Designers, Artists, Have Your Own Professional Website!

Posted on December 1, 2009 by itees

No Matter Your Industry, Look Like A Professional!

I was participating in a discussion on LinkedIn, and started to notice a pattern. Someone had posted that they were looking for design help, and of course, I, along with so many others responded. Many designers were sending their brief descriptions and some posted their web address as well. Since I was part of the discussion, until I decide to turn it off, I see everyone’s response. Many of these artists were sending links to their LinkedIn address, or their portfolio on a community art website.

This got me wondering how many artists or professionals in my or other industries do not have a website of their own. How can you look your best and be a working professional, without your own domain and site? Some said they they wished they had the time to learn web design, and some have learned Dreamweaver, etc., so they could build their own site, but that is not the point at all. Although it’s always good to know as much as you can, being able to get the job done is most important and you can always partner up.

I cannot do it all, and would never dream of wanting to. If I need copyrighting, specialized illustration, complicated programming, etc…I hire someone to work with me. I have always done this. Maybe it comes from the many years I worked on staff as an art director, realizing that I had to spread the assignments out, and would match up the designers, photographers, illustrators and more, to the right projects.

I’ve also heard recently, people in different industries, telling me they are building their own sites, and they think it looks great. Trust me, if you didn’t hire a professional, it doesn’t look good. We already have the problem of browsers (Safari, IE, Firefox) and platforms (Mac and PC) displaying the code in different ways, add into the mix someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, and that will look unprofessional.

As designers, we know more than anyone else the importance of branding, quality and professionalism.

There are so many options, and in these tough, economic times, there are ways to have your own domain and website without spending a lot, and still be able to manage it yourself, if you do not know programming.

Many clients have just this type of solution and what I’ve done is install a FREE WordPress blog right onto their own domain and hosting account. You still have to pay for the domain name and hosting registration but WordPress, like most blogs, gives you all sorts of wonderful options, galleries, e-commerce, pages, posts, and these blogs are really search engine friendly. You can also customize the design, by choosing a template and then adding your own header image or logo, and then adjusting the color palettes. Another option for originality is to have a designer create a custom look and then load the design into WordPress, or other CMS (content management systems) systems like, Joomla.

Another way to go if you’re an illustrator or graphic designer, is to work with a website programmer, design the site yourself, which will cut down the cost, and just have the programmer build it.

Some artists and designers choose to build a portfolio and profile on an artist community site. I also have profiles on many of these sites. They’re helpful if we are looking for assignments and can point potential clients to our work, reviews, amount earned, ratings, etc. But what if a client is looking for a designer? How are they going to find you among all the profiles listed? Unfortunately there isn’t criteria that should be listed, such as, how many years experience do they have and in what industries?, what style do they design in? It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I’ve also heard some designers say, “But if I have my own website I’ll have to promote it.” Yes, this is somewhat true. I will say that I do not get the same traffic at my portfolio site as I do with this blog. But the important thing is to have a site that’s rich in content, tags, and galleries, and it will help clients find you.

In this cyber age, whether a designer, artist, writer, or other professional, show off your best work, the most professional way.

What Can Graphic Designers Do To Stop Outsourcing?

Posted on November 20, 2009 by itees

What can “United States Graphic Designers” do, to get back the jobs that are going outside the country?

A few days ago I posted a discussion on one of the groups on LinkedIn and the comments are flying back at me. I’ve heard from designers around the country and some abroad have responded as well, all telling their thoughts on this matter.

The original discussion was about an article I read and blogged about which said there were over a quarter of a million graphic designers in the United States alone.

There are two main topics right now, in this discussion:

1- Are there people out there who are just calling themselves graphic designers and when did the profession get so watered down?

I’ve heard comments such as, “I saw an ad posted looking for a locksmith (2 yrs exp. required) and a graphic designer (1 yr exp. required).” or there have been comments saying that a secretary was working as the company’s graphic designer as well as typing and filing.

