Art & Design

Freelancer perfect at Graphic Web Designing. 

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Inspiring Graphic Design Blogs for Creative Designers 2020

Let’s get Started! 

Creative Review

Established in 1980, Creative Review is the world's driving month to month magazine for promoting, structure and visual culture. What's more, a similar top-notch news coverage that illuminates it helps through to its site, which includes a scope of news, surveys and highlights from the innovative world.

Digital Arts

Like Creative Bloq (above), Digital Arts offers motivation, exhortation and instructional exercises for advanced creatives across marking and visual depiction, representation, UX and intuitive plan, movement, VR and VFX, just as far reaching inclusion of the most recent improvements.

Design Week

Established in 1986, Design Week was the UK's driving plan magazine until 2011, when it became online-as it were. It keeps on bringing you top notch, elegantly composed news and motivation across designs, marking, insides, computerized, item, furniture and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Creative Boom

Inventive Boom (obviously) praises, rouses and bolsters the innovative network and has a fantastic area on visual depiction to give you heaps of motivation. The magazine likewise includes adroit meetings with a portion of the world's driving fashioners – Paula Scher being an ongoing model.

Dropbox Design

A large portion of us have utilized the document sharing help Dropbox sooner or later in our lives, yet did you realize it has a blog as well? It's a fine one at that, highlighting a variety of articles on the topic of UX, with subjects including client investigate, venture the board, and configuration tooling.

Creative Bloq

Innovative Bloq highlights guidance, meetings and audits taken from four print magazines: Computer Arts (visual computerization and marking), net (website architecture), 3D World (movement/VFX) and ImagineFX (Art). It likewise posts day by day news from the innovative business, going from enjoyable to genuine.

The Dieline

For anybody working in bundling plan, The Dieline has everything wrapped up. It's essentially the Bible of the division: a spot where the network can survey, investigate and remain educated regarding the most recent industry patterns, and look at configuration ventures being made in the field.

Fonts In Use Blog

Text styles In Use is an open chronicle of typography recorded by typeface, arrangement, and industry. A free venture drove by Sam Berlow, Stephen Coles, and Nick Sherman, it reports and looks at visual communication meaning to improve typographic proficiency and appreciation.

Masterpicks

Searching for motivation from genuine ventures? Masterpicks has you secured. This picture drove blog presents you with another, hand-picked configuration venture each day, across UX and UI structure, outline, liveliness, 3D craftsmanship, visual depiction, marking, modern plan and photography.

Abduzeedo

It is a group of individual journalists sharing articles about engineering, structure, photography and UX. Established by Brazilian originator Fabio Sasso in 2006, it's especially solid on 3D work, which is something that doesn't get a lot of consideration from most plan online journals.

Frank Chimero

Veteran fashioner Frank Chimero shares his contemplation consistently on his much-visited blog, and they're especially worth perusing. Hopping between the web, plan, composing, music, film, self-advancement, and work culture, his posts are flawlessly composed and constantly significant.

Creative Public 

Another old fashioned blog with great information and free resources is CreativePublic.com that can provide you the best in need. It doesn't matter whether you are a professional or armature this web and graphic design blog has many things to offer. Specially designed to help freelance designers to set their career path in more easy and professional way. You can get graphic design resources, contract forms and many more. 

Create by Adobe

Make is Adobe's magazine by creatives, for creatives — accessible on the web and as a versatile application. Visit them for motivation and instructional exercises on photography, delineation, visual depiction, website composition, movement illustrations, sound/video, marking, and that's just the beginning.

If you are looking for eBooks for better web and graphic designing then here is the Web Design 101 eBook to help your grow as a skilled designer. 

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Web Design 101- A Free eBook for Web Design Beginners

In the event that you need to begin learning website architecture and advancement, you will locate a flat out pile of data accessible online which will cover each part of this specialized procedure. The principle aptitudes you should learn are HTML, CSS, and Javascript for front-end structure, it will likewise assist with thinking about making mockups, wire confining, UX Design and the procedures required at each stage. This eBook 101 is designed by CreativePublic.com and it targets the learning enthusiasts like you.

