind when it comes to starting, managing, and running your own business. When you’re working for someone else, your mind and energy and hours are spent on strategizing and executing the creative. Someone else thinks about payroll and taxes and keeping the lights on and the computers running; you come in, turn on your Mac, show up at meetings, say smart things, make cool work, and then collect the checks and maybe even an award or two.
 
In between all that, you think about what it’s going to be like when you get your own gig – landing that super cool client, whipping up the freshest designs, making your former officemates swoon with envy, while you accept the accolades, awards, and that call from your favorite band asking you to design the artwork for their next CD. Well, if you don’t get serious about the business side of things, all these dreams will remain just dreams, and instead of striking out on your own, you’ll just strike out.
 
The key to independent success is lots of hard work that has nothing to do with making cool client work. It’s about planning and more planning. It’s about setting realistic expectations and incremental goals. It’s about being the CEO, CMO, CFO, and CIO… as well as the bookkeeper, accountant, tech guru, housekeeper, and coffee maker. It’s imperative that you see yourself as the business and act accordingly because you are the business.