A graphic design qualification lies in proof and reputation, not a piece of paper. With graphic design it’s the result that counts.

Unlike engineering or medicine, it’s not necessary for a graphic designer to attend university. While you may not want an ‘unqualified’ surgeon operating on your favourite spleen, if the logo your ‘designer’ produces is pleasing and fits all the criteria, the fact that he never graduated doesn’t come into it.

Let’s face it, clients choose a graphic designer based on what other people recommend, and what they see in a portfolio. Have you ever heard of a potential client insisting on seeing a tutor’s transcript before engaging a designer to create their new season’s catalogue?

What university training is supposed to do is ensure that a preset level of knowledge has been applied to all graduates. If you possess a degree, that means you’ve been taught about bleed, you know the law of thirds and you can brainstorm a brief.

But this knowledge is available elsewhere. And who’s to say that the student attended on the day that bleed was taught? I’ve met degree-wielding designers with no knowledge of bleed (for example). Then there is the difference between individual universities and colleges, and the abilities of their tutors, which vary tremendously. The result is that two identical students can come out with two very different educations.

University also teases the creativity out of students who might lack the confidence to utilise their skills on their own. It teaches students about deadlines, about finishing a job and about what it’s like to have your best work ripped to shreds by others. It takes stamina and determination and a thick skin to finish four years of training.

But again, a good ‘apprenticeship’ can do all that. And it’s a fact that in some training institutions there is no pressure whatsoever. I once employed a graduate from a local university with a reputation for being laid back. I had to let her go soon afterward because she simply couldn’t keep up and cracked under the pressure of the ‘real world’.

A university degree will get you an interview. But that’s about all. It’s your portfolio that lands the job. If you don’t believe me, consider the following scenario;

Two designers apply for a job. One has a degree, but a bog standard portfolio that displays little innovation and has no stand-out pieces. There are also a few mistakes in the works on display. The other applicant never attended university but has a portfolio that shines, with a mixture of highly competent examples of standard work and WOW pieces that leap off the pages.

Which one would get the job? More to the point, which one would you employ?

If you have the proof that you can do the job (portfolio) and a reputation (testimonials), you’re way ahead of someone who only has the paper (degree). Obviously if you have all three, you’re well on the way. But a degree on its own doesn’t guarantee a job.

If you’re considering entering into a multi-year training course as a means to ensure a job, but you already have a measure of skill and the proof on hand (a halfway decent portfolio), I would suggest that you save the money and time. Just start pushing that portfolio around town.

There is a lot more on this topic in my book; Get a Job in Design (ISBN 978-0-9582594-2-2), which can be found at http://www.graphic-design-jobs.com

And if not, why not?

As we all know there are dozens of aspects to modern graphic design, ranging from solid text page layout to complex vector illustration, with side excursions along the way into logo development, CSS coding and prepress for offset print.

The fact is that nobody – with a capital Nob – knows it all.

So it stands to reason that there are specialists in every aspect of design; photographic enhancers, CSS designers, large poster designers, print advertising gurus etc. If you go into any large agency, it will have specialist illustrators on staff, and mere ‘designers’ won’t ever be tasked with creating complex illustrations. They will also have a Photoshop compositor or two who can put the head of an eagle seamlessly onto the body of a supermodel. And there’ll be a whole battalion of experts in typography, page layout, copywriting and other areas, every one keen to do their best for the company. (What they most likely will not have is a prepress expert, but then problems with prepress will be sorted at the specialist prepress house, and the extra cost will be swallowed by the huge budget.)

But as clients economize by taking their design work away from the large, inner-city agencies to seek out smaller (less expensive) alternatives in the suburbs ( yay!) their expectations won’t have changed. Which means they’ll be looking for specialists in each of the dark arts of design –without actually knowing it. To them a designer is a designer. All they really want is the same service and the same results they’ve enjoyed in the past, but for less cost.

So they come to you, bringing with them the brief for a political campaign; several different types of campaign brochure, with support posters and numbered tickets to events, a temporary website, and a range of advertisements for newspapers and magazines. Oh, and a billboard. All in all it’s a great job, worth many $$$.

Except that, although the brochures are no problem, you’ve never made numbered tickets before, and your website ability is still in ‘development’. You think the posters will be no problem, and the billboard… well, it can’t be that difficult, right?

This is where it gets tricky. The truth is that a freelance designer cannot survive on a specialty niche, unless they’ve been at it for decades and are drawing enough work for that niche to keep them going. The last thing the fictional client above wants to hear is “I can do your print stuff, but the web is beyond me. Oh yeah, and the tickets might be a problem.”