There are numerous approaches to become familiar with these abilities, for example, following the web instructional exercises, watching recordings, joining intuitive courses, etc. Another path is by tracking within physical books or eBooks – we discover this is probably the most ideal approach to learn as a book is organized effectively to lead you along the procedure bit by bit. 

On the off chance that you might want to begin learning Web Design, we have assembled this assortment of totally free eBook which you can download to assist you with learning various angles. Regardless of whether you need to gain proficiency with these strategies to fabricate your own site or take it further and enter a profession right now will discover something here of worth – Take a look underneath and start your excursion of learning this energizing and remunerating new ability.

If you are looking for more than just an eBook, visiting the site itself will provide the best web and graphic design resources that come all free and some resources in the paid version as well. CreativePublic has been in the industry for more than 20years and it serves the purpose by providing guidelines to amateur artists and freelancers with necessary contract forms, balance sheets and tips for setting up their charges in more efficient and professional manners. It is a great site to track your career and excel. 

Download - Free Graphic & Web Design eBook

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How Companies Benefited by Improving Their Web Design

You’re missing out on several big opportunities for improving your business by refusing to spend more of your time online. You should know that there are several good reasons why you need to consider having a greater online presence.

Find out what these explanations are so you can more intelligently contemplate if it’s the right move for your company. Take the time to educate yourself regarding what the Internet can do for your business and then be prepared to take action. There are quite a few benefits that will come from your efforts in this area that you’ll want to know about as well.

Increase in Sales

One reason you should consider having a greater online presence for your business is that you’ll be able to increase your sales. Drive people to your products or services by building a website and selling these items online. You can use a custom website builder to help you establish your existence and then configure your store once you’re up and running. It’s no secret that an increasing number of consumers want to make purchases from the comfort of their own home.

Engage with Customers Regularly

You should also think about gaining traction online, so you can regularly engage with your customers.

How can you do this?

Through your website

On social media

And do update yourself by getting enough information and resources from websites like Graphic Web Design Rates and Resources. 

With email campaigns

Use this as an opportunity to build relationships with those who are interested in or already have purchased your products or services. It’s important to always be top of mind with consumers if you want to draw in more business and make a name for yourself.

An outlet for Advertising Products & Services

In addition to regular engagement, you might also want to consider having a greater online presence so you can efficiently and cost-effectively advertise your products or services. The internet is the perfect medium for you to get your brand message across quickly and clearly without even having to leave the office. It’s also a way for you to get in front of your target audience without being pushy or intrusive.

Brand Building

A great strategy for building trust with your customers is to have an online presence so they can check you out and get to know you better. For example, having a long list of positive customer reviews will help you gain respect and entice consumers to want to do business with you. The more they see you in a positive light, the more likely they’ll be to want to work with you later. You can also use your blog to showcase your knowledge and share valuable information with your audience.

Conclusion

You should now have a better understanding of why you need to get your business in the online space. You’re missing out on a lot of chances to connect with your customers if you choose not to engage over the Internet. Give some or all of these ideas a try and see what works best for your business so you can proceed accordingly.

Source - CreativePublic Blog

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Resources to Bookmark for Graphic and Web Designers

Paaatters is a great platform and lifesaver because it is a free collection of beautiful patterns that is ready to customize, edit and sketch. Check this site out for a great resource to design for a business card or abstract graphics for any other design projects.

CreativePublic Its a pretty old and experienced website that’s been in the industry for more than two decades and still strong with various resources it offers. You can have both free as well as paid resources and if you are a freelancer then it can provide you great help with readymade templates for accounting, contracts, forms, and rates.

DesignBundles offers great resources for all sort of design elements that includes graphic packs, illustrations, icons, fonts, and templates. You'll need to register for a free account to get your hands on them, but it's worth the effort as not only are these elements available for free, most of them are also licensed for commercial use.

Ionicons If you are looking for decent icons then this site can be helpful. It contains an ample collection of app icons and also a good helping of logos to go with them that goes along with Material and iOS styles, for web, Android, iOS and desktop apps.

HungryJPEG Another general graphic and web design resource with tons of fonts, graphics and templates to download are the hungryJPEG comes with various resources available. In this site, you'll find plenty of background graphics, fonts, clipart and more and much of it comes with a commercial license too.

