Setting Up A Studio: Ch. 4

Ok so now it’s time to open your own design studio, your tired of working for some one else, you feel that it is time to make your own decisions, or maybe because you know you can do it better then your damn boss. But like the book says, find a partner. Don’t take on this huge life changing experience on your own. It’s easier to share problems with a like minded partner then take them on yourself.

This chapter was especially interesting to me due to the fact that I have been talking with my best friend about going into business together. She has a degree in Interior Architecture and also has a good eye for graphic design. I know that the book talks about keeping your personal life separate than your work but we have actually worked together in a similar environment for a good period of time. I find that we compliment each other very well and feel that our unique backgrounds could go hand in hand.

Work with your partner to come up with a legal partnership, that way you both are protected from each other if something happens and one decides to leave you by yourself. Don’t be afraid of the saying that artists make bad business people, in truth they usually make really good ones. But it is important to be aware of everything that you will need to do in order to run a business successfully. Split up specific duties within the business between the partners whether there are just two of you or five.

The surprise to starting your own studio is it really doesn’t cost a whole lot. You just need your computer, a printer, software, a place to work and some other essentials, but hopefully you will already have all that. Whether you need money or not a business plan is a key thing to prepare for yourself. Writing it all out will allow you to see what you need to survive. Banks, a lawyer, and advisors are important, check out the bank you already have and get some information from them.

There are four main things you need to do to get started:

1. Register your business with the relevant authorities

2. Register your company name and secure a URL

3. Set up relevant payroll and tax status

4. Issue employment contracts to staff

5. Create client contracts to protect intellectual property

To be FREElance: Ch. 3

Why Freelance? For some designers, with the economy it’s the only choice they have. For others freelancing is a choice. There are two types of freelance designers, the one who specializes in specific skills, is resourceful and can charge a hefty price. These designers might not work steadily at first but eventually over time will build a substantial clientele. The second type, the author describes as the “creative loner,” someone who can’t work in a team and wants complete freedom of their work.

Going back to chapter two, working in-house is usually a good idea at the beginning of your career, even if your dream is to freelance. This allows you to gain the business knowledge as well as the design.

GOOD DESIGN + GOOD ADMINISTRATION = GOOD FEES WELL-EARNED

Freelance if done right can be very rewarding, allowing your own hours, setting your own pricing and even having the option to work from home. But it is important to be more disciplined and organized because all of the work is on your shoulders even the paper work.

CLIENTS

Creative Reasons – Does this person do the sort of work I want?

Financial Reasons – Freelancers are cheaper than big studios.

Personal Reasons – Do I get along with this person?

These are the main three reasons a client will choose a freelancer over a large studio.

Hard work to get work: Ch.2

After four sometimes six years of hard schooling its time to get out there and find a job. Why? Because that’s what we’ve worked so hard for. There’s always a couple different options for a designer when looking for work, obviously one option might be harder to obtain then another due to your skills or background. First of all one important thing for a designer is to try and intern, I believe that doing this before you are done with school will give you a bigger chance at landing a job after school. Also most internships don’t pay so maybe it would be better for you to complete an internship during school (Financial Aid). It is important to understand the value of an internship, we as young designers get a chance to learn from more skilled and seasoned designers, We are allowed to ask questions and really get a chance to improve our abilities. It is important to show enthusiasm during an internship because it is a priviledge for you.

Another option is working in-house, this basically means working in a larger design firm. This is probably the best choice for a beginner due to personal and financial security. Working in-house usually means that you will not have to worry about your own taxes (being a beginner this can be very intimidating and overwhelming), your pay is set when you start, and you are most likely guaranteed work when you come to the office.

Usually the scariest part about exploring the work field for the first time is interviewing. Always know that interviews even if they are terrible or you didn’t get the job, are important. Every single one of them is a learning experience for the next. Try and attend as many as you can while you are looking for work, even if it’s a job you don’t really want. Approach design studios that you are interested in even if they are not hiring, they will remember you for the future.

Make sure you create a letterhead for yourself, this is one of the most basic types of design and a designer that is looking to hire won’t give your letter the time of day if you don’t have a letterhead. Make it simple and clean. Your letter should be short and to the point, employers don’t usually have time for reading a biography about someone. Always have samples of your work available, whether they are on a website or printed in a portfolio. One thing I’ve learned searching for jobs on Craigslist for example, is most design jobs will not even look at your resume if you do not provide work samples.

