A continually updated list of tips provided by international industry professionals to help new designers work with and prepare their projects for web developers.

Contributors:

1. Photoshop Layers

Provided by @redskyforge

2. Get in touch

Don’t rely on your client to act as a go between, call or arrange to meet with their web developer to talk through the practicalities of what you’re proposing. The most effective and affordable solutions tend to emerge from a collaborative process with both designer and developer working in tandem and directly.

Provided by @RichBaird

3. Make an effort to understand the stack

Provided by @TedGoas

4. Always explain the reason behind your design decisions

Developers don’t usually appreciate comments like “because it just works better from a design point of view…” so take the time to explain the reasons behind your decisions and listen to alternatives. It usually helps to look at several potential directions and discuss with your developer exactly why each option does or doesn’t work. Sharing these observations can be invaluable.

Provided by @craftui

5. Layer Effects

Provided by @redskyforge

6. Respect

It’s essential to try and push for new features and user experiences but it’s also important to respect the advice of your web developer. Be polite and courteous, make sure you take the time to outline what you’re proposing and have patience when it comes to implementation.

Provided by @designsurvival

7. Web typography

Provided by @redskyforge

8. Get your developer involved as early as possible

Provided by @MikeNGarrett

9. Relationships

Try to foster along term relationships with proven web developers. The more you work with a particular individual the greater the chances of aligning expectations, work flow, time management, enjoyment and profitability for both designer and developer.

Provided by @designsurvival

10. A web designer’s best friend

Developing friendships with developers is key in maximizing your ideas and designs to bring them to life on the web. I personally have been fortunate enough to have been around and built relationships with different developers which has allowed me to have a better sense as too what goes on under the hood of a website. Having this type of knowledge is priceless when it comes to planning your design. You will also feel less hesitant to push the limits with new ideas in your design. I always find myself taking sketches and even prototypes to developers early on in the design process and asking whether they think it’s possible? This frequently  leads to both the designer and developer finding a creative solution that delivers the best possible user experience through technical quality.

Provided by @Sideshow855

11. Explain anything in your design that’s not immediately obvious.

Provided by @redskyforge

13. It’s a melting pot

Provided by @e_known

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter ID so I can credit your tip).

A special two part designer’s guide to hardware and software with the aim of helping new designers:

1 – choose the right chair, desk, paper, pencils, pens, colour guides, paper samples and computer peripherals

2 – and download the right desktop and mobile applications for designing, communication, back-up, sharing, invoicing, work flow and time management.

If you would like to contribute to this topic please submit your tips here or as a comment at the bottom of this post. All tips are credited with a Twitter link to enable new designers keep up to date with contributors.

A continually updated list of tips provided by international, industry professionals to help new designers develop custom and customised typographic solutions.

Contributors:

1. Look to natural handwritten type for inspiration

Provided by @RobClarkeType

2. Look for creative opportunities

Provided by @justlucky

3. Avoid repetitive letterforms

The rotation and reflection of existing characters to create new ones or the repetitive use of single shapes throughout an entire character set can often make a typeface appear cheap, hastily executed and unprofessional. The best typefaces deliver variety while retaining a consistent and identifiable style throughout.

Provided by @richbaird

4. Leave yourself plenty of time

Provided by @GingerMonkey_TL

5. Custom type for visual identities

Custom typography is an excellent way of ensuring the visual identity you’re creating will be unique to your client. But before embarking on your beautiful typographic masterpiece, it’s important to understand some fundamental principles of type.

The first, most crucial step is understanding the ‘anatomy’ of type. It’s absolutely impossible to create well-designed type without being able to identify and discuss various typographic components such as ascenders, descenders, ligatures, spurs, bowls, counters, crossbars, etc.

Secondly, one must have a very solid understanding of letterforms and the various ways in which they can be rendered. The same letter can take on very different appearances when displayed as a serif, sans serif, or script. Spend time browsing font houses like myfonts.com and taking note of the individual characteristics that make each letterform unique.

It’s also important to understand that custom typography is not about just the creation of gorgeous looking type; in most cases (like a visual identity, for example) it also needs to be legible. Understanding how certain spatial relationships or letterform combinations can interfere with legibility will enable a designer to develop successful solutions when those situations arise.

And lastly, spend time browsing sites like Dribbble to see what leading typographic designers are doing. Pay attention to their sense of composition, flow, and style, and seek them out to critique your work.

8. Study calligraphy

In college, all design students were required to take a calligraphy course before going on to the typography classes. At first, I thought this was ridiculous – but through having to literally draw every letter stroke and physically take into account things like kerning, leading and measure, I learned a lot more about typesetting and how to create and improve on custom ligatures and edit the strokes of letters already drawn.

Provided by @daniKelley

9. Create from memory

Start by trying to create a word with a few different types of letters (curved, angular) without referring to an existing face, just do it from memory and then try to cover the remaining alphabet. Attempt all uppercase letters, then try lower case – no numbers. Don’t worry about perfection or flawless curves, just get the meat of it clicked out. Think about consistency and balance, but otherwise just let it flow, even if it flows poorly at first. When you’re done, compare yours to whichever font you think it might be close to in style: some subtle, basic rules about typeface design will start to become apparent to you. Once you have that down, try to design a sans serif typeface or word the same way. Don’t fear failure, just dive in.

Provided by @super_furry

11. Digital execution

When vectoring, try not to have too many anchor points and keep them simple. Try to place them at the most extreme edges of the curve and keep the handles straight. Have a look at the outlines and points of any well-made font to see how they’re placed. Having fewer points makes it easier to tweak the shapes while maintaining smooth curves. Of course though, you don’t have to be really strict with this; sometimes it’s necessary to add extra points, especially to achieve a certain specific curve or when working with diagonals or corners.

Provided by Claire Coullon

Provided by @RobClarkeType

13. Never ever ever give up

Provided by @justlucky

14. Take a step back

Remember to take a step back and look at your lettering as a whole (and as different word combinations) to examine its overall balance, it’s easy to get caught up with perfecting isolated letters. This is where lettering differs from type design. What may be appropriate for a single letter may not be appropriate within the context of a group of letters, it may require that the shape (of an otherwise perfect letter) needs to be tweaked in order to feel more at home alongside others.

Provided by @seanwes

15. A fresh perspective

Designers can often spend long stretches staring at a single piece while we’re working on it. This can lead to errors or inconsistencies being missed so it’s important to get a fresh perspective. The easiest way is to take a break. If time allows, sleeping on it is ideal. You can also try flipping the piece upside down. This makes spacing and balance issues more clear because we’re no longer reading words and interpreting letters, but rather looking at shapes. Finally, getting a second opinion is also helpful. Make sure to have an open mind when asking for feedback. While others’ view may not always be right or take all factors into consideration, their feedback is nonetheless valuable. Thanking them for their input and telling them you’ll take it into consideration is usually a good way to let them know you appreciate their time.

Provided by @seanwes

16. Know when and when not to customise

There’s often a temptation to customise an existing typeface in the development of a visual identity, but it’s important to consider whether you have the necessary skill to build on something that was quite likely developed by a specialist. There’s a big difference between tweaking the kerning or justification of a typeface and completely re-sculpting the letterforms. Make sure you’re customising for the right reasons, have the necessary skill to pull it off professionally and that it compliments or evolves the communicative qualities of the original.

Provided by @bpandopinion

17. Understanding and appreciation

It’s worth spending time, prior to customising, learning a bit about the origins, inspirations and philosophies that underpin the typeface you’re going to customise. This will help you appreciate the shape and detail choices made by the original designer and guide you in your modifications. To take a typeface like Helvetica and add superfluous detail might seem like a great way to add a unique twist to a saturated typeface but it subverts its origins and likely to deliver mixed messages.

Provided by @designsurvival

18. Structure

Try not force letterforms into awkward shapes or compositions that don’t suit them. If you’re building a geometric design following a particular structure, don’t stubbornly restrict every letter to a very specific grid or pattern. Adding some variation in the appropriate places will give the design more depth and visual interest. Similarly, don’t force swashes or ligatures that feel awkward, cramped or unnatural. It can easily result in something that looks superfluous and gimmicky, rather than integral to the overall design.

Provided by Claire Coullon

19. Optical vs grid based type design

Grid based type can provide a designer with a technically accurate solution but these can often fall short optically. Grids are a great way to start but the weight and detail of some characters can often make appear heavier in places so don’t constrain yourself, try different letter combinations and small off-grid adjustments to create an optically balanced result.

Suggested by Sandro Dujmenovic

20. Persistance

Don’t become frustrated or disenchanted by the talent of others: it took them time to get there. Not so many years ago, I was a person who had no idea what it meant to design my own type, and my first attempts were failures. Then, the more I persisted, the ones that weren’t failures weren’t great, but some things were starting to fall into place. Occasionally, there were things that started to look pretty good, and I began to develop an understanding of what was making them work now when they weren’t before. You can read and study all you want (and you should), but doing leads to understanding.

Provided by @super_furry

21. Study the vernacular

Switch off the computer, get your sketchbook and get out of the office. Sit and sketch signage, menu headers, packaging- anything that catches your eye. Try to get an appreciation for the form of letters and analyse how different angles and shapes convey certain feelings. Copy some carved gothic lettering from a local church or try to get a perfect curve on a sans serif ‘S’. It’s like life drawing, the more you do it the more you understand the subtleties of type. Remember, inspiration is on your door step!

Provided by @gedpalmer

22. Leave detailing till last

Add the details and colour to your logo-type after you’ve finalised your basic character structure, I always work in black and white to start with. Make sure you’re happy with the placement and number of anchor points – if I can see where these are in a curve then I’m not happy and I’ll revise it. Once you’ve nailed the basic characters (and it’s roughly what you had in mind) then add your final touches (ligatures, spacing, cuts, highlights etc) this way you’ll avoid having to correct them and their finer details at a later date.

Make sure the cake is right before adding the icing.

Provided by @michaeldowell

23. Don’t be afraid of white space

Provided by @justlucky

24. Invest in good tools and media

Look towards investing in quality pencils, pigment pens and calligraphy pens (if you are into calligraphy) and sketchbooks. Custom made typography should start on a good foundation which means having good paper. A problem I find is using poor sketch book paper which leaves ugly marks from erasing and ones that have poor texture when you’re sketching. I also recommend buying tracing paper if you are working with detailed pieces, the surface of tracing paper holds pen ink well and tends to cause less bleeding. Tracing is a great way to correct mistakes, and it prevents indented marks and smudging from lead when you are moving on to the scanning stage which your scanner might pick up from your sketchbook (if you do scan your artwork). It also allows you the freedom to try alternative versions to your original sketch without compromising the form of the letters.

If you know you’re going out to places where you have to wait or need to kill a bit of time, keep a small sketch book and pen/pencil handy in case any ideas pop up while you are out. Most of the times without realising we get inspired by things we see while away from work and travelling.