Find More - Graphic Web Design Contracts 

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Essential Tips for Designing Posters for Effective Marketing

Posters are now a cost-effective medium for promoting a business. Many business marketers inaugurate a poster campaign to promote their products or services where they also announce some attractive price reductions using a poster. In context to small businesses, cutting their costs on advertising and marketing is the main goal to fit in their budget. However, the key elements in designing a poster are their different sizes according to the need and this can vary widely. A common size considered is 8.5 by 11-inch letter and 11 by 17 inches, and 22 inches by 34 inches. Besides that, there are also larger formats in 24 by 36 inches. While posters are commonly designed with a vertical orientation, you can only find them horizontally or vertically.

Should be Readable from Distance

Make sure your posters are seen from a truthful distance and also the statistics they carry need to be readable from an inexpensive distance. People do now not care to come back too near a poster to study neither they have time. It is wise to keep your text bold and big enough to make it readable which can have a headline in ambitious letters. In the second phase Supply the number one information and the message of your poster. However, offer the information inside the font length that is half of the main headline. Other details which can be of teenage importance can pass at the lowest of the poster in smaller fonts.

Use of Contrast

Human being’s attention time is getting shorter so this means you have to grab their attention as soon as possible to feed about your products and services. Hence, using contrast can be helpful if there are factors of contrast. Hence, use darkish and light colorations. Natural black and natural white provide the final comparison of color standards.  www.creativepublic.com So, instead of using a monotone shade palette, you ought to decide on colorings that appear pretty distinctive. 

Recall the Location

Something important while considering a poster design can be developing a poster design in the vicinity. Identify where in the poster may be located and according to its surrounding factors the size of the poster and visible clutter are included in choosing the location. Humans need to be able to see your call to drive. Your poster may be posted online or displayed on a bulletin board which means many other posters are already there in those locations that will make it tough to grab the attention of people. To compete for the target market’s interest, your poster needs to stand out. It must be unique and evident.

Make it Scalable

Poster designs are generally meant for print projects which require you to create mini-posters as well. So, it is important to know earlier that your buyer can use the poster in various places to extract most of it from both the internet and offline structures. Make sure to create specific versions of your poster that needs to be such that it looks equally effective in its mini version. Even if the poster design is scaled right down to the size of a postcard, each element should be absolutely seen.

Pay Attention to Call-To-Action

Call to action is the goal of overall marketing and your time-money investment for creating posters. With everything you have done in the end, you would be expecting them to visit an event, buy your products or services, be part of a campaign, registration deadlines, buying tickets, discounts, and so on. You need to give them a call to take the action you want and therefore, a call to action slogan or line at the end or middle of a poster is necessary to design.

CreativePublic.com can be one best option to learn more about designing. It is a professional website that helps people learn about new updates and courses regarding web and graphic design. You can also get various templates and freelance forms & contracts to help support your freelancing business. 

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Tips for Hiring a Freelance Graphic Designer

In this digital world, the art of graphic design is a well-known process to make any business stand out among its competitors. Advertisement plays a crucial role in the success of any business organization but it is not just an advertisement that increases the sales but advertisement with attraction is key. 

Depending on your company’s need for hiring a graphic design firm or a professional freelancer may vary but in this post, we are targeting those firms and business houses who should hire a freelancer instead of a firm. If you are running a small business organization and the need for a graphic designer is not so frequent then it is one reason to hire a professional graphic designer instead of a firm. Moreover, if the budget of the company is tight and you want to avoid over-staffing then again freelance is a better option. Back in 2005 hiring a freelancer was a tough task and would arise a trust issue but now there are many websites that offer services from freelancers worldwide. 

Companies like Upwork.com and Freelnacer.com are one reputed platform to hire a freelancer and at the same time be secure for payment methods and everything. These websites help find you a secure channel to hire interested graphic designers according to their skill and cost. However, sometimes you might find lots of bidding in your post and may lead to confusion but if done wisely can help you hire someone who is professional and dedicated to their job. When hiring a graphic designer make sure you to check their previous work and designs because that will help you rate and compare their work with other bidders. Similarly, the cost is something important and in sites like Upwork.com, you are more likely to find a wide range of graphic and web designers that charge $90 to $5 per hour for their work.