The chances are that this freelance designer will lose ALL the work. And only because they haven’t spread their expertise wide enough. If you want to cover all bases, spend all your spare time filling in the gaps in your knowledge. A designer’s training doesn’t stop at graduation, and telling a client that you slept through the brand development classes is no excuse.

If you do come across something you’ve never faced before – such as when a client once sprung International Standards Barcodes on me – so long as it’s not too specialist a topic, endeavour to find out about it. In the case of the barcodes above, I was honest with my client and said I had no experience, but promised to find out. She gave me the 60 page manual she’s received from the barcode police and said ‘good luck’. The result is that, not only do I have a happy ongoing client, I now know all about fitting barcodes to tiny cosmetics labels!

Any work, no matter how small?

Here’s another scenario; a client approaches a freelance designer and asks if he can do a small job for him. The job is making a single minor change to an established website. It’s only ten minutes’ work and hardly worth charging for.

The designer feels it’s not worth the effort and turns the job down.

The frustrated client then approaches a second freelance designer and this one takes him up on it. Not only that, he says it’s hardly worth invoicing, so calls it a freebie. It turns out that the client is responsible for several million dollars worth of annual marketing budget, and as a result the second designer picks up a wealth of additional work.

Sound a little far-fetched? Well it’s a true story and it happened to me. The moral of it all is that turning work down, no matter how trivial or off-track it might be, can lead to missed opportunities.

So back to the first question; Are you a design whore? If you’re not, and you pick and choose your work and clients, you could be missing out on a wealth of work. I’m a whore and I’m proud of it. If a client ultimately turns out to be a tyre-kicker, I can always sack him later. But in the meantime, if he or she has the money, I’ll roll over any day.

It seems that the standard answer to all the economic troubles hitting our world right now is to ‘economize’. That is, spend less; buy cheaper food, investigate budget brands, use the car sparingly, cut down on luxuries, etcetera. I’m sure you’ve heard the score. Cut down your outgoings in order to pay more for the higher food, electricity and fuel charges you’re being hit with.

And while it makes good sense not to waste money when times are hard (or any time, for that matter), there is one scheme that appears to be absent from the pundits’ advice…

Why don’t we just increase our income?

How about that? Prices are going up, but life doesn’t have to change if our personal ‘money-in’ rises to match it, right? 

Oh sure, I hear you say, but how can we do that?

For static workers – people on a wage or an hourly rate – the only way to increase income is to work longer hours. Seek overtime or a second job.

But we’re different. We work for ourselves and live off the proceeds of our output, regardless of the hours that we put in. Therefore, it’s actually easier for us to make more money. Truly!

The most immediate ways in which you can increase your income are these;

1. Spread your marketing and self-promotion wider, perhaps into new districts or industries.
2. Re-visit all your previous clients and ‘service’ them (ask if you can be of service).
3. Put your prices up. (Yeah I know, obvious right?)
4. Steal clients from your competitors. (Except that it’s not called stealing, it’s ‘picking up the ** contract’.)
5. Take on new personal skills to increase your services offered – and then tell everyone about it.

Most of this is marketing 101; spreading the message to further your business prospects. We’ll discuss a lot of this in detail in later posts. But for now I’d like to concentrate on the last item; taking on new personal skills.

In earlier post’s I spoke about leaving money on the table; that is, allowing a client to walk away while there was still something we could do for her. That’s criminal if you can already do the extra for your client, but you let it go. But when it’s something you’re not sure you know how to do, it’s just heartbreaking. Yet often all it takes in the purchase of a book or your attendance at a course, from which you learn a new skill or an additional piece of software, and suddenly you’re able to offer services you never could before.

For large companies this usually comes down to acquiring a competitor or buying new plant; several hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions, just to increase sales. Even mid-sized companies may have to employ new people or buy new equipment.

But we’re lucky in that it’s just us – the lone designers – and the cost needn’t be high at all. A few years ago I lost a close race to be the one developing a new website for a client because my opposition offered ‘SEO’, whatever that was. So I bought a book on SEO – Search Engine Optimization – and offered ‘SEO’ to my next client. Simple as that.

What is it that you lack? Come on now, you can’t be perfect… In a forthcoming post we’ll look at specific examples of ways in which you can add to your repertoire and increase your income.

Doom.

Gloom.

Catastrophe.

Lock up your gold and barricade your doors! The world is coming to an end!

Well… at least that’s what several sectors of media and society would have us believe. The ‘credit crunch’, the stock crash, the spiraling economy. All of these things fill our nightly news, as somber anchorpersons (wow! My spellcheck let that one go!) flood us with a dirge of doom.