Provided by @FaMz

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter ID so I can credit your tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by international industry professionals to help new designers present their work verbally, visually, on-line and off-line to their clients.

Contributors:

1. Avoid fillers

When you’re pulling together the first round of concepts for your client, try to avoid fillers, it can be a real heartache when a client chooses an idea you’ve used to bulk up your presentation. If you deliver two concepts rather than the promised three (and a client is really hung up on it), offer to spend additional time on development. I often find that a client impressed by one particular design will often be far less concerned by the absence of further options. Just be passionate and confident about the ideas you have, if it isn’t good enough don’t use it!

Provided by @richbaird

2. Never assume

Your client is not a designer. Some of them may not even enjoy the creative process. Be patient and always do your best to clearly explain everything. If you can’t be there in person to go over everything, try to do it on the phone when presenting your work. If you can’t do it on a call for whatever reason, make sure that a complete stranger could look at what you are sending and get the end result you are hoping the client will take away.

Provided by @nicolelafave

3. Presenting one big idea

I’ve found myself presenting only one concept recently. To do this requires a solid understanding of the brief and the right amount of research prior to visualisation. Filling your sketch pad full of quick ideas can often lead to one perfect solution and it’s this idea that I focus on presenting. That said, I only do this when I feel 100% confident that I’ve completely answered a client’s brief. I utilise the time I would’ve otherwise spent executing other concepts, presenting and selling this one big idea.

Presentation example: Benchmark Houston on Behance.

Provided by @VERGadvertising

4. Mock-ups

Some things need to be physical to present or review. Especially in packaging. Whenever possible try to capture a way to show any 3-d objects digitally or by mockups and photographs for reference.

Provided by @nicolelafave

5. Presenting only the most appropriate solutions

Only present the solutions that you know answer the brief to the best of your abilities.

Provided by @downwithdesign

6. Post-presentation criticism 

It’s important to remember that you’re designing for client preferences and not your own. Presentations will often lead to some degree of criticism or disagreement. Take this as a positive experience and an opportunity to build on your ideas. I find that a client’s input, following a presentation, does in fact lead to far better solutions regardless of whether I initially disagreed with their opinion. Listen to their concerns and express your thoughts in a polite way, don’t be defensive but plead your case with insight and enthusiasm.

Provided by @richbaird

7. Make sure your presentation is targeted and relevant

Make sure your presentation is targeted and relevant to that particular client and project. For instance, there’s no need to present a letterpress business card mock-up of a logo that will only be used on-screen. Show how it works in a way that’s appropriate to the project. If you’re designing a logo that will be primarily be used on a website, include an example screenshot of the logo in their site header. If it’s for a mobile application, include a version in the actual target size. At the same time, try not to overload the presentation with information – showing too many variations, colour versions or mock-ups is likely to overwhelm the client and detract from the core element of your proposal.

Provided by Claire Coullon

8. Limit your concepts

My advice would be to only show your very best designs and keep it to a reasonable number. This I’ve learned from experience. More choice often leads to poor decisions. I find clients almost always choose the one concept I feel is the weakest of them all (and let’s face it there is always one). At the end of the day you’re the designer and the client has come to you for help. Try your best to guide them in the right direction with passion, possibilities and present the work you are truly proud of.

Provided by @sheenaoosten

9. Confidence

Always have an opinion as the designer. It’s your job. Just be sure your opinion is separate from personal likes & loves and is what works best for the project & client’s main goals. The client can disagree later, all part of the process.

Provided by @nicolelafave

10. Process and rationalisation

If you’re e-mailing your work make sure that you include plenty of detail, sufficient rationalisation and a description of your process. Check your grammar and spelling are spot on and that your concepts are conveyed in a clear and understandable way. Make sure that your client received the work but remain patient, follow-up your initial e-mail after a couple of days if you haven’t heard from your client.

Provided by @designsurvival

11. Meeting face to face

Aim to present your ideas to your client face to face, passion and enthusiasm can often be far more powerful and compelling than your actual work.

Provided by @bpandopinion

12. Colour in logo projects

I try to begin every logo project in black & white than move into color later. This is often very successful in getting a client to focus on the mark itself vs. getting too tied up in color specifics too early on. The flip to this rule however is that some clients & some very specific projects are all about the color, and like with anything in design, after I make this rule for myself, I find myself breaking it from time to time with caution.

Provided by @nicolelafave

13. Present your ideas in context

A logo is only one part of the identity puzzle, it’s important to present the bigger picture to the client. When you show your ideas in context, you give the client the opportunity to understand and digest what their new identity in real word situations. After all, it’s a very important time for a start-up company and the excitement levels are high, especially when they see what their company will look like – it all of a sudden makes it real for them! Another thing to point out is when presenting just a logo, a client can often try to achieve too much with their logo design. It’s showing the bigger picture that helps a client understand that you don’t have to peg every element of their requirement on “the logo”. Let the logo work as a team with everything else, and the only way to do this, is to present it in context.

Provided by @VERGadvertising

14. Context can lead to more work

When you’ve been commissioned to design a single asset such as a logo-type, delivering it within the context of stationary, store signage, or part of a mobile screen can often lead to branding opportunities.

Provided by @richbaird

15. Your presentation should be clear and easy to understand

No matter the format, your presentation should be clear and easy to understand. In a PDF presentation for example, a simple title page with the project name, date, short headline indicating the version number, etc. helps to keep track of the work and makes it easier for you both to reference the right document. Include an explanation of the concept, not only describing your overall approach and idea, but also highlighting specific design elements. This helps to give your client a better understanding of the work and encourages more relevant feedback.

Provided by Claire Coullon

16. Who’s buying the coffee?

Remember that you are the service provider, whether you choose to host your presentation in a cafe, bar or restaurant it’s you that should be doing the buying.

Provided by @bpandopinion

17. Successful presentation is an art

In this age of global connectivity and digital exchange, it’s easy for designers and clients to unite from worlds apart. So, too, is it easy to slip into laziness when it comes to presenting one’s work. You throw your designs into a PDF, type out a brief writeup, attach to an email, click send, cross fingers, and pray to the heavens that your client will “get it.” But by doing this, you do yourself and your hard work a huge disservice.

Successful presentation is an art, and requires the designer to engage, captivate, inform, and educate with not only powerful visuals, but also persuasive writing. The objective isn’t simply to show your client some pretty images; you need to *sell* your ideas, often times, to very left-brained, analytical people who don’t think as designers do.

Since design services are generally very expensive, many clients get nervous when working with designers for the first time. Also, many clients have no idea what goes on behind the scenes after they’ve made their deposit. If you craft your presentations appropriately, you can assuage this tension and build trust, which will ultimately lead to success, a better working relationship, and hopefully, repeat work.

A perfect way for bringing your clients into your world is to divulge your creative process. Walk them through your inspiration, your research, your thumbnails, your sketches, your electronic development. In doing so, you are revealing to your client that you have given the particular design challenge a tremendous amount of thought; that you have explored it from every possible angle; and that the ideas you’re proposing are the best possible solutions.

Be confident in your work. Own it. Defend it. Be prepared to explain your rationale, and be sure to reference touch points brought forth in the creative brief.

And finally, take as much pride in your presentations as you do in your design work. A successful presentation is not something that can (or should) be whipped up last minute; you need time to craft your words effectively, and to assemble strong visuals that support your ideas. If you put forth enough effort, your presentations will have that “wow” factor that clients love, and not only will you be more successful in your pitches, but you will also attract more clients who value that level of thoughtful consideration, creativity, and effort.

I recently put together one such presentation. Please feel free to check it out. I hope it proves educational, informative, and inspirational

Presentation example: Dozen Flours on Behance

Provided by Jon Stapp

18. Copyright & contact details

It’s important that you make it clear that all the work presented is the intellectual copyright of the designer until it’s signed over. A simple statement at the bottom of each page is sufficient to make your client aware of distribution limitations. Remember to include your contact details so that anyone outside the project who is privy to the presentation will be able to get in contact should they have any future design requirements.

Provided by @designsurvival

19. Make your presentation well-rounded

If you are not able to present in person, make your presentation digitally well-rounded and whenever possible try to walk them through it on a phone call. I have a lot of clients that either prefer to work remotely or are just physically not in the same city. My initial logo design concepts & PDFs usually begin with an introduction or summary of the brief, contain a page about things that were explored that worked vs. things that do not seem appropriate or do not work. This helps show that you did consider some of the options that may not be present in the actual design work or sketches. I often follow this with some quick snapshots or scans of sketches. At this point I make a judgement call based on the project and the client. Do you think they are the type of client that can imagine and talk about sketches, or will a really great solution get passed by because it would be better explained digitally and on the computer? I try to hold out as long as I can with the computer, but 50% of the time it is necessary to show solutions digitally executed. If a given project requires this, this would follow my sketch pages in my initial presentation. I am very curious to hear more perspective on this process from other designers, there is no set formula that works for everyone.

Provided by @nicolelafave

20. Presentation order

A presentation is like a performance and the final act should deliver the most surprises, save your best idea for the big finale.

Provided by @richbaird

21. Get to know your audience

Always make sure you get to know as much as possible about the person you are going to give your presentation to and consider what their specialism or experience is. A lot of clients are looking for a neat visual solution but you may find that their particular interest lies with context, user experience or strategy. Tailor your presentations to fit and spend more time talking up these specific areas.

Suggested by @Bbxweb_jari

22. Lock your documents

If you’re building your presentation with vector software make sure you lock the document so artwork can’t be appropriated prior to project completion. Ideally  flatten your documents and make sure they are at screen resolution to avoid simple live tracing of ideas if the projects goes sour.

Provided by @bpandopinion

23. Scale later

When I am working on a project such as a website, I start with the look & feel of a single page in the site before I commit to each & every page within a said design concept without the client taking a look. This allows the client to see the idea before committing to it and wasting time if the concept is not going in the right direction. The same applies to say something print-related like a stationary system. Start with an important item on the smaller projects and you have the ability to hone in on what direction you want to go. There are obvious exceptions to this rule when the system being designed relies on showing the differences, or say if the project is larger and the budget is wider you have the ability to show things as completed sets. Some clients may even request this upfront, so be sure your Agreement spells out what you are committed to and you make good on that commitment.

Provided by @nicolelafave

24. Planning

When presenting in person, be prepared with a rough idea of what you’re going to discuss and walk the client through your proposal slowly. GIve them time to look at the visual you’re showing before you start any explanations. Make sure they’re the ones with the best and most comfortable view of the work, whether it’s on a screen or in print. Talking slowly is an obvious but essential thing to remember too; it’ll give you more time to think as you go along.

Provided by Claire Coullon

25. Format

Make sure you have a standard format across your presentation, type choice, size, layouts, tone of voice and your personal identity all contribute to a professional looking document, a scruffy presentation is likely to compromise the quality of your concepts. If you’re presenting digitally make sure you include a print out for the client to take home and make notes on.

