A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance E-Book

Ben Hannam

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 411

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2012

Beschreibung

A complete guide to freelance graphic design--created specifically for design students Why wait until you graduate? Freelancing is a great way to jumpstart your career in graphic design. It lets you apply what you've been learning in school, close the gaps in your education with real-world experience, enhance your portfolio--and make a little money at the same time. A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect covers everything you need to know to begin successfully freelancing as a designer, including how to set up your business, deal with legal and financial issues, find clients, and work with them effectively. This full-color guide is divided into sections that correspond to your particular skill level as a student--beginner, intermediate, or advanced. These sections give you specific tasks and goals to help your freelance design work go smoothly as you progress from your very first professional job to gain experience with a range of projects and clients and prepare to move into a full-time graphic design career once you complete your studies. Complete with sample forms available online (invoices, a proof approval form, job jacket, and more) and 175 color images, including samples of paid work created by students, A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect will help you navigate the world of freelance design with confidence. Inside this book, you will learn to: * Write a business plan * Purchase key equipment * Set rates and draw up contracts * Find and manage clients * Create and show concepts * Market your company * Expand your business * Develop your portfolio * And more

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Accessing Digital Files Online

Preface

Acknowledgments

General Information

Chapter 1: Introduction

Filling in the Gaps in Your Education

What Is Freelance?

Don't Wait until You Graduate

About This Book

Chapter 2: Why Should You Freelance?

Balancing Creativity and Commerce

Escaping the Project Mode Mentality

Working for Money

Working for Trade

Enhancing Your Portfolio

Learning to Fail

Experience the Thrill of Owning a Business

Chapter 3: Planning Your Business

Writing a Business Plan

Performing a SWOT Analysis

Identifying External Factors

Chapter 4: I Have A Business Plan. Now What?

Choosing a Business Name

Talk to a CPA and Fill out Your LLC Paperwork

Apply for an Employer Identification Number

Opening a Business Checking Account

Getting a Business License

Checklist

Beginner Level

Chapter 5: There's a First Time for Everything

Goals for Beginning Freelancers

Equipment to Purchase

How Do You Find Your First Client?

What Type of Work Should You Do?

Writing a Contract

Understanding What's in Your Contract

Meeting Your Client

Creating Your Sketches and Concepts

Showing Your Client Your Concepts

Delivering Your Proof

Delivering the Final Product

Sending an Invoice

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

Beginner Checklist

Intermediate Level

Chapter 6: Gaining Momentum

Goals for Intermediate Level Freelancers

Equipment to Purchase

How Do You Find Clients?

What Type of Work Should You Do?

Establish an Internal Work-Flow System

Creating a Master Client List

Creating a Master Job Tracking List

Tracking Your Jobs

Archiving Your Work

Creating a Business Card

Working with Vendors

Managing Your Time

Documenting Your Process Work

Finding an Internship

Ethical Considerations

Intermediate Level Checklist

Advanced Level

Chapter 7: Stretching Your Wings

Goals for Advanced Level Freelancers

Equipment to Purchase

Types of Clients You Should Work With

Creating a Web Presence for Your Company

Planning for What Comes after School

Choosing the Right Portfolio for The Job

Choosing the Right Portfolio Pieces

Creating a Monthly Budget

Creating a PDF Portfolio

Submitting A PDF Portfolio

What to Say In a Letter of Interest

Advanced Level Checklist

Landing a Job

Chapter 8: Moving Forward

Getting a Job

Writing a Résumé

Preparing for an Interview

Negotiating an Offer

Tips From Professionals

Chapter 9: Epilogue

Looking Back on Your Experience

Resources

Index

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Hannam, Ben.

A graphic design student's guide to freelance : Practice makes perfect / Ben Hannam.

pages cm

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-118-34196-4 (pbk.); ISBN 978-1-118-39621-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-39623-0 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-39704-6 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-39705-3 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-39731-2 (ebk)

1. Commercial art—Vocational guidance—United States. I. Title.

NC1001.H36 2012

741.6023—dc23

2012011012

Book Cover Designed by FourDesign

FourDesign is a faculty-led, student-run digital and print design agency at Virginia Tech, within the Visual Communication Design department in the School of Visual Arts. FourDesign specializes in corporate branding, print design, signage development, advertising, and basic web and interactive design. For more information visit www.wearefourdesign.com. Cover concept and illustration by Drew Ellis.

