All posts tagged design tips

Four Common Mistakes Designers Make

by Wells Riley on July 11, 2011 in Design, Freelancing with 1 Comment
designer_mistakes

Graphic designers have a very interesting task.

Their work is largely subjective and based on experience, insight, and inspiration. While developers (and bankers, construction workers, and mailmen for that matter) also rely on these traits, there’s a certain sense of ‘right and wrong’ in these professions. If a HTML form doesn’t work or a mobile app crashes at launch, it’s much more obviously “wrong code” than something would be a “wrong design.” Does such a phrase even exist? Not really.

Designers also have incredibly diverse starting points. Some are classically educated, others aren’t. Some start in large firms while some freelance exclusively. Whether you’re an experienced freelancer or a newbie designer, here are a few mistakes I’ve made and seen other designers make.

1. Undervaluing the Work

I once read a story about a wedding photographer who charged $1000 per shoot. It wasn’t a livable income, but she was only a freelancer and held a full-time job elsewhere. After a little while, she couldn’t justify the time expense for what she was charging and decided to double her rate. $2000 for the same shoot, same equipment, same photographer. She hadn’t gotten “better” (in the arbitrary nature of that word) but she knew her time and expertise was worth more.

She became better known due to the higher “non-amateur” rate and more couples began requesting her services. To make a long story short, a year later she was being flown around the world to exotic vistas and tropical islands to shoot weddings at $50,000 a pop.

So what happened here? Did she scam her customers by charging more? Is she a huge jerk? If you’re an aspiring photographer you might be thinking to yourself “Wow that’s ridiculous. I could shoot an awesome wedding for like… $500!”

Well yes, you could. If that’s what the work is worth to you. So many photographers (and designers) follow this mentality. They know the work – and maybe it comes naturally or they enjoy it – so they have a difficult time charging what seems like “exorbitantly high” rates for their services. It’s a psychological barrier preventing many freelancers from succeeding at all.

Give yourself an hourly rate (even if it’s just for yourself) and double it. If clients turn away, re-evaluate the project. Is it WORTH your ‘original’ rate? Do you want the project that badly? Do you need the work to pay rent? Will you enjoy spending time on it? If not, then maybe you should let it go. It may be hard to believe, but better work will come your way. I can’t explain how… it just ‘happens’.

If you’re feeling guilty, think about it this way. People need you because you have a highly desirable skill. You’re knowledgeable and have what it takes to execute on something they could only dream of. You also provide invaluable insight that they couldn’t possibly have from a non-designer position. How much would you pay a lawyer or developer per hour to do something you can’t do yourself? I doubt they’d work for $12/hr… ever.

2. Not Taking Charge of a Project

So we’re on the same page and you’re at least thinking about what you’re really worth, right? Let’s add some value to that price increase of yours. As a hired professional, customers look to you for insight and advice, whether they make that apparent or not (and if they’re not, then they’re not the kind of client you should be working with). If you’re dealing with something like this on a daily basis, then you’re not asserting yourself and not taking charge of your project.

Don’t be afraid to be frank and truthful with clients, even if it goes directly against a request, suggestion, or idea they’ve given you. If your dentist suggests you brush your teeth with toothpaste instead of table salt, who are you to argue? He’s the one with the education and experience. If you can command your project and demonstrate your authority over the subject, clients will listen. I was an abused peon for years before I wised up and acted like a professional.

3. Not Practicing

This one seems obvious but I see it happen a lot, especially with students. Once work (or classwork) is done,  you don’t touch Photoshop or a pencil until you have to again. Oh no.

Graphic design is a constantly evolving skill. You can’t get anywhere if you don’t practice, test your boundaries, and create constantly. The worst thing is to get into a creative slump or get stuck working all the time. I design out of passion and I’m constantly creating different things for myself. Most don’t even see the light of day, but it’s good to flex the creative muscle outside of ‘required work’ once in a while.

4. You Don’t Know How to Say No

This one is my favorite. Everyone says it – it’s like the Golden Rule of freelancing. “Know when to say ‘NO!’ to clients.” I used to be naïve less naïve and thought this didn’t apply to me. I wasn’t getting an overwhelming amount of work and could technically handle all of it. How could I possibly turn any project down?

I think this is one lesson that can only be learned from experience, because I think every freelancer or newbie designer disregards it. With experience comes knowledge and expectations. Bionic Hippo has carved out a nice niché in entrepreneurship and startup companies, and we’re surprisingly particular about which projects we take on. Clients need to have a certain attitude, a vision, and clear direction. We value our time (see #1 above) and prefer spending time on awesome boundary-pushing projects than those with no vision, no business, and no passion. It’s that specificity regarding clients that keeps us on task and constantly working towards the goals we want to achieve.

Great clients respect (and may even demand) this kind of attitude. They don’t want to be lumped in with the ‘least common denominator’ clients – you know, the people who pay you squat, disrespect the craft, and use your skills as a talking, emailing mouse cursor.

Five freelancing tips for greenhorns

by Wells Riley on May 2, 2011 in Design, Entrepreneurship with 5 Comments
freelance

I started freelancing my Junior year of high school. Most of my initial work was done for free from my bedroom in my parents’ house – These were dark times.