Portfolios for Graphic Designers 

Well, it all depends on your budget, need and how far you are concerned about your designs and perfection of the work. You can also find graphic designers in various parts of the globe that can draw for you in budgeted cost and one way to finding them is simply use Google to locate their business and location. ”Graphic designers in Nepal” can be one popular keyword for searchers like you to land on creative graphic and web designers who are willing to work in your budget. However, the mode of payments and conditions should be well understood before making any sort of deals because in this case there is no mediator to resolve your issue if arises at the payment time. 

There are no set of rules for hiring a graphic designer and there are many options to do so but the main task that needs to be resolved is your company’s promotion and quality advertisements. Hence, it is always a wise decision to understand the work value, check the freelancer’s portfolios and recommendations. 

I hope this post was helpful to give you an insight into hiring a freelance graphic designer and the risk associated. If you want to read more you can check our post that deals with hiring graphic designer, pros and cons related, etc.

Graphic Design Contract Templates - Graphic Design Pricing Guides - 

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Tips for Hiring a Graphic Designer

In this digital age, there are many reasons to hire a professional graphic designer for the success of your company. If you own a website or a Facebook page then 85% of your product’s image is weighed online by your customers and clients. It has become a wide range of practices to visit a website to learn about the services and products then if a necessary client visits your store. So, with that being said the first impression about your company is already created when a customer visits your official website. In this case, the importance of presentation becomes key to conversion.

A graphic designer might not sound an important part of a company back in the 90s but in this digital age, it is a designer whose skill and experience counts on your company’s impression way before then your product and services. In this post, I will be discussing the necessity of an experienced graphic designer for conversion and ROI.

If you are someone looking for a professional freelance graphic designer or in seek of hiring a graphic design company then here are a few points that you ought to remember and follow.

The selection of a graphic designer can be frustrating and confusing when you are not sure about every detail to check and balance. Well, here are a few things that will help you cut down things to the most important ones.

Experience – You need to find an experienced graphic designer who knows his job well. In this creative field, it is better to focus on the portfolios of graphic designers than their university degrees. Make sure the designer you will be interviewing is good with recent designing software and trend. It is usually better to ask their choice of designing and their expertise in the field because not every graphic designer being a designer can be a better logo maker.

Work Delivery – You do not want to hire someone who always misses the deadlines and cannot keep up with the company’s work pace. It is better to hire someone full time if you are not sure freelancers can serve your needs. However, if your company is small then hiring a freelancer keeps your budget tight then a full-time jobholder to whom your company becomes liable every payday. It is also important to find out if he/she can work under pressure and keep things right in the time of rush.

Sample Work – It is generally wrong to ask a professional designer to create a sample just to make sure you are talking to the right person. Hence, in such a case it is highly advisable to judge their quality work and skills viewing their work portfolios and previous designs. Usually, designers will have their quality work demonstrated in their CVs to earn your confidence and make things easy for you.

Payment Terms Policies – Something very important while hiring is the payment terms and conditions. Make sure you and the freelancer or the firm is clear about the payment methods and conditions. It is so often to see disputes not because of the unsatisfying job but with the payments and time. It is equally common to see the company’s delaying payments due to their own issue which is something very unprofessional. Similarly, a refund is also something important to consider.

Customer care - Many graphic design clients often complain regarding customer care, so you want to make sure the freelancer or the firm you are hiring for your graphic and web designing project offers good customer care. During the project you may require to make frequent contacts with the designer regarding instruction, work progress, etc. similarly after the completion of the project you may want a designer to be available for any sort of needs and therefore customer care plays an important role for every part of your project to run smoothly.

I hope the post was informative enough to give you an insight regarding hiring a graphic designer for your company and firms. Depending upon your company’s need and products it is up to you to choose and decide whether the freelancer will be profitable or a firm. 

Source - Graphic Design Pricing Guides - Graphic Design Contract Templates

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Von Glitschka | Audio Interview - illustrative design

AUDIO INTERVIEW 2007: Von Glitschka of Glitschka Studios --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...

Creative graphic and web designers need to listen to this audio/video to get better insight for their freelance graphic design resources and to shape your career. Don’t miss this amazing interview with Von Flitschka. 