But… let’s take a moment to look on the bright side. Didn’t I see that oil was down? And on a more personal note, when the going gets tough, the tough advertise more. And the tough have flyers designed, or revamp their website to capture new markets. And although some companies will hit the wall over the next few months, many others will take the opportunity to re-invent themselves (which includes rebranding) and freshen up their products and services. And some of the workers let go will take the opportunity to do that thing they’ve always wanted to do.

All of which means work for designers, photographers and people like us.

Great!

You see, you have to look on the bright side, or you’ll become mired in a stagnant pool of your own making. I ask you this; who has ever benefited from feeling sorry for themselves? Who has improved their own life and that of their loved ones by wailing doom and gloom? (Apart from a few journalists and ‘watchdogs’, who seem to salivate at the prospect of financial disaster for someone else.)

In times like these, the savvy can prosper. Moreover, those with a positive outlook on life will soon stand out in a crowd, and ultimately draw business to themselves.

No, I say be positive. Don’t be gloomy. Think of it like this; we’re still eating. We’re not being attacked by large strangers wielding swords, dragged

In the next post I’ll outline some strategies for improving our lot in spite of so-called economic recession. Until then, go watch a mindless sitcom and relax.

…don’t watch the news!

The next question is; do you have what it takes to make more money?

In the last post we talked about picking up extra business by offering additional services, such as doing the client’s website. But all of this is academic if you can’t make a website, right?

If your core business is, for example, designing posters for sticking up around town, and you have no experience designing logos, creating multi-page documents or designing and building websites, then whenever your client is doing more than one of these things in addition to the posters, you’re hamstrung. There’s not a lot extra you can do for them.

BUT, what if you learned how to create a logo for them? Or build a website?

Don’t you think that, as their current poster designer, you’d have the inside track on becoming their logo designer or their website designer too?

There are two kinds of freelance professional;

1. Those who are busy 24/7 working for their clients, and
2. Those who are NOT busy 24/7, and who have TIME on their hands.

If you’re one of the former, congratulations. With a charge-out rate of anywhere between $30 to $150 an hour, I guess you have more money than you know what to do with.

But if you’re a member of group #2 (which would constitute 98.876% of the freelance population), you must have some time available to either promote your business or learn new stuff.

I suggest that, using the premises outlined already in this post and the last, learning new stuff IS promoting your business. The more you learn, the more you can do for your clients, and the more you can charge.

I once had a series of half-hour sessions with a long-term desktop publisher. She was a converted ‘typist’ who had begun her DTP business in 1994, creating newsletters and business documents for several clients. One of her ‘issues’ was that much of the material provided by her clients was rubbish quality; graphs, photographs etc. She used to send much of this stuff away to a designer who shared her building; he would scan images, re-size and crop pictures, and generally tidy up the raw material for her documents.

She paid him an average of $300 a week for this service.

After three half-hour sessions with me (at $60 a session), she could do all this work herself. Not only did she save $300 a week (keep it, more like), with her new knowledge she was able to suggest improvements to clients and ultimately tidy up her designs – thus winning more business.

A little knowledge can go a long way. (You will find that, as an educator, I use this premise a lot.)

So… do you know enough to expand your business? Or would a little lesson or two add $$ to your future?

This is a term familiar to marketers and salesfolk. What it means in a nutshell is;

Are you finishing a job, shaking hands with your client and allowing them to go elsewhere to spend more money – money that could come your way?

I’ll tell you a story, a true one. Don’t worry, it’s brief.

Back in the ‘80s I had dealings with a very successful company. They were a sheet metal factory, at a time when sheet metal work was in decline. Their primary business was to build box-section conduits for air conditioning in large buildings and skyscrapers. Sounds boring I know, but read on.

What the boss of the company did that was quite smart (and pretty unique at the time) was reason they his guys were crawling all over unfinished buildings to install their air conditioning vent structure. They often met with other subcontractors installing all manner of things, and occasionally clashed with them too. So he (name withheld because I’ve forgotten it) went out to a major sprinkler system manufacturer and bought a franchise.

After that, when his men were busy installing the air conditioning, they also installed the sprinklers. And in time he added other products, thus saving money for the construction company, and bringing more money into his pockets.

I want you to think about this;

If you’re asked to design a catalogue for a client, and they supply a logo which is dated and showing signs of wear and tear, what do you do? Design the catalogue? Or talk about the logo – and lead into a discussion on branding.

Not every client will instantly throw you the job of re-branding them. But some might.

Here’s another scenario. Your catalogue is complete, and the client asks for a PDF version to send to the website designer for when they eventually get off their backside and produce the new website. What’s your reaction?