If you choose to present a design idea in a particular context make sure it’s replicated across each idea so a client can make a fair comparison.

Provided by @richbaird

26. Signatures & approvals

Make sure you document the process in writing & be sure you have signatures on approved work. If you have presented a sketch that is fairly complex to execute and you know will eat up all of the budget, take the time to explain this to the client and get a commitment to it if you can.

Provided by @nicolelafave

27. We sell shoes, shouldn’t there be a shoe in the logo?

A simple logo-type can often be the perfect solution for a client, but they may feel underwhelmed unless seen it in a broader and more engaging context. Inspire them with stationery, signage, ad mocks and on-line suggestions alongside material choices and print techniques. Shown them how each component contributes to a wider and more communicative experience beyond a literal and isolated asset.

Suggested by @VERGadvertising

28. Don’t get disheartened mid-presentation

Clients are business people and as such can be hard to gauge, some will instantly react while others sit quietly. Try not to be put off by a silent client and understand that redesigns and new directions are big decisions for companies that require time and consideration. Remain enthusiastic throughout.

Provided by @richbaird

29. Edit & balance

Never show anything you do not feel is successful or that you just simply do not find appealing. You are as weak as your weakest link, and if you give a client the option to pick something that you as the professional do not feel is a solid and strong response to their problem, you are giving them the option to choose something less successful and likely you should not be presenting it to begin with.

I’m not sure there really is a magic formula or number for how many concepts you should present or how to do it. It’s all about context, the scope of the project/client & how large your organization may be. It’s impractical for a sole designer to show too much and expand into other collateral and context if the budget is constrained and you just don’t have the time you need. (after all we are in this as a business as well) It’s also easy for a larger agency to present too much and confuse the client, so it’s all about finding the right balance and what works for you. I also find that showing options within a main concept or direction is very helpful, but if you show way too many things that are all different from one another, you’re not doing your job as well as you should be unless you are very clear as to what you recommend as the professional and you feel everything shown is as strong as the next or previous option. You also do not want to show 3 marks that look almost identical to each other without anything else in the mix.

Provided by @nicolelafave

30. Bring Your Own Equipment

Bring your own equipment to on-site presentations. Sounds simple enough, but it’s your job to be thorough and make sure nothing goes wrong when presenting on location to a client.

In addition to a computer it’s a good idea to have an extra power source, your own projector and a portable hotspot (if your presentation requires the Internet). Some meeting rooms don’t have Internet. Some buildings have slow wireless (or none at all) or a network that guests cannot easily join (my company is like that).

For that reason, it’s also good to have your entire presentation or demo on a local hard drive. Actually, make that TWO hard drives in case one fails.

Provided by @tedgoas

31. Adjust your style to match the environment and audience

Presentations aren’t always one on one, and they aren’t always in an intimate setting. Being articulate, not stammering, not using “like” or “um,” using proper grammar, and using correct terminology are all going to help people view you as a professional. Also, knowing your audience as a presenter is a lot like knowing the client’s audience when you’re designing. Using a particular tone and vernacular with a client that comes to meetings in a suit and tie may not be the same as the one you’d use with a client that shows up in jeans and a t-shirt.

Provided by Brian Grossman

32. Know the difference between a slide and a document

One of the fundamental problems many people face with presentations is that they don’t understand the difference between a presentation slide and a document. When you give a presentation, your audience needs to understand each slide’s message in three seconds or less. If your audience can’t quickly understand your message they will shut down and stop paying attention. Many people like to fill their slides with lots and lots of text because they are afraid they will forget what they are going to say. However, when you read your slide word for word you simply end up putting your audience to sleep. People can always read your slide faster than you can say it. If you are simply reading from the slide then there is no reason for you to even be up there giving the presentation. People know how to read themselves.

So the question is, if you’re not supposed to fill your slide full of text and bullet points (like a document), what do you fill it with? The answer is simple. Pictures! It has been scientifically proven that people remember pictures far better than they do text. So consider balancing short text with relevant and communicative imagery and be prepared to add additional commentry beyond what is already present on the slide.

Provided by @PandaPresents

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by international industry professionals to help new designers research and plan their design projects.

Contributors:

If you’re a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post.(Please remember to include your Twitter ID so I can credit your tip).

1. Strategy Insight

My process is aimed at helping me to brand and package new products and typically begins, following the brief, with the identification of values and propositions drawn from questionnaires, informal conversation and workshops. Personal client information such as their background, inspirations, aspirations and journey to market can also provide interesting references and avenues for exploration. These initial exercises are designed to tease out unique details that a formal brief can miss and help to create a unique brand DNA from which I can build a relevant and specific visual result.

Clients new to the design process don’t often know what they want or need to communicate and end up citing general marketing buzzwords such as ‘artisan’ and ‘sustainable’. A lot of these terms will fall under the same themes and can be distilled down to a number of primary brand values. Conventional marketing practices suggest that consumers tend to respond well to one or two messages but I work with between two and four to deliver depth and a sense of narrative with each component contributing to a wider brand story. Following this I assign each value, in written form, visual characteristics and cues that can be understood by the demographic. 

For example:

Speed – sweeping terminals or italics
Reliability – consistent line weights
Security – bold geometric typography
Clinical effectiveness – spacious and uncluttered layouts
Expense/sophistication – foiling and embossing
Exclusivity – specialist and rare materials and print treatments

To create a broad brand experience I execute these visual cues, with mixed impact, across an identity and packaging solution that utilises both graphic components and layouts, material choices, print treatments and through structural design.

It’s important to present these ideas to the client for discussion and revision before design work begins. Try not to hit them with an essay and be sure to include visual and physical references. This is a good opportunity to show your client that you understand their problem and can offer a broad and consistent design solution that compliments their product and engages their consumers. This design strategy document can also be used as a proposal prior to securing the job.

Provided by @richbaird

2. Calm your enthusiasm with a quick sketching session

Young designers frequently make the mistake of jumping straight into the visualisation process without spending an appropriate amount of time on research and strategy. This is understandable as design is often presented as a predominantly artistic discipline (by logo specific publications and websites) rather than one of communication. The enthusiasm to bypass a structured analytical process and get sketching is likely to only generate ideas that are instinctual rather than insightful but should be utilised as an opportunity to clear the mind of any preconceived ideas.

Insight will come as a designer gains experience, for a beginner it’s better to generate ideas from a solid and tangible foundation.

Provided by @designsurvival

4. Research: Questionnaires

We’ve used a questionnaire in the past with regards to corporate identity design. It’s designed to get as much information out of the client as possible, including what they like, what they don’t like, colours, who their competitors are, who their target market is etc. This can provide a designer with detailed valuable information and stimulate new avenues of research. It’s worth developing a very simple document to begin with and expanding on it as you gain more understanding of the identity design process.

Resource Links:  Richard Baird  |   Graham Smith  |   Jacob Cass

Provided by @ellishollie

5. Structure

If you’re new to freelancing your first clients may not have the budget to invest in research and strategy but it’s worth doing at your own expense. Try to expand on your pre-design process on a ‘by project basis’ as you gain more understanding of various sectors and develop the necessary confidence to engage clients with more penetrating and insightful questions.

Provided by @richbaird

6. Research: Presentation

Deliver your research in a clear and engaging manner through a variety of formats, infographics and moodboards are a great way to make your presentation interesting, professional and understandable. It can also provide a designer with a creative stimulus alongside the more analytical work.

Provided by @ellishollie

7. Research: Get out of the office

It’s really important to experience the product or service you are designing for, make a note of your first impressions, feelings, take pictures and if possible ask other people about their experiences. The internet is a great resource but can be very one-dimensional and can fail to convey emotion.

Provided by @designsurvival

8. Research: Utilising Pintrest

Use Pintrest as a virtual moodboard to pin images that are related to your project. These could be material options, texture references, print treatments, colour options and graphic design inspiration etc. These boards can be easily shared with, utilised and added to by your client and help steer the direction of the project on a more collaborative basis.

Suggested by @iMelissaBrunet

 

9. Research: Trends

As a new or young designer trends have an incredibly powerful appeal but it’s important to remember that you’re not designing for yourself or to impress other designers. Spend time identifying key trends in the market place, are these long or short-term? How effective are they and is there room for new ideas? Research can help you spot and avoid saturated techniques but also to understand why these are relied upon and offer alternative solutions.

suggested by @kattjayne

 

10. Strategy leads to relevance

The point of strategy is to make sure that each of your design directions are relevant and understandable to a particular consumer or visitor. Superfluous detail dilutes impact and can lead to a confusing message so identifying which visual devices are most communicative prior to design can save time and keep solutions focused and effective. If you can’t explain what each component offers then it’s likely to have be an aesthetic choice rather one drawn from anything meaningful.

Provided by @richbaird

11. Research: Look to different industries for transferable ideas

When researching, say for a new brand, don’t limit your research to the sector to which your brand will belong. Direct competitors will offer you little but tried and tested clichés.

Instead look at brands in other areas that reflect the tone and stance of your own.

Provided by @jameswarfield

12. Market

It’s often best to steer clear of obvious media generated stereotypes and keep things simple. Ask your client for a short statement on their intended market. As a young designer you’re not going to be expected to completely understand a every sector or demographic but it’s important to engage your client in narrowing down what may appeal to that particular group.

Provided by @bpandopinion

13. Research: utilise social networks for thoughts and opinions

Big agencies have the luxury of focus groups, polls and letter drops. With a significantly smaller budget to operate with new freelancers have to put their ideas in front of as many people as possible without the associated expense. As the world continues its social and vocal upward trajectory opinions are becoming increasingly easier to come by. Short, well phrased questions can elicit helpful responses across blogs and social networks run or frequented by industry leaders or  your target. The anonymity of the Internet can provide very honest and revealing answers.

Provided by @designsurvival

14. Brand statements

It can be beneficial to write a short statement to crystallise a brand’s key propositions and help to define the parameters that need to be fulfilled during the visualisation process.

Brand statement I created for Brownies Atelier:

Brownies Atelier is a Lima based business, run by Christel Krumdiek, that produces finely flavoured and handcrafted brownies. Packed in uniquely designed boxes the brownies reflect Christel’s artistic background, passion for high quality, natural ingredients and her creative recipes. I was commissioned to develop an identity and two packaging options that would capture the texture and exclusivity of the products while positioning the brand as a sophisticated alternative to the typically cakey Peruvian brownie.

Click here to read how this statement was visually executed across the identity.

Provided by @richbaird

15. Research: A collaborative approach

If you work remotely, instead of a workshop, consider setting up a shared folder on Dropbox so you and your client can upload images that visualise the ideas and themes related to the project. Having two interpretations of the same strategy can lead to a fresh perspective or an interesting and unique combination of styles.

Getting a client involved at this stage should also allow them to feel more invested in the process, be more understanding of the design solution and reduce the risk of initial concept rejection.