Video Source - www.CreativePublic.com

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Introduction on Graphic Design Business Resources from Jason Vaughn 

About Jason Vaughn 

Founder of CreativePublic.com. Over two decades of experience in the graphic design industry including print, TV, animation, Internet and even restaurant design and construction. Throughout the years, I have had my own graphic design firm, owned a restaurant, and had several shares in an Internet startup, as well as many other freelance business opportunities I am currently involved in.

As years went by, I eventually learned the best ways around this industry and have created a successful freelance business called Art Space Design, LLC which has been in business since 1998.

I developed CreativePublic.com to show designers what to do and what not to do in the graphic design business world. This site was also created to give graphic designers resources for starting their own business or expanding into a freelance role, without having to go through the headaches that I did.

Throughout the years, many people have come to me, asking me how I got started and what it took to get going in business. Well, this site is dedicated to just that. For a low membership fee, you can get full access to: forms, contracts, pricing guides and more.

Video Source - www.CreativePublic.com

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Graphic Designing as a Career

We meet so many persons in our life and when we get to know them we find that all are doing something to making their living. Some people are doing things for living that we generally call it a job for living while there are the other groups who have a career. It is important to have a formal education, training, and dedication to make a career worth pursuing like in the field of medicines and piloting. However, there are few careers that solely revolve around your talent, skill, and passion. We are talking about the field of arts and in this article, we will be discussing the career of a graphic designer.

A successful career as a graphic designer can lead you to become a celebrity with a hundred thousand followers on Instagram and with a generous income. Those who are dreaming to become a graphic designer knew it back then in their childhood when they got their first A in an art class. If you are still someone who loves creating fine arts using various art tools in your computer then you are someone who has a potential in the world of graphic designing.

In general graphic design is the art of communication where simple text and pictures express your message to the world that is subtle but at the same time powerful. A poet with designs is not something wrong to name the career of graphic designing.

If you are someone who is ready to pursue graphic designing as a career then let me tell you what is the basic instinct you should have and you need to develop to bring the best out of your imagination for the world.

Step 1: Get Informed It is the first and foremost thing you need to complete because the habit of collecting relevant information is key. The start of any career generally needs to resolve some of the basic queries that we all have like – the nature of work, demand, and opportunities, graphic design freelance rates & fees, earning potential and investment in training. You can find satisfying answers from the internet talking to designers who run their own blog, industry experts or even collection opinions of various designers from Quora. 

Step 2: Get Qualified If you are satisfied and want to pursue the career then one step ahead is getting training and being qualified. Creativity is something that cannot be taught so let us assume that you are someone who is born creative but there are other parts that require training like computer skills and the knowledge of business to some extent.  For best practice, you can use various graphic design resources that are available in many web and graphic designing sites.

One should have better expertise with different tools and software programs to become a good graphic designer. You should also know that there will be lots of questioning, answering and understanding your future clients so a few communication skills would add sweetness to your new career. Hence, it is suggested to choose a graphic arts degree that will provide you a solid foundation in web design techniques, computer skills, and business principles. You can also join graphic design tutorials online that are targeted for beginners as well as professionals. 

However, there are many graphic designers who learned these skills on their own but still have a degree and a formal education can provide you with a better foundation in your career. Most colleges and universities offer two graphic arts programs - an Associate's degree and a Bachelor's degree in graphic arts and design. An Associate's degree qualifies graduates for assistant graphic designer positions from which they can work their way up. A Bachelor's degree is the minimum credential required for most entry-level and advanced graphic design jobs.

Step 3: Get Experienced Experience is something that is crucial to own a handsome job and to build a better career. You need to have some experience that shows brightly in your portfolios. There are some graphic art programs that provide fresher and college students with an opportunity of internship and that is something you will require to keep yourself up for the portfolio. You can also approach media houses and other software companies for the free internship which definitely will enrich your skill and knowledge. Another best way to keep your portfolio strong is by applying for various freelancing jobs and assignments.

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World Class Logos and Interesting Hidden Meanings

We don’t we realize the deeply rooted meaning behind the logo from the brands that we use and love every day. In this infograph few world class logos and their symbols, meanings are provided for your information. A great work from logo designers and example of creativity that lies within graphic designers.

