How to Find a Great Graphic Designer
Luca Di Nicola asked:
Finding a great Graphic Designer can be about as difficult as finding your life’s calling with a million dollar paycheck. Sure they exist however finding the right one takes patience, diligence, a whole lot of time and a bit of luck, right? Not necessarily. Finding a great graphic designer is easy – when you know where to look.
Begin by asking friends, family and business associates who have great graphics. Unless they did their graphics themselves they had to have hired a graphic designer. Referrals are the best place to find a great graphic designer. However know that great graphic designers are like great babysitters in that once you’ve found one you may be reluctant to share them with others since that may mean they’ll be unavailable for you. Your friends and associates may hold out on you even if they do know a great designer.
Visit websites you like with great graphics. Many businesses will use the same graphic designer for all their design needs. That means designers that do logos may also create website graphics. Often, at the bottom of a website you’ll see the website creator and/or graphic designer listed. It’s usually a link – click on it and visit their website. View their portfolio and if everything looks good, give them a call.
Visit graphic design associations. Every vocation has a number of associations to belong to and graphic design is no different. Participation in these associations isn’t a guarantee that the designer is spectacular however it is a good place to start. Two main organizations are:
- The Graphic Artists Guild – www.gag.org – The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – www.aiga.org
Once you have a few names to check out, it’s time to compare. While price may be at the top of your priority list, it’s important to also view their portfolio. A logo and design you, and more importantly your target audience, love is well worth twice the price of a poorly designed logo.
You’ll also want to evaluate their terms, professionalism and the systems they have in place to make sure they understand your needs and the image you’re trying to project. Some graphic designers will speak to you on the phone while others have a form they’ll have you fill out. If a designer never asks about the image you want for your material – find a different designer.
Make sure you get the terms in writing. The terms of your agreement should include payment terms, revisions, and how you’re expected to communicate. While these may seem like small details they can make all the difference between a great relationship with your graphic designer and an unsatisfactory experience.
Finding a great Graphic Designer can be about as difficult as finding your life’s calling with a million dollar paycheck. Sure they exist however finding the right one takes patience, diligence, a whole lot of time and a bit of luck, right? Not necessarily. Finding a great graphic designer is easy – when you know where to look.
Begin by asking friends, family and business associates who have great graphics. Unless they did their graphics themselves they had to have hired a graphic designer. Referrals are the best place to find a great graphic designer. However know that great graphic designers are like great babysitters in that once you’ve found one you may be reluctant to share them with others since that may mean they’ll be unavailable for you. Your friends and associates may hold out on you even if they do know a great designer.
Visit websites you like with great graphics. Many businesses will use the same graphic designer for all their design needs. That means designers that do logos may also create website graphics. Often, at the bottom of a website you’ll see the website creator and/or graphic designer listed. It’s usually a link – click on it and visit their website. View their portfolio and if everything looks good, give them a call.
Visit graphic design associations. Every vocation has a number of associations to belong to and graphic design is no different. Participation in these associations isn’t a guarantee that the designer is spectacular however it is a good place to start. Two main organizations are:
- The Graphic Artists Guild – www.gag.org – The American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) – www.aiga.org
Once you have a few names to check out, it’s time to compare. While price may be at the top of your priority list, it’s important to also view their portfolio. A logo and design you, and more importantly your target audience, love is well worth twice the price of a poorly designed logo.
You’ll also want to evaluate their terms, professionalism and the systems they have in place to make sure they understand your needs and the image you’re trying to project. Some graphic designers will speak to you on the phone while others have a form they’ll have you fill out. If a designer never asks about the image you want for your material – find a different designer.
Make sure you get the terms in writing. The terms of your agreement should include payment terms, revisions, and how you’re expected to communicate. While these may seem like small details they can make all the difference between a great relationship with your graphic designer and an unsatisfactory experience.
Make your next Graphic Design Job Your Last. How to retire wealthy in a few easy steps
May 14, 2011 by admin
Filed under Advertising
Horatio Farquaar asked:
We’ve all dreamed of spending our working days reclinining back in a deck chair eating cheese sandwiches on an overcast summers day. But then we remember the mortgage/kids/wifes $500 a day drug habit and our fantasies turn to dust. It doesn’t have to be this way. Here at www.mindtap.co.uk we show in 5 easy steps how you can quit that lousy Graphic Design job and spend the rest of your life living in easy street.
Step 1: Think yourself in a better place and low and behold it will happen
This is your first step towards financial freedom. Imagine if you will yourself sat upon a huge pile of money, flinging it in the air with *** abandon and why not? Congratulations you’ve just made the first step towards making this a reality. Forget the graphic designer career you had mapped out. Let’s join the idle rich instead.