Accessing Digital Files Online

There are several business forms that you can access online and use to help protect yourself, manage your work flow, and prepare a budget. You are free to modify these documents to fit your needs. However, before using these documents you should consult with a business attorney to make sure they provide you with ample legal protection for your region. To access these forms, you must go to www.wiley.com/go/graphicdesignstudentguide

Files Available For Download

Job Proposal Form

InDesign CS3+

Proof Approval Form

InDesign CS3+

Invoice of Services

InDesign CS3+

Time Sheet

InDesign CS3+

Master Client List

InDesign CS3+

Master Job Tracking List

Microsoft Excel 2008+

Archive Your Work

Apple Macintosh OS X

Monthly Budget

Microsoft Excel 2008+

Job Jacket

Adobe Illustrator CS3+

Model Release Form

InDesign CS3+

Vendor Contract

InDesign CS3+

Retainer Client Contract

InDesign CS3+

Request For Proposals

InDesign CS3+

Preface

For the last four years I've required the students entering my Introduction to Graphic Design class to work with a paying freelance client. I'm one of those annoying teachers who love seeing their students achieve more than they thought possible, and I'm okay with pushing my students beyond their comfort zones.

I was pushed hard at Virginia Commonwealth University, and while it was occasionally painful, it was a time when I experienced tremendous growth as a graphic designer. Sometimes we have to be reminded to work outside our comfort zones because it's easy to become complacent and only embrace the opportunities that are easy for us to complete. It doesn't matter if the change takes the form of writing your first book, experimenting with a new design methodology, or working for your first freelance client. These are all opportunities for growth.

In order to get outside of our comfort zones, we occasionally need a little nudge from behind or must gather our courage and take a running start. Just like entering a cold pool on a warm summer day, once we acclimate ourselves to the initial shock of entering the chilly water, we adjust quickly to our new conditions. As a student in a graphic design program, the question you need to answer is, “Are you ready to try something new, or do you want to maintain the status quo?”

This book is written for students who are willing to try something new and who are interested in learning more about working as a freelance designer. Throughout this book I have tried to strike a balance between encouraging you to work outside your comfort zones and helping you to minimize your chances of a less than successful outcome. The bottom line is that while I can help you lay out a strategy to work with clients, you have to provide the common sense, motivation, and work ethic. For many of you success will be determined by the amount of energy you are willing to put into your freelancing endeavor.

I asked my students how they felt when they learned that they were going to have to work with a client; 50 percent of the class said they felt nervous, 40 percent said they felt confident, and 10 percent said they were ambivalent about the idea. Strangely, it's the students who said they were ambivalent about the idea who worried me the most. Working with a client isn't something to be taken lightly, and a measured amount of fear is to be expected. Similarly, being confident in one's abilities can help a student power through indecision and lead to success. It's the “not caring” mentality that I believe is the biggest predictor of a less-than-successful outcome.

I can offer encouragement for those students who are intimidated by working with clients, and I can help those who are ready to hit the ground running understand why it's important to develop a plan before leaping into action, but I can't make someone who is ambivalent suddenly begin to care. No matter how hard I try, I can't push a rope. But I can certainly use one to rein in motivated students. Without self-motivation, you will be dead in the water.

Chances are good that working as a freelance designer isn't going to be as traumatic as one might think. When I polled my class to see if I should continue to require classes to work with a client over 90 percent of my students said “Yes, absolutely!” Not a single person replied “No.” It's clear by this response that my students valued the experience, but their response certainly didn't mean their experience was problem-free. In fact, 80 percent of my students described working with a clients as “problematic at times, but successful overall,” and I think this is indicative of the design profession as a whole. Rarely have I ever worked on a project where I did not run into some kind of snag. As students gain more work experience they realize that there are times when they will need to be firm, times when they need to be accommodating, times when they need to accept constraints, and times when they just need to break all the rules. Perhaps one of the most difficult lessons to learn is when to fight for something and when to give in.