I was doing what I loved and I was completely ignorant to the wealth of design and business knowledge I’ve garnered since. It’s a constant learning experience; one that I believe should begin as soon as possible. Freelancing during college is a fantastic opportunity to gain industry experience, expand your skillset, and build a kick-ass portfolio… but where do you begin?

Prerequisite:

If you don’t love doing what you’re about to freelance doing, think you know everything about it, or expect to make quick, easy money, stop right now. You’re about to waste a lot of time. Freelancers need to be passionate and eager to learn. That’s what its all about.

1. Read a lot (then read a lot more).

When I started out, I had no classical training in business or design. I had no idea what I was doing. I constructed a comprehensive reading list of blogs, periodicals, and design inspiration sites to follow on a weekly basis and search through when I had a specific freelancing question. It’s helpful to pull from a variety of sources ranging from design, business, freelancing, and finance. The more resources you have at your disposal, the better prepared you’ll be when something does come up… you’ll also be a lot less stressed.

Read as much as you can, and bookmark helpful articles for later. When a new clients asks for a W-9 and your EIN for a 1099 at the end of the year, you’ll be glad you did.

A few of my favorites:

FreelanceSwitch (insanely helpful… here, here, here, here… just read the whole archive.)
Unicornfree (simple, direct business advice)
PSDtuts (Photoshop techniques and tutorials)
LifeHacker (Work smarter)
Mashable Dev & Design (Industry updates, news, etc)
Abduzeedo (all around helpful)

2. Think about your goals

For some, the move to startups / freelancing is obvious. For others, taking a job at a big firm or high-end design agency is the way to go. Before you dev0te a good portion of your time to a freelancing career, think about your objectives.

What are you trying to accomplish? Where do you want to be in a year? In five?

If you can set a specific timetable (for example, “I want to become Creative Director of my own firm, and have it be profitable with employees within five years”) then you’re more likely to work towards it. I had a vision for Bionic Hippo and, while it has changed and matured over the years, we’re moving in the right direction. We avoid projects and work that doesn’t fit our niche or vision because they only serve to hold us back. Without a concise set of goals, you may end up treading water in the freelance realm forever – something you definitely do not want to do.

3. Get inspired, but maintain your integrity

This is a personal pet-peeve, but I think it’s worth sharing. There are hundreds of design inspiration and tutorial websites out there, and sometimes it’s very helpful to browse through others’ work to jog your brain and think differently. Unfortunately, I also see many junior designers copying directly off a tutorial and presenting it as their own work.

“Inspiration” (used in this context as ‘someone else’s work’) is best used sparingly. Find an element of something else you think is successful and generate something new based on your new knowledge. The result will be something distinctly yours. Don’t worry about being completely new and innovative – no one is. It’s all about having a style or technique that you can honestly call intentional. It’s what separates you from everyone else and helps you maintain rock-solid integrity as a designer.

4. Do real work

Another pet-peeve of mine is vapor design – that is, creating a logo, website, or ‘product’ for no one – as an example of your ‘skill’ as a designer. Design is about so much more than creating something aesthetic; it’s about solving problems. Creating fake problems you can easily solve yourself honestly doesn’t take much skill.

One of these logos was created as the face of an international brand, the other is a play on words. I’d say both have the same level of aesthetic competence, but only one has purpose. Only one of these logos solves a real problem, and that’s one of the most coveted skills a designer can have.

(Spoiler: Gillette has a superior logo)

A great portfolio goes beyond aesthetic. Real designers solve real problems, and that’s really, quite simply, what design is all about.

It can be hard at first to find awesome work, and rightly so. I spent several years in the trenches honing my skills and learning more about design. Awesome projects are not easy to find, and they never fall into your lap without any effort, despite what some on the Internet may make you believe.

The takeaway here is that you need to work hard to get good work. Working on real projects means you’re starting one step closer than those staring making useless crap like this. (protip: for a design inspiration site built on real work, check out dribbble)

5. Brand yourself

It’s decision-making time again! Your brand will determine how people perceive you, your work, and how you perceive yourself. You might not need a logo right away, but you do need to make some conscious choices about how you want the world to see you.

- Are you a small design firm? Larger than life? One-man operation?
- Design for the masses? Boutique? Elite? Expensive? Cheap and quick?
- What’s your angle? Why are you so special? Why should I NEED to work with you?

These are all questions (among many others) your brand needs to subconsciously answer.

Your brand should also lend itself to #2 – Your Goals. If you’re looking to start a design agency, can you start building the brand now? Do you even want to do that? Will the work you’re doing now lend itself to your future goals, or is this an experimental tangent? There’s no harm in either approach (and never any harm in branding yourself personally… you really can’t lose) but the goal is to be intentional and conscious of that decision and how it will affect you down the road. Brands aren’t built overnight, even if your logo is.  Have a plan and a destination, and work tirelessly towards it.

6. Be intentional, always. (bonus!)

I’ll say it again and put this in bold:
Design is not about aesthetic, it’s about solving problems.

Never forget this. Anyone can learn Photoshop, but it takes a designer to solve problems with it. Aesthetic is a tool – just like code, video, steel… the list goes on. Regardless of who you’re working for or what project you’re doing, always be intentional. Design for the sake of aesthetic (or a sweet brush you found online) isn’t design at all. A clever and practical solution to a design problem is almost always elegant and beautiful.