Step 2: Tell the boss what you think of him and burn those bridges!
Now its time to get some payback. Remember the time your design studio manager had you stay late and manually key in that 1oo page farming brochure text by hand and then laughed at you in your face? Right, we’ll show him who’s boss. A good way to be forcibly removed from the office and earn some extra kudos from your fellow graphic design employees is to take a dump and leave it festering away in a drawer in the bosses desk.Just wait for his reaction when he smells that sick stunt. You’re history.
Step 3: When you hit rock bottom the only way is up, up and away
No job = No money right? Wrong you putz. How do you think the tramps and beggars fill there days outside sainsburys? That’s right – drinking and robbing. It isn’t absolutely necessary to pick up a drink and drug habit at this stage but it isn’t going to harm your chances of success. Now would also be a good opportunity to get rid of the other half if you happen to have one. A spot of domestic violence after hitting the bottle is usually enough encouragement. Hey Presto, one more tiresome burdon off your back!
Step 4: Remember keep your vision and your dreams will come true
At every stage in this degenerate journey, never lose sight of that image we visuallised in step one of yourself sitting astride a huge pile of banknotes. They can take away your dignity but not your dreams. After several years of eeking out a living as a street bum its time to get this show on the road. Think hard about your previous day to day life, was there someone in your remote family or circle of friends who had a large stash of cash readily disposable? It’s time to pay them a visit with cap in hand.
Step 5: Invest wisely and you can say hello to a life of wanton abandon
Now after securing your large sum of cash from your chosen aquaintence, its prudent not to blow it all in one go on 200ft gold statues of yourself or buying an amusement park complete with zoo. No, you don’t want to be going back to the nine to five graphic design day job do you? There are a thousand ways to invest your cash so that it will sit pretty and continue giving you a steady stream or revenue for a long time. Property for example is ‘as safe as houses’ or maybe put it all in a high interest savings account. It’s taken a long time to reach your goal and hopefully the pain, ill health and loneliness have been worth it.
We’ve all dreamed of spending our working days reclinining back in a deck chair eating cheese sandwiches on an overcast summers day. But then we remember the mortgage/kids/wifes $500 a day drug habit and our fantasies turn to dust. It doesn’t have to be this way. Here at www.mindtap.co.uk we show in 5 easy steps how you can quit that lousy Graphic Design job and spend the rest of your life living in easy street.
Step 1: Think yourself in a better place and low and behold it will happen
This is your first step towards financial freedom. Imagine if you will yourself sat upon a huge pile of money, flinging it in the air with *** abandon and why not? Congratulations you’ve just made the first step towards making this a reality. Forget the graphic designer career you had mapped out. Let’s join the idle rich instead.
Step 2: Tell the boss what you think of him and burn those bridges!
Now its time to get some payback. Remember the time your design studio manager had you stay late and manually key in that 1oo page farming brochure text by hand and then laughed at you in your face? Right, we’ll show him who’s boss. A good way to be forcibly removed from the office and earn some extra kudos from your fellow graphic design employees is to take a dump and leave it festering away in a drawer in the bosses desk.Just wait for his reaction when he smells that sick stunt. You’re history.
Step 3: When you hit rock bottom the only way is up, up and away
No job = No money right? Wrong you putz. How do you think the tramps and beggars fill there days outside sainsburys? That’s right – drinking and robbing. It isn’t absolutely necessary to pick up a drink and drug habit at this stage but it isn’t going to harm your chances of success. Now would also be a good opportunity to get rid of the other half if you happen to have one. A spot of domestic violence after hitting the bottle is usually enough encouragement. Hey Presto, one more tiresome burdon off your back!
Step 4: Remember keep your vision and your dreams will come true
At every stage in this degenerate journey, never lose sight of that image we visuallised in step one of yourself sitting astride a huge pile of banknotes. They can take away your dignity but not your dreams. After several years of eeking out a living as a street bum its time to get this show on the road. Think hard about your previous day to day life, was there someone in your remote family or circle of friends who had a large stash of cash readily disposable? It’s time to pay them a visit with cap in hand.
Step 5: Invest wisely and you can say hello to a life of wanton abandon
Now after securing your large sum of cash from your chosen aquaintence, its prudent not to blow it all in one go on 200ft gold statues of yourself or buying an amusement park complete with zoo. No, you don’t want to be going back to the nine to five graphic design day job do you? There are a thousand ways to invest your cash so that it will sit pretty and continue giving you a steady stream or revenue for a long time. Property for example is ‘as safe as houses’ or maybe put it all in a high interest savings account. It’s taken a long time to reach your goal and hopefully the pain, ill health and loneliness have been worth it.
