Professional Design Practice Lesson 5: Invoicing Clients

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At the same point each month, every month, an employed person receives a wage packet from his payroll department, and his his bank account is credited with his salary. Safe in this knowledge, he can plan his finances around this fixed point. For the intrepid freelancer things are a little different, for he must send out invoices to his clients, and then wait to be paid. So far so straightforward, but there are several factors to consider with regard to invoicing, which I’ll be taking you through below. After all, getting paid on time is what keeps us all afloat, and what freelance designer doesn’t desire that?

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Should I go freelance or permanent? The pros and cons of both

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Woo hoo! You’ve finished college, you’ve put together your folio and you’re ready to take on the design world. Should you be looking for permanent or freelance roles, or just try and get whatever you can? Here are some things worth considering before you decide.

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Professional Design Practice Lesson 4: Dealing with Clients

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They come in all shapes and sizes, from all different professional backgrounds, and we rely on them to pay our fees. A large portion of the freelancer’s life is spent looking for them, bagging them, and spending a considerable amount of our daily slog trying to work out what they want. I’m speaking of course about clients, and this article is all about working with them…

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Professional Design Practice Lesson 3: Project Planning

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This week’s article on professional design practice concerns project planning. Good, thoughtful project planning can be indispensable to the smooth running of your professional life as a freelancer. By running your business along well-oiled, well-organised lines you’ll be able to wring the most amount of time out of your days, maximise your profits, avoid mislaying things and generally inject some calm into your busy life. A modicum of planning, far from acting as a restraint on creativity, can in fact free us to spend more time on the creative process. It should therefore be an integral part of all our working lives. Follow the guides below, or a life of professional chaos awaits!

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Professional Design Practice Lesson 2: Freelance Fee Structures and How to Quote

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Knowing how to price jobs and what to charge clients is as essential a component of being a successful fledging graphic designer as any. It’s a delicate thing to get right. Price a job too high and you risk your prospective client remaining just that—prospective. Too low, and the person on the other end might view this as a reflection of the quality of the services you provide in a “you get what you pay for” sort of way. So there’s a balance to be struck, and it pays to have some systems in place. Here in the second lesson of our series on professional design practice I’ll do my best to provide you with some frameworks below. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

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Professional Design Practice Lesson 1: Self-Promotion & Winning Work

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In the first of a series of lessons entitled Professional Practice, we have sourced one of todays hottest working English based freelance designers to give you the leg up on building yourself a truly professional Graphic Design practice. Look out for the following in the new series; Freelance Fee Structures & How to Quote, Project Planning (Breaking Jobs Into Milestones), Dealing with Clients, Charging & Invoicing, Law in Design Practice, The Portfolio, A Conclusion of Sorts. Being Freelance. Benefits & Pitfalls.

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Get off the Mac, roll up your sleeves and get making. Once a week.

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Designed by Jonathan Ive, Apples iMac is out to seduce you!

In the working world it has become increasingly difficult to free yourself from the Mac and create something with your hands. Make the most of analogue and crafty disciplines offered through design education, and take your skills with you into the working world!

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Printing Pre Press Dos and Don’ts

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The Graphic Design School have found a great list of Do’s and Don’ts relating to PRE press/printing, created by Deborah Roberti of espressographics.com which should help you avoid one of these frustrating and embarrassing (not forgetting to mention expensive) mistakes when evaluating your pre print project before it goes to press and some useful tips on image formatting.

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What Is Open Source & How Does It Relate To Graphic Design?

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Chances are you have heard of Open Source, and if you haven’t you will have used it in some form or another. But what does the term “open source” actually mean and how does it relate to designers in terms of resources? Come on a sharing, caring ‘open’ journey with us into the world of Open Source…

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How Do Replica Designer Chairs Stack Up? A Review Of Sorts!

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Its no secret that designers are often at their desks morning to night… and then some.
If you are studying design and have started to notice that your lower back is giving you aches and pains, chances are it’s not your age… It’s your chair! Read on for a (sort of) review of the best that replica has to offer…

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A Day in the Life at the Leo Burnett Agency

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We have been lucky enough to follow Leo Burnett Art Director Djordje Joksimovic for a day around legendary Agency Leo Burnett. Leo Burnett created iconic symbols of American-branded products. It was his creation of the Marlboro Man, the Jolly Green Giant, and Tony the Tiger that would make his small mid-western company one of the largest, most sought-after agencies in the world. The Marlboro Man and the Jolly Green Giant are said to be two of three most recognised characters in the world (with Ronald McDonald).

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Logo Trends and Galleries

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Here are our fav logo galleries and trend articles. The for and against trends, the good, the better and the darn beautiful logos of 2009.

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Idea Generation Techniques: Mind Mapping for Graphic Design

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The most difficult part of being a creative of any kind is idea generation. Why do you think there are so many copy-cats out there? There are several methods available to brainstorm.

Mind mapping has been around since the 70’s, it’s uses and attraction is snowballing. So what is it? And how does it apply to Graphic Design?

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When Times are Tough Graphic Designers Get Tactile!

May 2009, in Advertising, Articles.
Digg!
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As always its up to the graphic designer to keep the economy running when times are tough… Really! Graphic Design makes the modern world go around, and the medicine go down!

Graphic Designers are the men and women who’s ideas bridge the gap of communication between industry and man. We are therefore partly responsible for economic stimulation.

The Graphic Design School has been noticing the creative ways that designers have been pushing the boundaries beyond the flat print form and ‘reaching out’ to appeal to our SENSES. Below are a few creative designs that verge on engineering.

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Your Business Card is Crap! Not quite!

Your business card leaves an impression of You, even when you are not there. A beautiful business card helps you stay in on the radar of the people you are giving it to, a great business card makes you standout. We have came across some beauties, and we would like to share them with you.

Send us business cards that stand out, we will publish them!

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