It can be incredibly difficult, without actually working with a client, to develop the sensitivity to know when you should dig in your heels and when you should be flexible. The small nuances of the designer/client relationships simply can't be learned in the artificial reefs of academia. While academia provides students with the freedom to take risks and fail with minimal repercussions, there is a great deal you can learn through the firsthand experience of working with a client. Business is about relationships, and business relationships are difficult to fabricate in academia and remain authentic. It's important to realize that a school and a design agency have very different goals. While the school's goal might be to equip students with knowledge, an agency's goal is to make a profit. When organizations have different objectives, it is not uncommon for them to take different paths to reach their goals—which is why there is a gap between academia and professional practice.

Many graphic design programs try and bridge this gap by requiring you to complete an internship or by offering a Professional Practices class. These are fantastic opportunities that you should take advantage of, but when you freelance, you are working as a professional, and you must weigh the risk versus reward scenarios before you act. There is no safety net, no umbrella of academic protection, and no Command + Z to press if you get in over your head—your successes and failures are yours alone. While there may be plenty of people you can turn to for advice, the decisions are yours to make. If you make good decisions, then you will reap the rewards, but if you make bad decisions, then you will feel the consequences. It's extremely difficult to create this type of experience within the walls of academia.

I've worked as a consultant, a creative director, a graphic designer, a small-business owner, and an educator. I've hired and fired interns, graphic designers, illustrators, writers, photographers, and computer programmers, and I've learned that there is a big difference between my expectations as a teacher and my expectations as a business owner. By choosing to freelance, you help close the gap between your academic experiences and your professional experiences, learn more about the disconnect between academia and the design profession, and make yourself a better designer in the process.

I want you to succeed in both your academic and freelance endeavors because both will help you understand the design profession better. I tried to write the type of book I wish I had read when I was still a student in college, one that is encouraging, and yet realistic with its goals. I remember how proud I felt when I walked around town and saw my freelance work in restaurants and local businesses. I hope you get to experience this feeling of accomplishment for yourself.

I tell my students that if they can work with a client once, then they can do it again. Every time they work with a client (even if they fail), they'll learn a bit more about the design profession—and a bit more about themselves. I have no doubt that this experience can yield the same results for you. Good luck!

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to the many individuals who have made this book possible. Many of my views about graphic design and life have been shaped by my conversations with friends, family, colleagues, and students, and I am deeply grateful for your hard work, kind words, constructive criticism, and encouragement.

I owe Michele Domenech a debt of gratitude for convincing me that I should write this book, and for coaching me through the process—thank you for your help.

I count myself very lucky to have such awesome colleagues to work with. Dr. Troy Abel and Meaghan Dee have become extended family and sources of encouragement and inspiration. I would also like to thank Somiah Muslimani and Darin Hagerman for their friendship, contributions, and support. You guys kept me laughing, and I hope to work with you again soon.

There would be no book without the help of Margaret Cummins, Amanda Miller, Mike New, David Sassian, and the entire team at John Wiley & Sons. Thank you for your hard work and support of this project.

I would like to take a moment and thank the Radford Small-business Development Group, John Wallace, Cole Harven, Greg Justice, Anne Graves, Jack Davis, Virginia Tech, the School of Visual Arts, and all of the students who submitted examples of their freelance work. I appreciate your contributions and kind words.

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my beautiful wife Julie, daughter Ruby, and son Beckett for their love, patience, and support—I am most grateful for you. My family has always encouraged and supported me through both my successes and failures and have given me the courage to “Go big, fail big.” Mom, Dad, Matt, Whitney, and Sarah, I appreciate and love you all immensely. Thank you for your love and support.

General Information

Chapter 1

Introduction

My first job after graduating college was at a local printing company. They hired me to prepare files for printing and to do some graphic design work when it was needed. I remember being nervous, but feeling confident that I'd do well. In fact, I felt so confident in my graphic design abilities that I was already calculating ways I could approach my boss to talk to him about giving me a raise. I hadn't even made it through my first day, and I was already thinking about strategies to convince my boss that I was worth a lot more money.

My job was simple enough. People sent in their files to get printed, and my job was to open the files on the computer and print out color separations on a special printer, which printed on film instead of paper. As film came out of the special printer, it spooled into a light safe canister, and it was my job to take the canister of film to a darkroom and run it through a processor to develop the film. After the film had been developed, I gave the film negatives to a person called a “stripper,” who registered the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black separations to make an impression on a metal plate that was treated with a light-sensitive coating. After the metal plate had been “burned,” it would get delivered to the printing press operator, who would prepare the printing press.