When did being a graphic designer lose it’s respect and how can we gain that respect back? Of course, there will always be clients who value good design, if they didn’t, we’d all be out of business. Still, it’s hard to compete with online job sites that post opportunities and we’re competing around the world for these jobs. If someone bids $8-12 an hr, how can I compete with that? If you notice on these websites, a client can be looking around the globe and select that they want a “low price over quality.” (Why would someone choose low quality in the first place? This shouldn’t be an option.)

How about on these sites doing something for the designers? How about posting an area so clients know how many years you’ve been in business, or if you’ve won awards? How can a client tell the difference between someone who’s just graduated, is doing it as their side job or someone who’s been working for 25+ years and it’s their business?

2- Outsourcing from the United States.

There were so many comments about this and understandably. Someone posted that to keep costs down in book publishing, they’re hiring the work to be done in India or the Philippines and paying as low as $2-5 a page. And that’s got to be one of the reasons our economy is down. I don’t know how we’re going to compete on this playing field, because it sure isn’t a fair one. The cost of living in the U.S. commands our hourly wage being higher than $12 an hr. Aside from the costs being ridiculously low, there’s also the time involved. What used to allow for months to be created, now is done in a flash. People post assignments all the time saying for example: “I need an e-commerce website to sell my 150 products and it must launch in 48 hrs.” These people are obviously nuts.

I remember years ago when I was an art director/designer in book publishing, even then we had no time to design the covers for the current season. We’d be given a list of maybe 100-150 titles and roughly 6-7 weeks to produce covers for them all. Not only were there mysteries and novels to be read before we could even assign them to designers or illustrators, but we had cookbooks, gardening and sports books all needing photo shoots. It took a lot of over-time you can be sure.

Today, we also have the crazy situation of templates or themes. Everywhere we look we have web design, blog, brochure, and postcard themes. Anyone can jump onto a browser, call up one of these sites and just start “designing.” UGH! is all I can say about that!

Doesn’t anyone care about having something original anymore? Doesn’t anyone care about branding? Is it only the fortune 500 companies that understand this?

In this terrible economy, I may be outbid from designers outside the country, or people who’re bidding low and think they’re designers, but I’m sticking to my business plan and will make sure my clients know they’re getting my experience and a quality product!

Graphic Design For Environmental and Social Change

Posted on November 18, 2009 by itees

I just received an email where the ONE.org (organization) asked the members to send in their ideas for a new t-shirt. They received over 500 designs, and the expert (?) judges selected 3 finalists, followed by more than 58,000 people voting for their favorite. The winning t-shirt was designed by Valerie Strecker of Slidell, Louisiana. Okay, my first question is, is Valerie a graphic designer? I just googled her and I cannot find anything about her. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with her design, I’m just wondering if she’s done other things and I as a designer, would like to see them. If anyone can enlighten me, I’m awaiting the comments.

What is interesting to me is a quote by Chalya Shagaya (ex fashion model turned fashion stylist and holds a degree in Justice and another in Computer Information Systems; her company is Stickman Concepts), which cuts right to the heart of the original message I was was trying to convey when I first launched this site in 2006… which was to wear clothing that says something about yourself or helps spread a message, not just a brand or designer’s name. Chalya said,“What we wear says a lot about who we are…the right design has the power to go even further, and spark a global conversation. It starts with, ‘I love your shirt, what does it mean?’ and ends with greater awareness of the role we can all play in ending poverty and disease in some of the most vulnerable place on earth.”

Now, I must say that I’m very upset about this new arena for graphic designers. We are being watered down by a population growth in the industry and at the same time so many companies are outsourcing and driving the value of what we do down. Throw into the mix the new websites popping up where they’ve asked designers to enter contests for FREE, and compete against each other for a small winning fee. This is as shameful as the industry can get. We must start a campaign to close down this practice.

As a designer who has been working for almost 30 years, I know we deserve more respect and I’m horrified with new designers entering the profession each year and what they must think. If the only way for them to win assignments is to compete against their friends and the industry throughout the world for FREE, it’s a sad situation for the design industry.