Provided by @richbaird

16. Strategy: Asset Architecture

Strategy should provide a designer with the opportunity to develop a broader visual language by distributing brand values, with varying impact, across the most communicative methods.

For example, a conversational tone of voice might well be better suited to Facebook and Twitter rather than conveyed across a packaging solution. Exclusivity maybe more appropriately executed through the packaging while sophistication presented across a simple logo-type.

Each component should contain subtle qualities of each value but weighted differently across a variety of touch point creating a coherent sense of variety. I like to call this ‘Asset Architecture’.

Provided by @richbaird

17. Don’t rush

Make sure you take plenty of time to research and understand the design problem and consider multiple strategic options before giving these visual resolutions. Leave a couple of days to digest all the information. A designer should be able to sort through the problem even when not consciously aware of it, time outside of the working environment should help to stimulate and cross-pollinate ideas.

Provided by @designsurvival

18. Research: Understand your client

Understand your client inside-out through extensive research before starting any creative work. A strong and descriptive (ideally one page) brief and strategic guide will help too. Demystify your research, strategy and design processes where you can so a potential client can understand and appreciate your workload, talent and cost!

Suggested by @curvecorp

19.  Allow ideas to evolve while doing other activities

Most of my planning and strategy does not involve a computer or pen, it’s all in my mind. As I am driving home from work or making dinner, I am mulling over the goals, purpose, message and visuals. By the time I return to the office I have layout what’s already fully built in my head on paper.

20.  Increase your mental library

To help grow my mental library of styles, ideas and visuals, I surf the web, read RSS feeds and compile any idea I have into a notebook app. Typically by type of function or category, so I can review it later when needed.

Suggested by @rebecca_adolf

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by international industry professionals to help new designers make the most of a formal design education.

Contributors:

1. University isn’t for everyone

A university education isn’t suited to everyone and can be an expensive path to follow. Apprenticeships, college education, part-time learning and freelancing can all provide equally valuable routes into a full-time design career and should be given fair consideration.

Provided by @richbaird

2. Don’t be afraid to ask questions

If something confuses you, don’t be scared to question your teacher. You’ll either get the explanation you’re looking for, or discover that s/he is actually wrong — we all make mistakes.

Provided by @davidairey

3. Take the long view

Universities are expected to have students achieve certain targets but consider what kind of designer you want to be and tailor your project choices to that goal. Your final grades are important but potential employers are looking for independent creative thinkers and not university clones that have ticked the necessary boxes to achieve top marks.

Suggested by @Danatdoodle

4. Be open to criticism

Further education can be a big reality check especially if you’ve come from a small school or college where you have sat at the top of the class. Criticism will become an everyday experience. It’s important to understand that these are given with the best intentions and will help you to improve and grow both a designer and as an individual.

When receiving particularly harsh criticism avoid responding instantly and emotionally, take your time to think about the opinion. If you feel offended or upset it’s sometimes more appropriate to just say thank you and that you’ll take it onboard. Go for a walk and cool off, consider the comment without the negativity that initially accompanied it.

Being able to give appropriate and well-considered criticism is just as important as being able to accept and act on it.

Provided by @bpandopinion

5. Seek out advice and opinions

Learn to work with your peers – education is great practice for real world scenarios where team working is standard practice (whether it’s in a design team, a marketing team, a development team, or just working with different vendors). Being able to explain your decisions and be open to input is essential to fitting into the modern-day working environment.

Realize that you are still developing both your ability to judge good design and your skill to implement such observations; with that realization, really listen to to other peoples opinions. Peer reviews, teacher critique and client input are crucial to your design processes, this feedback can help you target a specific audience, develop a level of insight and lead to more successful results on future projects).

6. Network

Develop strong relationships with your classmates and your teachers. Try to network with professionals you admire – many of them are on Twitter and are very approachable. The more connections you have, the easier it will be to get an internship and/or job later.

Provided by @daniKelley

7. There will always be better designers

You may have been the hotshot in your small town school or art college but you could find yourself at the bottom of the pile at university. It’s important to remember that there will always be better designer’s, make the most of being around them by learning from their processes and avoid becoming too competitive.

Provided by @designsurvival

8. Avoid being insular

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that working by yourself will gain you more recognition. However, to be a great designer, collaboration is key. Engage with other students and teachers, bounce ideas off as many people as possible and share your ideas with the wider design community. This will often lead you down new creative avenues and should improve your design work and processes. Collaboration is a vital tool, the designers smart enough to utilize it will grow faster than those are waiting for individual glory. Remember, it’s a two-way street, return the favor whenever possible and help your fellow students.

Provided by @CollinArnld

9. Choosing the right school

This has and will always be a tricky decision. Where you go to school can typically influence where you will land your first internship, the type of job you will be suitable for or the fields you can go on to specialise in. The biggest mistake aspiring designers make is choosing a school based on the exit portfolio of past graduates, I have found these to be a poor measure of course quality and are typically only from the most successful students. It’s important to check these out but you’ll get a better feel for the course or school by actually attending open days, tours, program demonstrations and speaking with professors and instructors. Take the time to consider specific questions that relate to the path you want to follow.

You may also want to check out the additional benefits a school or university has to offer, these could be live projects and direct client interaction or work experience. Many students get hired right out of their work placements so finding a school that offers this could give you a huge head start in your design career.

Provided by @heyrui

10. Cross pollination

I studied furniture and product design but now work in brand and packaging. In retrospect I could have done with some print based education but a lot of what I learnt in 3D design has been transferable and may have given me an advantage when signing on new clients.

Provided by @richbaird

11. Share

Share your ideas and be inspired by other departments, courses and disciplines. You’ll learn more from your fellow students than from your teachers. Everyone you meet will tell you to make the most of your time at university or college because you’ll regret it later if you don’t… and guess what? It’s true!

Provided by @atelier1a

12. Commercial experience

If you get the opportunity to work on a commercial project which will also meet your course goals jump at it! Nothing better than making money and passing univesity at the same time!

Provided by @Danatdoodle

13. Foundation courses

Choosing the right course for you can be a difficult decision. Most universities now ask a potential student to complete a Foundation Degree before applying for a BS Hons unless the applicant’s portfolio is of an extremely high standard. There are various different courses to go on. I personally did a 2 year Foundation Degree in Graphic Design, then went back to do a top-up year to get my BA Hons Degree.

There is also a 1 year Foundation Course where you try all art mediums which can help you decide what suits you best. It includes mediums such as textiles, ceramics, fashion design, graphic design, fine art etc.

If you are dead set on a specific course, go to lots of open days at the colleges a universities that you are interested in. This will give you a more clear insight as to the atmosphere and classes held.

Provided by @ellishollie

14. Writing and analysis

Consider writing about design as a way of furthering your understanding of it. Try to quantify your interactions and experiences of the visual world through written pieces, why is a particular technique or style successful in communicating certain values or feelings? These exercises should help to tune you into the perceptions of consumers and how you can successfully utilise these across you own work.

Suggested by @byderekj

15. Keep all of your course text books

Keep all of your course text books. Refer to them often until you know the material and then keep referring to them until you can confidently implement what you know. From this foundation you can creatively bend the rules.

16. Broader reading

Be committed to learning as much as you possibly can about design theory, technique and best practices, inside and outside the classroom. Read design books, magazine and periodicals – if you can’t afford them, ask if anyone has anything they’d recommend and that they’d let you borrow. Look out for new and interesting design blogs and spend sometime engaging in discussion and critique.

17. Design tools and techniques

Master design software – the better you are with these the less of a barrier there will be between idea and execution. Carry a sketchbook and pencil around with you to quickly sketch out ideas, learn to be comfortable with conceptualizing a design without a computer or wasting time vectorising inappropriate ideas.

Provided by @daniKelley

18. Live projects and placements

A lot of courses offer ‘live’ projects for local companies or 12 month placements prior to the final year of study. These can be a fantastic opportunities to expose yourself to real world constraints and an active design environment. Education is a fantastic period of creative exploration but it’s important to remember that you will need to land a job (or gain clients) with serious commercial considerations and people with differing opinions.

Provided by @richbaird

19. Choosing a university

Having trouble selecting a university? Then picture where you’d like to work after you graduate. If you have a specific design firm in mind, then contact them to ask if they prefer to hire graduates from certain universities/courses or if they have recommendations.

If you don’t have the time or money to invest then spend some time researching design schools and their programs. Figure out which books the class uses, and get them from the library. You can read through the textbook in a few weeks compared to the few months it takes a college class. While not a substitute for the knowledge you gain from professor and peer critique, you’d be amazed by what you can learn just from getting the textbooks.

Provided by @tadfry

20. Never stop learning

Never be satisfied with where you are – try to learn new things and refine your processes at every opportunity.

Provided by @daniKelley

21. Don’t waste your money, an alternative view on education

A design education will get you nowhere. The program they set up for each semester will be at least 9-12 months out of date once they start teaching it to you. If you have the talent, an education will only slow you down.

Straight after I turned 18 I taught myself how to use the required software to make graphics on my own and got on with it. That was 1997 and there was no YouTube or on-line how-to-videos but I still pulled it off and I’m not too bright, so you’re going to have a far easier time than I did.

All you need to educate yourself is available on-line for free. Just go for it. As long as you have the dedication, motivation and will to learn you’re going to be fine. I Run my own business now and I’m debt free. Most of the designers I know that spent time and money on education say they didn’t need it. Education is a waste of time and left them in debt.

Provided by @growcase

22. You get out what you put in

Make sure that you are fully committed to getting the most out of your educational experience. Be aware that at the end of the design program your portfolio will be the result of the time and effort you put in and will be evident to future employers.

23. Individuality counts

I placed emphasis on completing all my projects to the best of my abilities with my own unique and individual spin. At the end of the year a large proportion of students will leave school with similar portfolio content so its important to stand out. This is especially true when the D&AD runs a global project or Audi launches a young designers competition.

Provided by @heyrui

24. Applying for web design and development courses

If you’re considering applying to a Web Design and Development course at a university there are a number of useful steps you can take before you apply to ensure the course you choose will be right for you.

Visit a number of university websites, search for all courses in the field you are interested in studying and read the course outlines thoroughly to ensure you understand the requirements or prerequisites for acceptance into a course.

Attend open days to research the environment you will be learning in, the people you will be learning from and the technology you will be using. Open days are also a good opportunity to take the time to introduce yourself to lecturers and ask them about their teaching style and any personal experience in their field of study.

Some useful questions to ask:

• Are you currently active in the field of web design and development?
• Do you have industry contacts?
• What web design and development conferences/workshops have you recently attended?
• Will accessibility and usability principles be covered in this course?
• What careers paths will be open to me once I graduate?
• What have some of your recent graduates gone on to do?

Researching the university, lecturers, course syllabus and opportunities once you graduate will ensure you apply for a course that will fulfil your learning requirements and be a good personal fit for you.

