Lessons Learnt

I have been freelancing since the 16th June 2010. I have worked on several projects some have been more successful than others. But they have all been worth it because of what I have learnt. Below are several pieces I created to articulate what I have learnt and my opinion on certain things in design. 

Never work for free: it causes people to undervalue design. This includes spec work and competitions especially under the disguise of good exposure. Design is more than worth its price and designer should not have to prove themselves to client who come to them for jobs.

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Listen to the client: Communication is key. This also works both ways. It is important for the designer and client to listen to each other and accept they do not fully understand each others field. To avoid erros later down the line and streamline the entire project it is important that their is a clear line of communication between the designer and client.

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Do not underprice yourself: you will be branded as the "cheap guy". This is very true for freelances like myself who are just starting out in the business. It is easy to think that you will get more client by dropping you price however this is not the case. When you have a lower price client will asume that you are worth that price and find someone else. It is safer to overprice and negotiate back down that to underprice.

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Netwok Netwok Netwok: you never know who you might meet. This is true for all areas of design. Personally i never leave my house without a stack of business cards to hand out just in case. Attend exhibitions, talk to other designers, talk to non designers, family, friends and just let people know what you do. If you dont tell anyone then how will they know to come to you when they need design work. This has always worked for me I have not been without a project since I have begun.

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Be a businessman first, designer second. I have heard some say that most people get into freelance for the design but the successful ones get into it for the business. This must be true as I have heard freelancers make between £5,000 and £100,000 per year. As much as we enjoy the creative side its time we put down out pen tablets and picked up some business books.

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Fight for your rights: Or no one lese will. As a designer. You have more rights that you know. To find out more please visit: The AIGA Copyright Basics.

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Quote early and honestly: It avoids a lot of hassle later. Coming back to price this is one of the things that freelancers often stumble on. It is best to decide on a rate once a design brief has been completed and both parties know what to expect. There are a load of variables to consider such as cost of materials, times taken, research, printing cost and many more all of which have to be weighed up agains bills, software cost, overhead cost, taxes and making a profit on top of that.

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Doodle before you Mac: Never underestimate the power of the pencil. Raise your hand if you have you had an idea, jumped strait onto your mac book pro and begun working (*hand raised*). i think we are all guilty of that. What we need to do is sketch, sketch and sketch some more. You woud surprised how often getting an idea down onto paper can help ideas flow a lot faster. They dont have to be works of art, it is about idea generation not creating a masterpiece. Try it. You will be pleasantly surprised.

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