Book description
Unlike other dry business books, this refreshing, straightforward guide from Logo Design Love author and international designer David Airey answers the questions all designers have when first starting out on their own. In fact, the book was inspired by the many questions David receives every day from the more than 600,000 designers who visit his three blogs (Logo Design Love, Identity Designed, and DavidAirey.com) each month.
How do I find new clients? How much should I charge for my design work? When should I say no to a client? How do I handle difficult clients? What should I be sure to include in my contracts?
David’s readers–a passionate and vocal group–regularly ask him these questions and many more on how to launch and run their own design careers. With this book, David finally answers their pressing questions with anecdotes, case studies, and sound advice garnered from his own experience as well as those of such well-known designers as Ivan Chermayeff, Jerry Kuyper, Maggie Macnab, Eric Karjaluoto, and Von Glitschka. Designers just starting out on their own will find this book invaluable in succeeding in today’s hyper-networked, global economy.
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Dedication Page
- Contents
- Introduction
-
Section I. Where Do You Start?
- Chapter 1. Essential Traits
- Chapter 2. Never Stop Learning
- Chapter 3. Find Your Niche
-
Chapter 4. Pros and Cons of Self-Employment
- PRO: You set your own hours
- CON: People expect you to work 24/7
- PRO: You set your own rates
- CON: How do you know what to charge?
- PRO: You’re doing the job you love
- CON: Some people think that because you love your job, you’ll happily work for free
- PRO: You make the rules
- CON: No one explains the rules
- PRO: If you want a holiday, you take a holiday
- CON: You don’t get paid for time off
- PRO: You get to wear a lot of different hats
- CON: Sometimes you just want to wear your favorite hat
- PRO: Your clients come from all walks of life, all around the world
- CON: You probably can’t meet every client in person
- PRO: The 10-meter commute from bedroom to home studio
- CON: The inability to leave your work “at the office”
- PRO: Taking your laptop outdoors
- CON: The weather doesn’t always cooperate
-
Section II. Who Do You Need to Be?
- Chapter 5. Work Direct or Be a Subcontractor?
- Chapter 6. Planning for Success
- Chapter 7. Brand Naming
- Chapter 8. Designing Your Brand Identity
- Chapter 9. Working from Home versus Renting Space
- Chapter 10. Launching Your Online Presence
- Chapter 11. Marketing Yourself and Finding Good Clients
- Chapter 12. Why Bigger Business Isn’t Always Better
- Chapter 13. Legalities, Integrity, and Morality
- Section III. How Do You Manage Projects?
-
Section IV. Before We Depart
- Chapter 19. The Mentors Speak
- Chapter 20. A Future Without Clients
-
Chapter 21. Keep the Fire Burning
- Chase the opportunity, not the money
- Prove yourself
- First with who, then what
- Create what others can’t imagine
- Focus on the right projects for you
- Take control
- Use the bad to appreciate the good
- Rise above it
- Jump in with both feet
- Pay your dues
- Make something beautiful
- Be deeply satisfied
- Be part of the community
- Have pride
- Step away from the specifics
- Let others motivate you
- Give and take
- Work on side projects
- Love what you do
- Chapter 22. Resources
- Contributors
- Index
- Add Page
Product information
- Title: Work for Money, Design for Love: Answers to the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Starting and Running a Successful Design Business
- Author(s):
- Release date: November 2012
- Publisher(s): New Riders
- ISBN: 9780133052794
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