Provided by @kattjayne

25. Going to university/college to study design isn’t for everyone

I attended a foundation course before deciding that university wasn’t for me. This choice was made based on the fact that I wanted to avoid a huge debt and knew many designer friends who had degrees but no jobs.

I do however feel there is a place for formal design education. The theory and many tricks of the trade could have helped me avoid the pitfalls and costly mistakes while working as a junior designer. This is especially true when taught by a tutor who is a practicing professional.

I’m a self-taught graphic designer/front-end web developer and having no formal design education hasn’t closed doors for me nor has it stopped me achieving my goals.

Some talent, hard work and motivation along with the vast amount of free online resources have helped shape who I am today as a designer. Given my lack of design qualifications I’ve been fortunate to land jobs for various agencies based solely on my portfolio.

Today I work full-time as a graphic designer/web developer and successfully freelance too. Having done work for clients such as the NHS, a major UK political party and others has been possible through dedication, self-learning and a love for my profession. Work hard, love what you do and you’ll get where you want to be with or without a formal education.

Provided by @heinrichdsf

26. The bigger picture & future opportunities

University will only teach you a small amount of what you’re going to need to know to be a valued designer within a tough commercial environment, the rest is up to you to learn on your own. It will however provide you with a broader understanding of the diverse world of design and the opportunity to study a variety of specialist subjects and open paths that you may not have otherwise never been exposed to.

Networking is a big advantage that a graduate designer has over someone without the University experience. I would have never been where I am today if it were not for the people I met in college and the opportunities that emerged from these friendships.

Provided by @juliangav

27. Help while you learn

If possible, take on live class projects that will benefit the local community and non-profits. Having a live client completely changes the way you approach a project and should allow you to gain valuable insight into managing expectations, frequent changes and differing opinions that often accompany such work. You’ll also be displaying a level of commitment that should enhance the student teacher relationship and deliver more support with regards to client communication, an incredibly important and often overlooked aspect of design within education.

Provided by @Return_Design

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by international industry professionals to help new designers create, execute and maintain digital content for the web.

Contributors:

1. Get to grips with some coding basics

If you’re a web designer who’s just starting out (or even a seasoned pro who’s never gone near code) having a basic working knowledge of HTML and CSS will allow you to design websites with “real world” limitations in mind. What’s visually possible in Photoshop/Fireworks can’t always be translated very well into code, at least not without an awful lot of work!

Screen resolutions, user agents, smartphones, tablets etc all throw in their quirks into the mix when designing for the web. Basic coding and web design fundamentals will help you think about all these various scenarios during the design process  and how your artwork will translate into code. You’ll be able to produce more flexible designs which can cater for a wide range of situations and devices. Even with the growing use of HTML5/CSS3, the web still has limitations and by being aware of them you’ll  be able to produce visually appealing websites but with that added  flexibility.

Here are some websites to get you started:

• Designing For The Web
• CSS Basics
• CSS Tricks – The Very Basics
• CSS 101
• Google Code University

Provided by @heinrichdsf

2. Problem solving

As web designers our job is to solve problems in a way that balances functionality with aesthetic considerations.

The function of a portfolio is to show your skills and express who you are to potential clients, visual creativity, originality and perhaps an experimental design can be advantageous in this situation. On the other hand, the function of a landing page is to generate leads and requires a mindset that places conversions over design.

From a design point of view, how can we assist in lead generation? We can bring more focus on CTA’s (call to actions) and persuasive content (such as: Testimonials, Guaranteed policies etc).

Testimonials tend to look better below the fold and often used to fill up empty space, but we need to remember that this kind of content plays a vital role in generating leads and delivering sales. Engage potential visitors with convincing content once they arrive on the landing page by placing it near the CTA.

Provided by @mizko

3. Consistency

Be mindful that when you are creating a visual identity that will need to be executed on-line make sure that you give your client clear guidance on how to apply this online, from Facebook to Twitter and across any blogs, this typically comes in the form of brand guidelines. Your hard work may suffer when passed on to a web designer who doesn’t have a clear understanding of how the logo should be applied, its colour values or dimensions.

Provided by @richbaird

4. Web Fonts

Now that there is a wide choice of typefaces available for on-line applications the chance to express a brands propositions with more expressive character choices is easier than ever. When developing a brand language be sure that your complete vision can be translated on-line by checking that your chosen typeface has a web version (and appropriate license) available.

Provided by @bpandopinion

5. Accessibility

Accessibility in web design is more than simple alt descriptions and skip navigation links!

A useful accessibility exercise when beginning a site build is to download a demo version of speech-browser software and run it over your pages. Listening to the outcome will give you some indications as to where your site is not meeting requirements for visually impaired users. Listening to how content is grouped will also assist you to improve on content delivery – which should always be the foremost consideration in designing any website.

It makes little difference how beautiful your design is, people ultimately visit websites for content. If yours isn’t accessible and well organised you can lose out on big sections of a web audience.

Detailed info about enhancing your site’s accessibility is freely available from W3C’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI).

Provided by @kattjayne

6. Accessibility part 2

The internet is available to everyone including people with disabilities; be it visual, motor or any other impairment. As web designers/developers we have a moral duty to ensure our websites are as accessible to as wide an audience possible. No one should be left out because they can’t see a specific colour or use a basic feature on a website. There are however limitations at times as to how much work you’ll be able to do depending on whether you’re working in the private sector, government or education as development work ultimately boils down to funding and time.

There is more work involved in developing and designing an accessible website but the ultimate reward is worth the effort. It’s also not as difficult as you may think to start creating accessible websites. By following many of the basics set out by the W3C and WAI you’re complying to standards and giving disabled users a better web browsing experience.

Many (but not all) disabled users use special browsers or screen readers to help them enjoy the internet just like you and me. Some are paid-for and some freely available. Whenever possible you should test your website in as many of these browsers to get a real sense of what your website looks like to these users. This will allow you to tailor your website and create a more efficient and friendly experience.

Designing and developing with accessibility in mind will give you a new skillset and a sense of satisfaction that you’ve helped others enjoy your website by being inclusive to those who aren’t as able as you and I.

Here is a list of resources to get you started:

• Webaim
• Any Browser
• Wat-C - (Free accessibility tools for developers/designers)

Provided by @heinrichdsf

7. Wireframes

Wire frames are a great way of figuring out functionality of certain elements. It’s also a great way of clearing up how the structure of the site is going to work, and then designing around that. I use a 960 grid which is extremely useful.

Provided by @ellishollie

8. Project scope

Define the project scope correctly before you begin coding. This makes sure that both you and the client have a clear understanding of what to expect, when they can expect it, how much they will be charged for it and in what way it will be delivered.

Scope ‘creep’ can be the ruin of many good web professional/ client relationships but a clear definition will make sure that no-one feels aggrieved when the project finishes.

Provided by @StvCummins

9. Content is king

Design your web pages from the content out. Much like print design websites primary goal is good communication, make sure that you understand how the each component and piece of copy needs to structured before adding any design flourishes.

Suggested by @koucik

10. HTML5 & CSS3 Resources

• html5please
• css3please

Provided by @geekgrunge

11. Users come first

The web should be accessible for everyone, even those who still use IE, so keep in mind that if you want a website to be broadly accessible you have to work with IE in mind, (at least 8 and 9 – as of 1/2/12), visitors shouldn’t need to adapt to your site and should always come first.

Provided by @MrMorelo

12. Think analogue first

Ongoing debates about where to begin - Photoshop first, or to design “in the browser”- is a subject you should familiarize yourself with, prior to digging into your next project.

I’d like to direct your attention, though, to a preceding step in the design process: Sketching.

Design for all mediums, including web, print, product or fashion design should always begin with a clear head and a blank sheet of paper. The power of sketching allows instant visualisation of your ideas and will prove to be a tremendous time saver. Love they pen, or pencil, or crayon, or ink brush or whatever analogue tool your prefer, and sketch before you Photoshop, or code, or… well, you get the idea.

Provided by @e-known

13. Monitors

Make sure you are working on a good quality monitor, laptop and low light screens can fail to show lighter greys or add a slight yellow tint to colours. This is especially relevant if you are designing for people who are likely to view your content on a bright and high-definition 27 inch display.

I never work constantly on full brightness (due to headaches) but always bump it up to maximum once I start defining colours.

Provided by @designsurvival

14. Designing in Photoshop

When designing in Photoshop, make sure you clearly name and group layers as someone else may have to build your design and it doesn’t help if all of these are the same.

Provided by @ellishollie

15. Keep it simple and use a website Framework as a base

Once you have defined the purpose of your website, drawn out wire-frames and then design the look and feel you’ll need to write the front end code. For larger websites this can be a timely task so it sometimes helps to use a CSS/HTML framework as a base to make things easier and faster.

A HTML/CSS framework provides the base CSS and HTML components you’ll need to build most front end website interfaces. Rather than spending hours building buttons, tabs, forms, and grid layouts yourself you can simply use a framework and then skin that framework to add your own flavor to it.

Building your website becomes as simple as choosing the right layout then arranging various components on the page. You’ll need to customize components to meet your specific needs but the framework should help speed things up.

Some popular website frameworks include:

• Bootstrap
• Compass
• Blueprint 

Provided by @AdhamDannaway

16. Web fonts

Your shiny Mac is no longer your friend. Somewhere north of 90% of people will be viewing your sites on machines with a completely different text rendering engine to yours. Check your sites in as many of them as possible, they may look and behave very differently or be as well hinted as the traditional web-safe stack.

Provided by @RenaissDesign

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by seasoned and international industry experts to help new designers manage packaging projects.

Contributors:

1. Requesting production quotes

When requesting a packaging quote make sure you’re exact with regards to specifications, seemingly small changes can often have a significant impact on costs.

• Do you need any post-press treatments such as foils or varnishes?
• What inks do you plan to use? CMYK, spot colours, water based etc
• What substrate or off-the-shelf-packaging do you plan to use?
• Does the printer/manufacturer need to include assembly in the price?
• Does the printer need to include delivery?
• Does your design have folds, cuts or gluing required?
• What quantities do you require?
• Do you need colour/press proofs?

Provided by @richbaird

2. Don’t be afraid to do something out of the ordinary

When designing a new package or packaging system, you might be inclined to design something in the same style as what’s out there already. However, for a new product that doesn’t have much or any brand recognition, you need to capture the customer’s attention. Go to stores where the same type of products are sold and see what’s on the shelf. Look at colors, type, label or packaging stock, and form. Let your findings guide you in creating something that is unique and will call attention to your product. You want your product to stand out from the crowd. Don’t be afraid to do something out of the ordinary.

Provided by @MTravisDesign

3. Environmental considerations

When designing packaging it’s important to consider its full life cycle. Can it be reused? How easy is it to recycle? It’s a designer’s responsibility to, at the least, inform a client of the opportunities to use water based inks and recycled or sustainable substrates.

