Graphic design—you may think the profession is all about art, but the reality is much different. All professional graphic designers have at least one story about a “hellish” client. Client demands can get in the way of a designer’s creative process, making things complicated. It might be unpleasant, but putting up with difficult clients and delivering as ordered is part of the job. Graphic designers, thus, should master the art of compromise.
Tag: Freelance
How to Pick Your Freelancing Niche
A freelance niche refers to a small segment of the total market that buys freelance services. This can be defined as a “horizontal” segment, usually focused on a particular service, like “Logo Design”. And a “vertical” segment, focused on a particular sector of an industry, like online retail. Ignore broad service segments (horizontal), because nobody seeks out services. They want to solve their problems. Instead, I’ll try to convince you to focus on the problems of a specific industry (vertical). The goal is to spend the least amount of time winning work, and more time billing.
How Much Should a Freelance Designer Charge?
Working out how much you cost is easy. But how much you should charge is a little more complex. There are many ways to charge for the work you do, but in my opinion there is only one way. If you want something more scalable than your average freelance business, you should charge for the value you created. So the question is How Much Should a Freelance Designer Charge? let’s take a look at how you can calculate your rates.
Freelance, and Business, and Stuff by Amy & Jennifer Hood
Freelance and business and stuff is a guide for creatives and it’s written by twin sisters Amy and Jennifer Hood who are the founding partners and creative directors behind Hoodzpah, a boutique brand identity and design agency based out of Newport Beach, California.
The Hood sisters have worked with clients such as Google, Disney, Facebook, 20th Century Fox, and Target so from reading that client list you know the advice within the book will be of great value.
The book has been made up of their personal research and experiences while running their own design studio.
You can also read their designer interview to provide more insights from their life as designers.
Top Trends that will shape the future of Digital Marketing
Technologies are constantly changing and with it, the style and manner of advertising and especially Digital Marketing is continuously in flux. In this article, we will go through some of these critical points which can help you design a better Digital Marketing Strategy for your Ventures and businesses.
Work For Money, Design For Love by David Airey
Following on from the previous book review in this edition we will be looking at David’s second book Work For Money, Design For Love by David Airey. This book answers the most frequent questions about starting and running a design business.
Its a refreshing, straight-talking advice guide from the Logo Design Love author and designer that is David Airey. In this book, David answers all the questions designers have about launching and running their own design business. As David explained the idea for the book was inspired by the many questions he receives from designers that visit his blogs.
Some of the most common questions designers ask are ” How do I find new design clients?” “How much should I charge for my design work?” “I have a difficult client how do I handle them?”
Ways To Overcome Creative Block
Creative block is an unavoidable and unfortunate side-effect of being a graphic designer, however when you design for a living then you can’t afford to stop working while you wait for your muse to return. Fortunately, creative block is a temporary ailment that can be overcome quickly if the right measurements are taken.
The Benefits of Using Storytelling in Your UX Design
From cave paintings to eBooks, storytelling has been part of the human experience for eons. It’s been so prevalent in our history that, at this point, storytelling is practically in our DNA. Whether we’re recounting our day or giving instructions, stories are there to move our ideas along; it’s how we communicate and convey thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
How to Answer the Question: What’s Your Hourly Rate?
What do you say when a prospect or client asks, “What’s your hourly rate?” In this article we discuss How to Answer the Question: What’s Your Hourly Rate?
Change Your Process, Land Higher Paying Clients
Are you currently frustrated because you’re landing low-paying clients? I get it. I was frustrated for years and tried every piece of advice that came my way about how to charge more. From endlessly talking about what’s stopping me, to charging more with every new client, nothing worked consistently.
I would hear things like, “It’s all mindset. You just need the confidence to charge higher prices.” And while that’s true, where does the confidence come from? Do we just need to muster enough to be able to charge more? Or was there something else to it?