Source - www.CreativePublic.com

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List of Free Graphic Design & Web Design Resources

Graphic designers are creative heads and in the field of creativity sometimes to deliver the best can client’s budget might interfere. Whether you are designing for a short term project or your client has a limited amount of budget there are still free resources that you can use and build your project better. In this article I will be listing some of the free resources of graphic design that will help ease your project of any sort.

List of Free Stock Images

Burst – Shopify has introduced a site loaded with stock images all for free. You don’t have to be a shopify user and still can download loads of free images that are available of different resolutions. You can use them for your commercial as well as non-commercial purposes.

StockSnap – Another great platform for free stock images is StockSnap that offers a high quality images for free. This website has a huge collections of images in their different categories that will help you find your exact need in the designing.

Landing Stock – Similarly, if you are still struggling to find a nice set of images for your project then using Landing Stock can be a relief. A company based in United Kingdom has huge collections of free images to offer to the web and graphic designers.

New Old Stock – If you are trying to find a copyright-free images for personal and non-commercial use then this site can be a jackpot for you. All these images are the compiled tons of images via Flickr for people looking for vintage photos.

Portfolios for Graphic Designers

List of Free Illustrations

Drawkit - It is a collection of free, beautiful and customisable MIT licensed SVG illustrations that can be used in your website, app or graphic designing projects. It also offers paid services for that offers packs of illustrations and animations.

Humaaans – It is a wonderful graphic design resource for designers that allows modular and vector illustrations of human that can be mixed, matched rotate and even positioned as per your need and ease. It is free for all the users whether you want to make a commercial or personal use of it.

Joe Schmoe – Another great resource for graphic designers who are seeking avatars for their project. Joe Schmoe is an illustrated collection of avatars that can be used as profile picture placeholders for live websites or design mock-ups.

List of Free Icons

The Noun Project – If you are looking for free icons then unlimited graphic design resources can be found in the noun project. It compiles of more than two million curated icons that are actually created by the global community and are now all free for interested graphic and web designers.

Ionicons – Another great place for unlimited premium icons can be found in Ionicons that can be used by designers in web, android, iOS or even in desktop apps. Everything is free and open source.

Streamline Emoji – It is the collection of emoji that are free for designers to download under the licence of Creative Common Attribution.

List of Free Fonts

Google Fonts – A wide range of free fonts by Google that are created in the high standards that is open source web fonts and completely free.

Emotype – If you want to add some emotions and life in your design or website then this can be a wise choice that has a collection of free fonts.

BeFonts – It is a wide range of free font collection that includes display, script, symbol fonts and many more to add life in your design.

If you want to make Graphic & Web Design your professional career then you will require few tutorials, guidance and expertise. There are resources that you can use to make the most out of your freelancing graphic design career.  Graphic Design Pricing Guides can be a useful place to drop by because it will guide your career in a more professional manner because the resources available are designed by professionals working in the field more than two decades. You can also find Graphic Design Contracts Templates that comes really handy and useful in your work. 

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Career Advice for Freelance Graphic Designers

Career as a freelancer sounds interesting and most amazing thing is the freedom from mainstream everyday work. Freelancing is something that is growing huge since the first dawn of the digital age and it is continuously evolving. However, keeping up with the freelancing and tracking success is not something that everyone has attain. Whether you are a graphic designer or a digital marketing expert there are few freelancing work rules that shouldn’t be underestimated if you are serious about this career. In this post we will be discussing about few tips that will help you overcome obstacles that many freelance graphic designers face in the beginning of their career.

You Skill and Niche – Graphic design consists of various skills of art and there are numerous software that can be used to demonstrate your creativity. However, it is always a wise choice to find your skill in a particular box and keep shaping to earn your niche. You cannot be the master of all graphic design but you can surely excel in some field that will help you earn enough credibility to sustain your career as a freelancer. Hence, knowing and edging your skill and your niche is the best thing to concentrate.

Be Organized – Being organized and disciplined is key in freelancing. People tend to misuse their freedom of freelancing and ends up being jobless. It is not an easy task to switch your mind from home mode to work mode therefore best thing here to do is maintaining consistency in your work hours. Working from home though sounds pleasing and relaxing but there are many distractions that you will face while advancing in this career.