Provided by @richbaird

4. Inclusivity

Consider how a consumer will interact with your packaging solution both on the shop floor and at home. Is there a clear and understandable hierarchy of information? Is the packaging easy to access? Are the instructions legible in both contrast and size? Bare in mind, a brand is a complete experience and as such the packaging should express positive values such as inclusivity and accessibility.

Suggested by @Knotrune

5. Resource: Material recycling symbols

PETE - Polyethylene terephthalate

HDPE - High Density Polyethylene

V (PVC) - Polyvinyl Chloride

LDPE - Low Density Polyethylene

PP - Polypropylene

PS – Polystyrene

To download this set as a vector file click here.

Provided by @designsurvival

6. Barcodes

To acquire a barcode for your packaging you or your client will need to register at an official number supplier such as GS1 or one of its member organisations. These numbers can be used with a barcode generator ( these can be found online) to create an EPS file that can be used on pack. Be sure to check the type of barcode you require before outputting any file, in Europe these are typically EAN13. The recommended size for barcodes displayed on international packaging is 16mm high.

Barcode terminology:

Ladder – placed vertically.

Gate – Like a fence, set horizontally.

For more information visit the GS1 website.

Free online barcode generators:    Terryburton    |    Barcodesinc    |    Barcode Generator

Provided by @richbaird

7. Batch numbers

When working on pharmaceutical or cosmeceutical products you will need to make sure you include space for a batch number. These are mechanically stamped onto the packaging during assembly to trace specific groups of products. Ask your client to include this specification in the brief so that you can work it into your designs.

Provided by @richbaird

8. Resource: Back of pack symbols

RoHS Compliant – ‘Restriction of the use of Hazardous Substances’ (The materials used don’t pose a health risk)

CE Mark - European Conformity – The product satisfies legislation set out by the European Union, essentially meeting a basic level of quality.

Green Dot - The Green Dot is a symbol that allows consumers to know that the manufacturer has covered the cost of recovery and the recycling of a product. This is typically a license fee that varies between countries and the materials utilised in the manufacture of a product.

Bin – Don’t throw the product into a conventional household waste bin.

On opening, use by – This symbol denotes the months a product will remain effective prior to opening.

Möbius loop – This indicates that the material can be recycled (sometimes accompanied by a material ID number).

To download the set as a vector file click here.

Make that you and your client understands their responsibility when using any of these marks.

Provided by @designsurvival

9. Contrast

When working with clear materials make sure you are aware of the contents and that your design compliments this and has enough contrast to be legible. You may need to consider putting down a base layer to enhance similar colours or tints.

Provided by @bpandopinion

10. Resource: Association marks

Leaping bunny - The products haven’t been tested on animals

Soil Association - The soil association has a wide range of standards covering a number of industries read more here

Vegetarian Society - The product is deemed suitable for vegetarians.

To download the set as a vector file click here.

Make that you and your client understands their responsibility when using any of these marks.

Provided by @designsurvival

11. Working with bottles and curved surfaces

Consider that a straight on technical drawing won’t take into account the curve of the bottle which can make up a significant amount of additional space. Ask the manufacturer for a print guide to get an accurate measurements and consider how you layout out your copy, a user shouldn’t have to keep turning the bottle back round to read the next sentence.

Provided by @richbaird

12. Colour guides

Invest in a good colour guide; it applies to any work that will end up printed. Colour accuracy is key to creating a consistant brand and family of products, an up to date colour guide will help to avoid any surprises once the job has been run. Expect the colours to fade over time and with heavy usage so update your guides at the end of each year.

Provided by @leonforthewin

13. Mock-ups

Be sure to mock-up your design in 3 dimensions regularly at full size as you make changes, the difference between a flat image and a made up pack is huge. Remember to factor in any costs you may incur from this process.

Provided by @richbaird

14. Spot check large batches

Once your packaging has been printed make sure you or your client does a random spot check. Keep and eye out for plate slippage (slight changes across what should be straight artwork) and consistent colour (this can change slightly across separate print runs or when the ink becomes low). Hiding less than perfect pieces under the good ones has been known to happen so do be thorough and don’t be afraid to pull the printers/manufacturers up on any inconsistencies.

Provided by @richbaird

15. Keep it simple

Keep your design work as simple as possible. The more complicated the packaging becomes, the more costly it is to produce and the chances of errors increase. Remember not to forget the cost of assembly and delivery.

Provided by @AloxiaUK

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by seasoned and international industry experts to help new designers learn and achieve more.

Contributions from:

1. Learn from different disciplines

Attend as many events as possible where the delegates work within different area’s of design to you. If you’re a print designer, turn up to a 3D conference and learn about the tools, and techniques these designer’s use and look at the opportunities to implement these into your workflow and design projects.

@richbaird - This isn’t about spreading your skills too thinly but about improving the gaps between your responsibilities and the next designer/coder/3d visualiser along, as well as the opportunity to develop new aesthetics within your own work.

Provided by @themediawheel

2. Learn at every opportunity

Learning on-the-job is standard practice in a consultancy when coming from University but as a freelancer without an art director or finisher to guide you, the chances are you will make mistakes. Make sure you take the time to read up on new print techniques or web design standards, swap your fiction for some non-fiction in the evenings and focus on your weaker skills. Try to mix your learning across different sources to keep it interesting and engaging, spending even more time on the computer isn’t always the best way to absorb large chunks of technical information.

Provided by @richbaird

3. Resources

There are plenty of websites that provide designer’s with the tools to continuously learn, develop, and practice – a lot of these are free and should be considered as part of a weekly activity.

Recommended resources:

• Tutsplus
• Aisleone
• Notcot
• Fromupnorth
• Uxbooth
• 365psd

Provided by @HeyRui

4. Learn by association

Always work with someone better than yourself. It’s pretty basic, but in terms of covering all aspects of being a designer it’s one of the better things you can do to improve. It goes without saying, but to make it work you need to be open-minded and observant all the time.

Provided by @superalbie

5. Challenge yourself

There will be occasions where a client may ask you for something that you have little or no experience with. Rather than passing this work on, discuss with the client the opportunity to explore some initial ideas at a special rate. This will give you the chance to gain experience without overselling or under delivering. Be honest, enthusiastic and prepared to learn what you need to make it another skill. If it really is specialist, look at collaborating with another designer and learn from what they do.

Provided by @designsurvival

6. Understanding basic design principles

Spend time learning about the fundamental design principles that underpin your speciality. From understanding the basics you will be designing from a solid foundation and can look to bend and experiment with these as you become more experienced.

Recommended reading:

• Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden and Jill Butler
• Graphic Design: The New Basics by Ellen Lupton & Jennifer Cole Phillips
• Jeremy Keith also has a nice list of design principles

Listen to podcasts for creative tips:

• 5by5

Join a creative community to learn from others and share your work:

• Drawar
• Forrst
• Dribbble

Provided by @tadfry

7. Surround yourself with creative thinkers

Try to surround yourself with creative people, this doesn’t necessarily mean other designers but thinkers, artists, writers and performers etc. Taking a wider view of the creative world should help you to absorb and cross pollinate new ideas.

Provided by @bpandopinion

8. Asking for advice: Social networks

If you work in a design agency asking for advice and direction is easy but as a freelancer this can be difficult. Sites like Dribbble, Forrst and Logopond are great places to get feedback but try to be specific about the advice you require. Be polite and appreciative of other opinions regardless of whether you agree and don’t be reluctant to accept someone else’s idea as a better than your own.

Provided by @richbaird

9. Asking for advice: Emails

Don’t be afraid to give a designer you respect an e-mail asking for advice. Be polite and keep it to short and specific questions about your project. A good designer will be happy to answer any queries but often won’t have the time to write an essay, (especially if it’s general information you could find online). Remember, context is key, especially within identity design, a simple e-mail with a question such as ‘which do you prefer?’ is unlikely to garner a response.

Be patient, busy designer’s have to prioritise client work over general enquiries, if you don’t receive a response try another designer but don’t send out generic batch e-mails. If they do reply it’s important to show a little gratitude by replying promptly.

Provided by @richbaird

10. Inspiration

Create a dedicated blog or use Pinterest to post and tag design projects that inspire you; reference this material for fresh ideas. Dissect why particular projects appeal to you and how well they function in their intended environments. This could be textures, colour and type treatments, layouts and grids or a new and innovative approach.

Provided by @tadfry

11. Collaboration

If a client needs a particular skill set that is highly specialist (and you realistically couldn’t learn it in time), look at collaborating with another designer and learn from what they do. They may require you to output a new file type or a particular resolution for 3D environmental maps for their part of the project, these small pieces of information will give you the necessary insight to streamline your processes, make you more efficient and hopefully be able to take on more aspects of a project.

Provided by @designsurvival

12. Grow “horizontally” and “vertically”

Become an expert in something specific, but try new creative mediums, wood working, oil painting, sculpting, street art, music, dance or food. These creative outlets can stimulate different thought patterns, approaches and understand creativity as a multi-sensory experience.

Provided by @BrandMooreArt

13. Avoid stagnation

The most dangerous disease in a designer’s career is going stagnant. Learning and evolving are as important as making money because our industry is almost 100% reliant on technology. Designer’s must keep up with the latest software and print techniques in order to deliver clients and consumers the most engaging pieces of communication.

“Through personal experience I find the best way to avoid designers block or burning out is to try to learning something new or focusing on developing my weaker skills. The results may be horrid but the process is fun and the techniques I learn along the way are inspiring and allow me to improve my overall designing abilities.”

Provided by @HeyRui

14. Goals

Aspiring to reach a certain standard or achieve a particular goal is essential to improving. Spend sometime looking at what you want to achieve both in the short-term and the long-term, this could be book, magazine or digital publication, being interviewed or featured on your favourite blog or simply to maintain a steady stream of work.

Provided by @richbaird

15. Push yourself

It’s important to push yourself as a designer and stray out your comfort zone. Learning new skills and challenging yourself to experiment with new creative processes, be it painting or your first mixed-media piece, will allow your skill set to grow.

Being experimental is always beneficial. It opens up new creative avenues to explore, you’ll be more diverse in your range of work, improve on a distinctive style you may have already developed or even find a new skill you never knew you had.

Provided by @heinrichdsf

16. software

If you are teaching yourself new software books are a great way to start but mixing this with live projects will help to speed up the learning process. These guides often fail to cover subjects that are necessary for real world jobs, be prepared to spend extra time making sure that when you output work from new software that you have referenced a reliable source.

Provided by @richbaird

17. Tutorials

Tutorials are a great way of learning new skills. When things are quiet at work, I’ll focus on a new tutorial and guaranteed to learn something that can be incorporate into future design work.

18. Challenges

Always accept new challenges. There’s loads of resources out there to help tackle these such as the online tutorials and books, even simple things like just googling a problem can move you a step forward.

Provided by @ellishollie

19. Practice

One of the most important things is to practice a lot! Simple as that. Work hard and find your own way of functioning. Try to understand your creative process and don’t be afraid to show your work.