Another Graphic Design Book

Pathetic Lucky Charms Of The Hipster Doofus, Ryan McGinness

How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul starts out with the author talking about his facination with design. Even though he has been in the business for a good 20 years he is too finding that freelance and contract is the way of the future. It is important no matter where you work in this field, if you ever go on your own to always appreciate what you learned. There are so many small details that you might learn in a firm that you could take with you when you start your own business.

Even though there are 532,000 designers employed in the US today, there is still BAD design out there. Why be a graphic designer in this day and age, well not only is it an inspiration to want to change the “bad” design we see but graphic design is so widely excepted now days. There is something so invigorating in competition and god knows that there is no lack of it in the design world.

It is important to know when reading this book that it will not tell you what type of designer to be, but it will give you the resources you need to accomplish a successful business on your own. It will answer those burning questions we all ask ourselves when going through a critique and so on.

One of the key factors in graphic design is communication. Whether you are trying to pitch an idea to a client or even the finished work. It is important to be able to communicate on all levels. We all know that we can’t stand next to our work every time it circulates to a new audience, so we need to be able to communicate the appropriet message in the design itself. Bad communication could be the death of a really good idea, know your client and how to communicate with them.

Monster Event

Release Your Inner Monster was an event put together by ART 470 students; Angie Thomason, Andrea Brock, and Liz Wolcott. Our goal was to give the PSU Graphic Design students a chance to draw what they would think was their inner monster and then set it free by attaching their drawing to a balloon and releasing it into the wild. The three of us came together as a team and put together promotional materials along with cookies and stickers to give to the students after they participated.

The monster event started off a little slow but all and all it was a great success. I think that the students really enjoyed drawing and releasing there monsters into the wild. We ended up with 24 monsters all together. Thanks to everyone for coming and participating!!

Everyone got a cookie and sticker after they released their monster into the wild, the cookies were great Andrea did a wonderful job on the packaging and thanks to Liz for creating the stickers.

Drawing away

Here’s some students releasing their monster into the wild!

Good bye silly monster float away

Poster ideas

Menu idea

These are two poster ideas I have for the promotion of the Food Cart.

Logos

Color ideas for logos

Just an idea for the menu, I want it to be printed directly on a textured paper like cardboard or brown paper bag material.

Business card idea

Emotional Design

This post is in response to the article on Conveying Emotions + Personas

Touching some one’s heart through graphic design is all in the viewer, you can never touch everyone’s heart at once because everyone is different. But is there a way to touch at least one person’s heart? I think with graphic design it can be tricky to set out and make something that is suppose to touch someone’s heart. With graphic design usually the more the audience the better because you are trying to convey a certain message, like for a product or company. Sometimes if something is to personal it will actually do the opposite and offend people. Fine art on the other hand is a different story, usually the artist is creating something that appeals to them or touches them and this results in the piece touching others.

The writers list of ways to touch someone through design or art is pretty literal, I think that any of these ideas would touch most people but again it would need to be directed to a certain audience. Triggering a memory for someone might touch them, but it that same concept might not work on another person. Passion and guts can always grab someones attention, creating something that people wouldn’t expect. But you always run into the problem of the piece doing the opposite and offending someone.

This is also true with surprise, the article talks about the Germans saving Germany from extinction by encouraging reproduction but the images are not what you would expect. Surprise design is definitely something that we see but not as much in the US, we worry too much about the media and how they would take it. For example the Aids campaign is a huge  controversial campaign in some peoples eyes, but does it do the job? Yes it does, it gets people to pay attention it touches them, maybe not their hearts but it touches them somehow. In the end when it comes down to it, a graphic designer needs to design for the audience and if they can touch someone’s heart along the way then they over succeeded their goals.

Menu Copy

This is what I have so far for my menu copy, I just through one of the logos I was working on in there to give it more of a visual impact. I have not started playing with colors yet, I will do that once I have my logo and type choices narrowed down a bit more.

Type+Logo Exploration

Oi logo sketches, I’m not quite sure if I want to do an image logo or a logo with the type.

Well here are some possible type sketches that I’ve been playing with, ignore the “r” it was late and I wasn’t feeling good. Really don’t know why I drew an R and not an I, hahah! Anyways I’m experimenting with hand drawn letters. I also am planning on looking for some stamp letters as well.

These are some digital type choices, I really like the distressed look.

Digital logo ideas, I kind of like the really simplistic Oi with the small pearl in the top corner of the O. This is what I have so far for my type and logo exploration, I would love to get some ideas on which way I should go. I feel that I am going in a couple different directions and non of them can really work with each other. What do you guys think?