How to be a Graphic Designer Without Losing your Soul (chapters 2,3, and 4)…
As much as I have been enjoying this book, these three chapters began to stress me out just a little. The chapters brought be back to the real world and reminded me that, unless I want to be a cashier for the rest of my life, I need to find a career once I graduate! The three main topics were how to find a job, being freelance and setting up a studio. As far as finding a job, the book was very real and broke things down to the very basics such as how to approach a design studio, how to conduct a good interview, and even how to follow up. I thought it was interesting how important you choose to initially approach a studio is. If you think about it, it is a first impression and you want that to be the best as possible and the book suggests an old fashion letter, its the “least intrusive method of approach and it allows you to meticulously prepare your proposal.” You just want to make sure you spell the designers name correctly and don’t begin the letter with “Dear Sir or Madam.” This is why this book is so helpful, it breaks EVERYTHING down and really brings to light the little things that are actually the most important.
The next chapter covers all aspects of working freelance and states that the freelance life suits two types of designers. “The first type is the very able and resourceful individual with specialist skills” while the second type “is best characterized as the creative loner.” The book isn’t against the freelance life, but make sit very clear that it takes a certain person to succeed and life can get lonely. The plus side of freelance is the fact that you enjoy the flexibility of being self employed, you can work from home, and the financial aspect can be very appealing. The downside would be not having anyone to turn to for help, technical or creative, finding work, and there’s always the fact that you don’t leave the house on a daily basis and you loose out on the everyday changes in visual graphics everywhere. Freelancers also don’t get a guaranteed paycheck every two weeks and face problems like late payments.
Chapter 4 covers everything one would like to know about setting up a studio. This begins with finding a partner/s, ones that you can get along with and trust and work well with creatively and business wise. Partners should complement one another and benefit from one another’s strengths. When setting up a studio, tasks and jobs should be divided up between the partnership, down to who deals with financial affairs, environmental policies, press relations, or IT. The book then goes on to the nitty gritty bits of setting up a design studio. These include how to create a business plan, finding professional advisers and services, finding and office and choosing a name and identity. This is where I started stressing out. There’s so much to think about when setting up a studio and I’m glad I have this book as a reference incase I decide to do so.