Provided by @marianowerneck

20. Take time out

As valuable as researching, sketching and designing are to improving your craft, remembering to take the occasional timeout can be one of the most important things you do.

Breaks are the yin to your work’s yang. Using a refresher, whether it be a 20 minute walk around the block or a two-week vacation will enable you to refocus, rethink your goals and ultimately redirect yourself to a path of improvement.

Provided by @e_known

21. Develop your style

Don’t follow trends, don’t be part of the stream, instead, be yourself and set your own style. Practice constantly and try to improve on your last project. Although this may take a while, people will begin to recognize you. I promise, you will enjoy your job a lot more.

Provided by @OronozDesign

22. Don’t get discouraged by feedback, use it!

When you design a website, graphic or interface try to get as much feedback from as many different types of people as you can, especially those that you’re targeting. Even though these people may not be designers their feedback is still valuable and will push you to make a good design even better.

Many designers get disheartened or disappointed when they receive negative feedback. As a designer you need to be able to handle both negative and positive feedback. You simply need to remember that design is a very subjective topic and that all feedback is simply a message that will lead you to creating a better design, don’t take it personally or you won’t last long in this field.

Provided by @AdhamDannaway

23. Don’t be afraid to say no

Some jobs/clients are just not worth taking on, don’t be afraid to pass on a project. It’s hard to do when beginning a design career as getting paid and the opportunity to develop a commercial portfolio is a priority. Remember, improving shouldn’t be at the expensive of earning a decent living or enjoying your work, think about whether the project is right for you, fits your schedule and your plans for the future.

Provided by @SDXcreative

24.  Developing business related skills

The most important skill you will need after talent in order to land potential clients is an understanding of business and how to communicate in a clear and professional manner. This could be the language you choose to use to explain your ideas, a consistent and formal style throughout your communications (invoicing, quotes and deposit receipts) as well your promptness in replying to e-mails and telephone calls. It’s worth considering how potential clients perceive you and how you can improve on and avoid any weaknesses and past mistakes.

If you’re busy and can’t reply to an e-mail in full, write a quick response explaining where you are with a clients project and when they can expect a more detailed reply. Keeping a client informed is not only polite but good business practice.

Make sure that all the documentation a client receives is consistent and professional. Terms & conditions should be clear and well formatted with all the relevant and legal details. For an invoice this might be all your contact details, VAT number, payment details, company number, a clear indication of how the cost breaks down and the hours covered.

Be sure to spell check your e-mails, quick and poorly structured responses can give the client the impression that you are inexperienced or unprofessional. It’s worth spending a bit of time improving your writing skills, this will also benefit the way you annotate your design work for a client.

Provided by @richbaird

25. Improve your non-design related skills

It takes another career to manage all the requests, creative briefs, client correspondences, phone calls, chat sessions, preparing quotes, invoices, contracts & agreements, market research and brainstorming sessions etc. It can be a long wait before a designer starts to receive inquiries on a daily basis so use any free time to learn and improve on these skills before this begins to happen.

26. Streamline your creative processes

Spend some time identifying and streamlining your creative processes, while these may not be traditional and linear it’s important to refine and resolve these into manageable systems that make the most of your time and budget. Being a freelancer, particularly in the field of visual identity design, means you need to bring some degree of order to the chaos of creative freedom in order to succeed. This takes self-discipline and a focused mind.

Generally, I’d say that if you can’t explain your working process to a potential client, you’re far from being effective. 

The best advice I’ve taken to heart is this old lecture from John Cleese on creativity which is really worth checking out.

Recommended reading:

The Future of Self-Improvement Part 1

The Future of Self-Improvement Part 2

Provided by @gertvanduinen

27. Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback on your service

You cannot know how to make your service better if you are not aware of your weakest areas. Every client is different, some need more guidance and assurance, some like to tell you how it ought to be done and some give you more trust and creative freedom, but you learn from every one of them. How you present yourself reflects your brand image, your services impact a lot on how your clients respond to you. It also gives you the opportunity to work with clients again as a retainer and to be given referrals. If your client really loves your work and enjoyed working with you they definitely will tell others about you, this goes the same if you provide a bad service and they weren’t satisfied.

When you are wrapping up a project ask your clients to take a minute of their time to let you know how they regarded your service so that you can improve. It can be on a scale rating from 1 – 10 or you can ask for a short critique/suggestions. You may not be aware of little things in which you can improve on to make your professionalism and services even better. Strong relationships build strong brands.

Provided by @FaMz

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by seasoned and international industry experts to help new designers get the most out of blogging.

Contributors:

1. Consider the value of each post

Having been posting to bLog-oMotives since 2005, I think the one major piece of advice for any design blogger is to not feel obligated to post ALL the time. I post blog entries much less these days than I did years ago, in part due to the variety of other vehicles for sharing information – including social media/networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and others. My blog posts tend to be a combination of self-promotion, design information, personal observations and identity-specific topics. In the past my blog might have been used to share the work of other designers, bring attention to design websites, direct readers to books or articles that I’ve found interesting and the like. These days such info-sharing is often communicated more effectively with a tweet, Facebook update or other immediate status post. However, the reverse is also very valuable – social media/networking sites can be incredibly useful in driving traffic to posts on a blog.

Provided by @LogoMotives

2. Get ready for the long haul

Get ready for the long-haul. It could take years before your blog reaches the heights you aspire toward, which is why you need to write about your passion, or you’ll soon lose interest.

Provided by @davidairey

3. Getting the latest content: RSS

Build up a subscription of RSS feeds from potential sources. Look to follow websites and blogs which are the providers of original content and avoid second hand news from inspiration sites, these often post articles regardless of age. Use tools such as Google Reader, Reeder, MobileRSS to stream the information and make it quick to scan through articles and sync these across mobile and home platforms.

Provided by @richbaird

4. Finding the latest content: Dating projects.

A lot of design agencies don’t date their content (I assume to give the impression that their projects are fresh). If there’s a project you really like, check the twitter and facebook accounts of the brand and see how many followers they have, I find, roughly, that the lower the number, the newer the project. Also do an image search to see how widespread a project is and the places it has been published, this is a quick way of making sure the content you are planning to post isn’t really old news or highly saturated.

Provided by @bpandopinion

5. Always reference your sources

If you paraphrase, rework information or take images from other websites or blogs, make sure you link back.

Provided by @CreativePanes

6. Original content

There are a lot of design inspiration blogs duplicating content from other sites. If you’re going to set up a similar site try to find an interesting niche, look for the exclusive or try to add something new to each post, an opinion or critical review.

Provided by @bpandopinion

7. Freebies

Approach freebies from the users point of view. What would they want to download? Social icons are popular but try to think outside the box. Be unique whilst producing something that will appeal to a lot of people. That way you will get more downloads and an increased volume of traffic and shares.

Provided by @ben_bate

8. Spelling and grammar

Make sure that you check and recheck your content for grammatical errors before you publish, some will slip through but try to keep the quality consistently high. Services like wordpress will only consider featuring posts that are well written, these can lead to more traffic and site interaction so is worth aiming for. Read WordPress’s guide to getting featured here.

Provided by @richbaird

9. Keep your blog regular and up to date

This might sound like a very simple piece of advice but it’s very important. Not having regular updates gives your readers the impression that you simply “can’t be bothered”. You might be genuinely busy with home life or work and if that’s the case, then you should at least let people know with a short message. Maybe even blog smaller updates until you have the time to write more substantial material but keep the quality consistent.

Not updating regularly also gives prospective clients the impression that you can start something but not keep it going and possibly not finish it either. They wouldn’t hire someone who’s able to start a project and then lose interest half-way through.

So, keep your content fresh and relevant. Try and keep to a schedule of when you release new posts so that readers can look forward to reading your next article or piece of advice. If you’re struggling for new content you could post an interesting link with a short description to keep content flowing. This will help to keep content growing on your blog while you’re putting together a full post for later that week.

Provided by @heinrichdsf

10. Preparation

Blogging can be a great opportunity to share your opinions or the things you love but it’s not an easy task. Advanced preparation is essential when launching your blog, strive for something unusual and distinctive, helpful and engaging.These could be tips & techniques, freelancing, everyday experiences or a gallery of work you find inspirational, keep it to something you like and are comfortable writing about on a frequent basis.

Provided by @NxAlessandro

11. Sharing

Social networking is essential to delivering your content to a wider audience. Make sure that all your articles have the popular share buttons and that these tie back to your blog’s Twitter account. This will allow you to engage with the people sharing your articles and also the opportunity to show a bit of gratitude. Don’t over promote, people are quick to un-friend/unlike and un-follow spammers. I aim to promote twice a day to catch the European and American readers as this is where the majority of my traffic comes from.

Provided by @richbaird

12. Comments

Try to ask questions in your posts to engage your readership and stimulate feedback and opinions, be sure to reply to comments and try to avoid censorship, everyone is entitled to an opinion (unless it’s offensive).

Provided by @bpandopinion

13. A balanced work/blog life

Be sure you can manage your time around posts effectively, get up a little bit earlier or plan a hour in your day when you won’t be distracted. Don’t let your blog and your commitment to it become detrimental to your business.

Provided by @richbaird

14. Stick to what you know

Stick to what you’re know and write with authority and confidence. Blog about what you have experience of and are passionate about, it’ll always make for better reading.

Provided by @CreativePanes

15. Tell your readers what you think and not just what you like

Who really cares what you like? The purpose of reposting should be to add to the ongoing global discourse that is growing around graphic design. Young designers (especially students) have an amazing opportunity to reach out globally, not only to other designers but also to potential employers, so should use this opportunity wisely. Let’s face it we all know great work when we see it, so if you are reposting a great piece of design tell the world why you think it’s great, you never know someone out there might agree with you and be looking for a young articulate designer who likes the same kind of work that they do.

Provided by @AnthonyRoocroft

16. Blog to learn

Blog because of your own desire to learn, and forget about popularity. This guarantees the time invested in research and writing will at the very least, benefit one person—you. Few blogs become ’popular’ but every one can be a personal success if used as an opportunity to further your own knowledge.

Provided by @idApostle

17. Provide added value

It’s all very well writing about your expertise in effective blogging, but unless you can provide material that would make someone else’s life better, it’s not going to get noticed, read, shared, talked about, commented on, retweeted, bookmarked – and a myriad of other things that could benefit both you and thousands of others.

Provided by @alice_elliott

18. Find your niche

Many people use a blog like a random diary about the various things they get up to in their lives. However, if you want your blog to become an authoritative resource in a certain field like web design for example, you need to choose a niche topic that you’re passionate about and keep your content targeted to that niche e.g. Chris Coyier writes about CSS on his blog http://css-tricks.com

By having content that is targeted to a specific niche you’ll find that your traffic will grow faster. This is not only due to readers remembering your site but also due to Google indexing your site better in their search engine index as your site has a high relevance to keyword searches in your specific niche. Basically you want to avoid being a jack of all trades and instead be a master of a single topic.