Personally I’d present my own credentials for website design and try to steal the business. After all, the client is happy with the catalogue and my service (I hope!) and it means more business for me. There is also the risk that the catalogue I created for them (or logo or flyer…) will be compromised by the quality of work the other firm produces.

When a famous fast food chain began to ask every customer ‘do you want fries with that?’ their business skyrocketed. If you don’t ask, you won’t get. And don’t worry about being seen to be pushy or forward. It’s just being professional. No professional would knowingly risk their client’s reputation by allowing substandard add-ons to their work.

Besides, being pushy is insisting on being given the work and refusing to leave the office until getting it. Or holding your breath…

So back to the first question… are you leaving money on the table? Because if you are, you’re not only doing yourself a disservice, you could be doing your client one too.

The topic of working from home as a graphic designer or other creative individual is a huge one. So we’re going to divide this community into several niche areas, some of which will be of more interest to you than others.

As a designer (and I’ll use this term generally, although you might personally substitute it for ‘photographer’ or ‘illustrator’ etc.) working alone, you are expected to have a massive  amount of knowledge at your fingertips.

This includes knowledge of some or all of the following;

1. Design theory
2. Software skills
3. People management
4. Marketing
5. Running a business
6. Brokering print and other products
7.  Web design skills
8. Finding inspiration and ideas
9. Search engine management
10. Self promotion
11. Budgeting and accounting
12. Time management
13. Client relationships
14. Bad debt management
15. Maintaining a computer and peripherals
16. Photography

And a whole lot more besides.

For example; what happens if a client approaches you to design a label for a new range of cosmetics, and then drops a bombshell by asking if you’ve ever had experience dealing with international standards barcodes?

In a large firm, there’d be someone around with that experience, or who you can at least turn to for advice. But when you’re a Lone Designer, you have two choices; say goodbye to the client, or learn about barcodes quickly.

Just one of the above topics – say, software skills – could fill years of skill acquirement.

So what’s a Lone Designer to do?

As time goes by, I hope to cover each and every one of these knowledge areas, with emphasis placed in order of importance to your ability to complete the job (and make a decent living). I will also be influenced by you, the reader, in which topics leap to the fore.

Categories

For simplicity I’m going to divide the above gazillion topics into four distinct categories and (try to) post to at least one of them every day. I will also be looking to you, my Lone Designers, for direction as the topics spread.

The four categories are;

1. Graphic Design from Home
   
2. Design Software
   
3. Business and Marketing
   
4. Tips and Tricks

Of course there will be topics that fall outside of these categories, and others that could be put into more than one, but I’m not planning on being too regimented in where they go.

Following is an example of the range of topics that we’ll cover over the next few months;

Adding value to a regular client; seeking repetitive jobs for regular income; finding cheap or free fonts and resources; simple web page construction without coding knowledge; a review on the latest version of Acrobat, and how it impacts us lone designers; how to keep family members from messing with your stuff; self promotion through pro bono work; exactly how much should you charge?; Mac or PC? The pros and cons; speeding up your page layouts in InDesign; accurate prepress makes for happy printers… and much more.

If anything on that list tickles your fancy, stay tuned.

This brand new blog is targeted at creative people who work alone, specifically from home. Yeah that’s right, you… and me.

The Lone Designer. Says it all, doesn’t it? We boldly face the world of professional obligation without the safety net of employment, a supportive network, or just someone else to blame, and we regularly perform our miracles from the spare bedroom in back of the house.

Yet we’re professionals, dammit, and we demand a voice.

The primary audience of the Lone Designer is graphic designers (because that’s what I am), but also includes illustrators, artists, photographers, desktop publishers and web designers; and at a pinch we could even add architects, scrap-bookers and game designers to our little enclave. Anyone who sits hunched over a computer jammed into a corner of our claustrophobic environment and expects to earn enough $$$ to pay the bills.

The difference between us do-it-yourselfers and the great unwashed who do what they do for someone else is primarily one of responsibility. If we muck up, our client is hurt, and our reputation is damaged. End of story.

We’re on our own.

In fact, this single element of our existence is often the one which cripples our continued existence and ultimately drives us to seek out ‘a real job’. It’s that dawning realization that the buck stops here, and even our husband/wife/life-partner/significant-other cannot help us. It’s times like these that we wish we’d paid more attention during our training…

But it needn’t be like this.

While the designer who works for a company of 50 – 499 employees can call upon a seemingly endless network of colleagues, superiors and experts for support, we’re not actually isolated either.

What I hope to achieve with this blog is a community support network for people like you and me. And don’t worry, if you’re not a professional, or if you have an office or even a staff member(!), you’re still one of us. 

For the moment let’s rejoice in our aloneness… while drawing succor from the fact that there are a million others just like us.

Yay!