This advice is for designers who are just starting out in the industry, and could also be used by experienced designers who want a career boost. By Teakster.
1. Make a working portfolio site
A personal portfolio website is all about promoting you. You are a brand, and your name is a brand name. No one is going to know about your brand unless you get it out there. If you’re a web designer, developer, writer, gamer or any other type of creative, it’s essential that you have a good portfolio website.
If you’re a freelancer, you’ll need one to showcase your work and allow people to contact you. If you’re a student (or unemployed), you’ll need one to show prospective employers how good you are and what you can do, so that they might hire you.
If you don’t have the money or knowledge to make your own site, there are creative platforms like DeviantArt’s portfolio, Behance or Carbonmade.
Don’t put too much effort into your site design. Make it clean and be sure that your designs get the most attention rather than the text. If your layout is beautiful it’ll get more attention than your actual work, so clean and minimalistic will do the trick.
2. Join social networking sites
A lot of people underestimate the power of them and how they can benefit you. But really, join DeviantArt, Twitter, Flickr and you’ll see how much it can promote you and your work while putting you in touch with other artists. Make sure that you stay professional on Twitter: don’t swear, don’t have a big ego, don’t reply all the time and don’t tell too much about your personal life.
Clients will not only see your tweets, but agencies as well. If you behave like a child they will rather not hire you. And don’t forget to follow interesting blogs and art magazines to keep you updated!
3. Don’t think too much in levels
There are a lot of young artists who aim to be the best, think they know everything, have more experience, etc. And also the opposite: artists who think others know much more than them and want to be left in the background instead.
The thing is that you shouldn’t think in levels at all. Everyone has his/her own way of designing and their own taste. You’re not better, and you’re not lower either. You have your own creative path just like everyone else. Respect and appreciate each other.
4. Don’t listen to all the rules or copy other people’s work
If you just copy other people’s styles it will show, and won’t make your work unique.
5. Join an agency
Before you become a freelancer, it’s good to join an agency for your resume/work experience. You’ll learn a lot from working in an agency, like the pressure, programmes and working in a creative team.
6. Reach out to magazines
A lot of people wonder how they can get their work featured in magazines. Honestly, it’s usually just about sending them an email along with your portfolio and asking if they’d be interested in featuring your work. They love receiving emails with work because they need to feature people in every issue anyway, so this makes it easier on them. (I haven’t had much success but it doesn’t stop me from trying.)
7. Put variety in your portfolio
Variety is something that’s very important in a designer’s portfolio. Most of us forget this and instead focus only on one specific style. But variety is also a style in itself, and it’s one that can attract more clients. You can reintroduce the same elements in your work but it doesn’t have to look the same. Don’t stick to just photo manipulations if you can do so much more than that. Try making a font instead. If you have a creative talent, why limit yourself?
8. Laziness is your biggest enemy!
So many people I know don’t take the time to put effort into promoting their work by emailing agencies, making more work, doing interviews, etc.
You’re a designer. If you’d rather be lazy then this is not the job for you. In this world you need to show a lot of motivation and effort to make things work. Clients and agencies don’t want someone that’s unmotivated and doesn’t take the time to get things done.
9. Know the basics about your programmes and printing
Enough said. Know how masks work, how to render, what the pen tool is, etc. And of course every designer needs to know that the best way to print is CMYK, 300 DPI, PDF, high quality with bleeds from 3 mm.
10. Always be ready to take feedback and criticism
You won’t see everything with two eyes and one mind. Only take feedback or criticism that is clearly constructive. Feedback like “this is pants” won’t give you much, so don’t take it seriously.
Final words
Believe in your work and never give up. This means you cannot be shy and sit back thinking that people will notice you among all the designers out there. A good designer needs to have marketing skills. Let people know you are here and what you’re all about.
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