Self-Branding – Something often ignored yet very essential is self-branding. When you work as a freelancer you will be competing with other designers around the globe and in tough competition you might need something extra to grab the opportunity. Freelancing job providing platforms like Upwork comes with tough competition and you might not be able to win much even to survive so it is best to give some extra effort in your service and start branding and promoting yourself in the art of graphic design so that you can stay out from the crowd.

Finance – Working as a freelancer there will be time when you will be out of campaigns and projects so it is wise to keep some money for such situations. A hard part of freelancing compared to regular job is that you cannot be assure about the next month payee. So, keep up with the habit of saving and spending when required.

Public Relation – Maintaining a good public relation with your clients and with fellow freelancers will bring a lot of help in your career as a graphic designer. Honestly it is the 75% of the work that are generated through your relation in the freelance job so make sure you are always smooth when it comes to maintain a public relation. You will also find few clients over demanding and hassle makers but believe me giving something little extra will always bring something more to your finance. Hence, I suggest you to keep patience and bring the best out of you.

Portfolio – Keep your work portfolio updated and keep assigning yourself with something new to learn in designing. An updated portfolio is always handy and times when new client approaches you sending them instantly shows you professional at your work. Maintaining portfolio templates for new and old clients makes everything organized and saves your quality time. For example your returning client do not need to see your work experience because he already knows therefore it is best to send them your best designs and work that you have recently accomplished. For new clients you should have a detail one to earn their respect and business. Graphic Design Resources  Graphic Design Pricing Guides can be really helpful creating your portfolio and impressing your clients. 

I have been working a digital marketing expert and graphic designer since 2007 and these are few things I learnt while starting my career as a freelancer. I hope it will shed light in your career as well. If you think I have missed something then I will be glad to hear them in the comment section.

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Pricing Graphic & Web Design Projects

Relationship between client and the graphic designer should be smooth because there exists various misconceptions in the graphic and web designing community like what the designers do and what they are supposed to offer. Budget and charging clients is something that has always been fuzzy and often creates confusion while hiring a graphic designer. In this article we will mention few ways to hire a web or graphic designer. Following tips are targeted to those kind of clients who are looking for a designer but don't have an overall idea as to how designers work. I hope that you find them helpful.

1. Sample Design – It is often to see that people ask for sample designs from the graphic designer which in any way inappropriate approach. If you want to make sure about his/her expertise in the field then going through their portfolio and designs should be enough. Designers do not have time nor interest to draw something unique for you just because you are going pay them if you happen to like them.

2. Briefing and Budget – Briefing about your project and design should be specific and it is better keep things hassle free. When briefing it is better to clarify what sort of color and picture to use because nothing is insignificant. On the other hand when you are given a quote based on your design it is better to consider that it is a base price and can rise if you are going to make changes in your designs later. At the briefing, ask the designer about change limits and timing. Anything and everything that will make the base price very close to the final price. Researching freelance graphic design rates and hiring can save your budget. 

3. Discuss Payments and Honoraria – Make sure you fix all price rules before running your project. It is always better to talk freely to your designer and clarify any doubts if there are before the settlement of the deal. It is also important to make sure about honoraria because the main thing is not getting any unpleasant surprises when invoice is handed to you.

4. Designer’s Suggestions – Designers have been working with different clients and companies so it is sure to say that they do have a better insight so it is always a wise decision to take their suggestions. In the field of art it is no doubt that an artist has a wide range of imaginative horizon than us so sometimes considering their experience and suggestion would do much better than worse. At the end it is all about team work between the client and the designer so it gets better when the relation is made clear and smooth respecting each other’s position.

Although there are many free tools that are available in the internet to draw and design but when it comes to branding even a simple logo should deliver right message and this is where an artist can fill the colors. Thinking of hiring an expert is sometimes scary. Money is a factor, but if you think an expert is expensive, wait till you see what an amateur will cost you. There are sites that can help your determine the graphic design pricing guides that can be helpful knowing the present status of rates hiring professional designers. 

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Art of Personal Branding – Graphic Design and Logo Design is not Enough!!

When it comes to personal branding it is not something that is new to us and with the rise of technologies around the globe personal branding has becomes more accessible than ever because now it has so much opportunity and different ways to prove yourself yet not underestimating the growing competition in the market. In a simple way personal branding is all about standing out of the crowd carrying your uniqueness which means being a valued brand. Let us discuss about simple ways to earn yourself a personal brand in this new day and age.

Goals, Plan & Brand

Setting up your goals and plan is the key because without that there is no question of success in any field. Understanding your true position today and marking your goal of success in future is necessary. Are trying to earn yourself a brand in a certain niche? Are you looking for a job or position? Are you trying to find more clients or increase your sales? A simple idea of answering these questions means it will help your decide your goal in more crystal and clear way. However, in the topic of personal branding it is necessary that your self-impression should be equal to how general people perceive you.

One of the known name in the money blogging niche is Darren Rowse but his own site is far from self-branding where it shows that his personal brand has more to say about how he communicates and utilizes social channels.

Know & Believe In Your Brand

Beside just having a logo and few social media accounts your personal brand needs more of how it looks and feels giving others a sense of feeling. Graphic designers can make the best logo for your company but this is not exactly what makes any brand own a value. Maintaining corporate image in all mediums and at all times is crucial because we are not just discussing about virtual identity rather brand name.

The fundamental idea and core concept behind having this ‘corporate image’ is that everything you do, everything you own and everything you produce, should reflect the values and aims of your personal brand as a whole. It should deliver the message about you and your idea constantly.

The example of a well-known company Apple can be a good one because since its first day it has been successfully consistent a about its ‘corporate image’.

If you can apply these same core principles to your own brand then it will be easier for others to see and know what you’re all about.

Creating & Maintaining Your Brand

Outlining your target in the competitive market is the foundation of your brand. Act according to what you want yourself to be perceived by the people in the market. Few important building blocks to help you in this are as follows.

Graphic Designers for Visual Identity

A unique visual identity is the best way to differentiate yourself from the market. Graphic and web designers can be really helpful in this part of branding because what they create is going to impact you and your business in the market for decades. However, knowing the freelance graphic design rates can help minimize your cost. Just make sure your visual identity should be consistent and reflective of your initial goals, yet flexible enough to work across all areas of your communication. Ensure, at minimum, that you have a business card, letterhead, an up-to-date CV, website and a variety of online social profiles.

While running any social media campaign which is necessary in this digital age it is better to learn a bit of Photoshop, designing or else better hire a part time graphic designers because there are many instances where you need to post various updates in your social sites and keeping engagement with the followers with varieties of virtual effects is pleasing for your own page as well as for the followers. 

Digital Marketing for wide Visibility

Do you know what comes up when people type your name into Google? Well, if its not you or about your business then this is a serious issue. Digital marketing and SEO plays a key role in earning visibility in this age of digital and if you are missing there almost 90% of your effort becomes useless.

So, make sure when you launch your website or social profile it delivers the right information about the brand, links to your other websites, your social profiles, as well as a blog and if applicable, a portfolio. Your website plays a very important role in constructing your image in the public and to the world so it is always better to hire someone professional for services like Digital Marketing and even while Graphic Design Pricing Guides are available of various types choosing the better results best. You should also set up a personally branded email address such as [email protected] as this looks much more professional than a free email service such as [email protected].

Social Networks

People know you via different social networks so communicating and engaging with people is one right way to outreach your market and create a fortune image. Therefore, everything you say in the public domain adds a block in your brand image.

Provide value to your followers so that they get what they desire from your social connection. Many people just maintain a social network profile just by sharing videos and tweets but it is always a wise decision to engage and get engaged with your followers so that they can know you closely.

There are many ways to help promote you and your brand, but the simplest way is by making it easy for people to find and communicate with you. When they do, be sure to engage & provide value.

Knowing from Followers

One finest thing about social networking sites is that people who follow you knows the best that requires you to grow. Therefore, do not underestimate their opinion and suggestions which only comes from engaging with the followers. Use Google Alerts, Twitter Search and the many other tools available to you so you know when you are mentioned somewhere on the web. This allows you to put out fires early, as well as network and thank people who are helping or linking to you.

Source - Graphic Design Contract Templates -  Portfolios for Graphic Designers