19. Optimize for search engines

If you’re looking to grow the amount of traffic you get to your blog you need to consider SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO basically involves making your content search engine friendly so that it pops up in Google searches when people search for what you wrote about.
You should always write your blog articles for a person to read and not for the Googlebot but there are some SEO tips and tricks that will help you get the edge over other blogs. One great resource that I use is http://www.seomoz.org/blog

Provided by @AdhamDannaway

20. Create conversations

Explore the blogosphere within your areas of interest and comment on others’ work and posts. This way you create an awareness among the blogger community about your presence and they will start following your site. Bloggers like to share ideas and express opinions, the comment box is one best way to start the conversation thread.

Provided by @jasoncktham

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by seasoned and international industry experts to help new designers develop effective brands.

Contributors:

1. Your logo is not your brand

It is important to remember that your logo is not your brand, nor is it your identity. Logo design, identity design and branding all have different roles, that together, form a perceived image for a business or product. Below is a short summary of each of these broad roles, with a link to read more about each one.

Read more:         What is brand?        |        What is identity?        |        What is a logo?

Provided by @justcreative

2. Strategy

Before starting any branding project it’s important to spend time looking at the company’s propositions and working out how best to communicate these. If a brand is made up of a number of complex propositions don’t compound everything into a single logo-mark. Spread these across multiple touch points, this might be through stationary, packaging, on-line communication or environmental design. By planning how you will implement the brand and the most effective routes it will aid you in pricing and final execution.

Provided by @richbaird

3. Consistency

Make sure that each of the brand components (typography, colour, tone of voice, photography, layout) are unified under a consistent concept and visual style. Carefully consider how the brand is presented beyond the key identity.

If you are a new freelancer working on small jobs this my only extend to stationary but it’s a good opportunity to establish a corporate typeface, layout style and material choices for future collaterals.

Provided by @designsurvival

4. Brand personality

Talk to the client and make sure you really understand their brand personality before you tackle their visual identity. They’re the ones that live and breathe their brand, and asking them lots of questions and picking their brains upfront will save you a lot of time and post client review headaches.

Provided by @BradleyRogerson

5. Brand guidelines

If you’re new to freelancing or rely on small jobs brand guidelines might seem like unnecessary work but they are a very useful tool to guarantee your solution is utilised as it was intended. This might simply be an A4 sheet of do’s and don’ts but offering this as part of a project fee will show a potential client you have a greater understanding and experience of the brand world.

A single and more comprehensive four page identity guideline template is available on Graham Smith’s website.

Provided by @bpandopinion

6. Understand your client

Understand your client inside-out i.e. complete all due diligence/research brilliantly before starting any creative work. A strong and descriptive (ideally one page) brief will help too, you may even need to establish this yourself. Try and keep all correspondence with your client clear and precise and avoid piecemeal communication. (i.e. don’t be afraid to ask questions but try to these all at once). Demystify the brand design process where you can so they can understand your position and this way they appreciate your workload and talent!

Always make things easy and very positive experience for your client.

Provided by @curvecorp

7. Corporate colours

When it comes to effective branding colour really is key. Colours affect people’s state of mind psychologically whether you like it or not! As a designer you have to research and really consider who your target audience is and how the chosen colours will relate to them.

Personally I have seen some pretty average looking logos (especially in rural Australia), however the ‘brand’ is still often memorable to me because of a unique colour combination. I always try to work with only two – three colours as a base and work from there.

Provided by @designabot

8. Brand patterns

When creating brand assets try to avoid simply creating patterns from the logo-mark, this is quick solution but doesn’t fully utilise a tool that can communicate further brand propositions. Look at the propositions that the logo doesn’t characterise and use the pattern to express these.

I combined the three symbols I created for Jabberworx as a pattern on the stationary to represent the union of the three propositions and the wider gaming community through a repeating beehive structure.

Provided by @richbaird

9. Experience the product or service you’re designing for

If possible, visit your client’s location and take a lot of pictures of the environment, product or service. Reference these for inspiration while designing.

Provided by @tadfry

10. Keep it manageable

When your developing a brand identity and related assets consider the end-user and their experience and abilities to execute the brand. If you’re designing for a small business with a limited print budget consider producing stamps and stickers as a brand tool that can easily be applied to off-the-shelf boxes.

Provided by @designsurvival

11. Consider the brand’s custodians

Establish the full picture for the brand so you know every type of media it will go on and create guidelines in case it gets passed on – this way it’s less likely to get violated by other designers or indeed non-designers, so your branding result remains consistent.

Provided by @curvecorp

12. Flexibility

Keep your brand strategy clear and simple, refer back to it as you develop each asset and make sure you’re on-brand.

Limit your typefaces to a maximum of 2 if possible and consider establishing a corporate typeface for literature.

Try to avoid overused generic stock imagery and consider how each works in communicating brand values, make sure that the composition, colours and content remain consistent even if sourced from multiple photographers.

Always try to think ahead and envisage each asset in their individual forms and as a complete experience. Evaluate their functionality within the architecture of the brand and whether they justify their place.

Create logo variations that allow it to be easily placed within a variety of situations ie. Left Aligned, Right Aligned and Central.

Provided by @anilamrit

13. Brand design doesn’t need to begin the logo

Always consider the bigger picture, brand design doesn’t always need to begin with the logo. Look at the most appropriate ways of communicating the propositions, this might be with photography, patterns (check out this project), developing packaging or a retail environment. This will often lead to a better understanding of how to distil the brand experience down into a simple logo.

Provided by @richbaird

14. Negative space

It can be said that effective design happens between the blank parts. It’s easy to over-design things (perhaps for the sake of making it look like you spent a lot of time on it), but the real beauty in is the white space. If you’re designing a brand mark, the deck of a snowboard or an interstate billboard, think simply. That’s where the impact is.

Provided by @parlory

15. Brand planning

Effective branding projects rely on a creative brief to keep everyone focused as a project progresses. Include sections for a situation analysis, objectives, target markets, budget and resources, time frame, point person, known parameters, approval structure, stake-holders and metrics for assessing results.

Provided by @brandnatter

16. Understanding the brand’s audience

Research who the brand is trying to reach. Not just demographically (gender, age, location, income), but also psychographically (interests, activities, opinions).

Create a user persona that includes a name, job, fashion choices, etc. and try to align the brand with this user persona always asking the question “would the brand resonate with user persona X?”

Find areas of common ground and overlap between the brand and the target audience’s aspirations, and highlight them wherever possible. Visually, verbally, texturally, etc.

By referring back to this research you can stay on track to make an impact with who you are trying to reach.

Provided by @IanVadas

17. Communicating brand values

Designers typically think about branding visually. But look what happens when you broaden your design methodology using the other senses.

For example, if a brand is Loud, Quiet, Discordant or Melodic, what might that look like iconographically? If it could be tasted, what typography would suggest Spicy, Bitter-Sweet, or Salty? Or, what would the colour ways for a Pungent, Musky or Citrus identity look like?

Good designers make such decisions almost intuitively. Being deliberate about it in this way can open up a flood of creative inspiration & make ideation that much more fun.

Provided by @copywrighting

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by seasoned and international industry experts to help new designers get hired.

Contributors:

1. Listen

The key to successfully gaining a new client is the ability to listen. Listen to what they want and how they envision it. Be sure to ask questions and engage in a beneficial two-way dialogue and show the client you’re really interested in their project. Don’t be afraid to say that you want it!

Provided by Kael Pinto

2. Your appearance at meetings

First impressions really do count. People expect designers to look like designers and not like business men. I always dress smart but avoid suits and anything that makes me feel I’m not representing myself and my personality. Aim to feel comfortable, confident and professional. You may want to consider props that help to communicate your passion; a design magazine at the back of a portfolio, a nice sketchbook and pencil or an iPad presentation. Remember this isn’t about faking anything just utilising tools to show your involvement within the industry, adoption of technology and the occasional spontaneous idea that needs sketching!

Provided by @richbaird

3. Research

The first step to getting hired is research. It’s essential to learn about the company you’re applying to. Try to find out about the people, their history and what kind of projects and sectors specialise in. This will help you to get a perspective of what it’d be like to work for them, whether or not you’re compatible and prepares you for a potential interview.

Cater you’re resume, cv, and covering letter to individual companies and make it stand out with a slick and well presented piece of communication design.

“My first resume consisted of graphs, charts, humor, personalized branding, and a much more laid back tone that set it apart for the stiff and boring tone of a typical resume. I did this because the design firm I was applying to was a smaller operation, consisting of really cool, creative guys designing for the love of it and not just for the buck. And you know what? It worked! And it was a competitive position – especially for me – who at the time had little “solid” design firm experience under my belt.”

Most importantly, don’t ever feel discouraged, if they don’t come knocking on your door then bang theirs down at a later date and show them all the work you’ve done and improved on since you’ve last applied.

Provided by @HeyRui

4. Self initiated work

If you’re a student looking for your first design job spend some time working on self-initiated projects in between job applications. The last thing a prospective employer wants to see is the same projects over and over again (the big sponsored and competition projects). Take a fictional company (or a real one you know could do with a visual overhaul) and do absolutely everything you can conceive for that company. A comprehensive identity carried through to printed literature, web design, uniform design and stationery design etc. shows the prospective employer that you’re a self motivator with a complete vision, this will help to differentiate your work from the multitude of other designers coming out of university.

Provided by @StvCummins

5. Be passionate

When you’re talking to or meeting a prospective client for the first time be sure to speak passionately and eloquently about your portfolio and get the client excited about working with you. This may also lead to them mentioning this positive initial experience to other business contacts. Remember this is often the first time a company owner will have had contact with a designer, they may be apprehensive so it is essential to alleviate any misconceptions.

Provided by @richbaird

6. Applying for work, step by step

Phase I: Research – Find studios and agencies nationally and internationally that interest you, and learn about all of them. (I think I probably saved over 200 bookmarks).

Phase II: Make yourself a more attractive candidate – Refresh your personal brand and beef up your portfolio with self-initiated projects that highlight your passion and interest in design. Be sure to include a list of awards and publications but leave out anything that isn’t really note worthy or obviously irrelev

Phase III: Deliver resumes to the targeted studios and agencies whether they have openings or not. My approach here is to cast the net as wide as possible, and see what happens.

Phase IV: Apply to advertised job openings posted on sites like AIGA, Creative Hotlist, Behance, Coroflot, Design & Design, etc.

7.  On-line portfolios

If you are looking to get hired then having an on-line portfolio is a step in the right direction. Not only does it look great on a business card but it gives potential clients an easy way to view your latest work.

Make sure that you don’t get carried away with it though; be sure that the first thing a client sees when viewing your site is a brief selection of your latest and most successful work. Also ensure that you are easily contactable through a number of different channels.

If you are displaying your tweets or have a blog link then keep the content appropriate; your next client could be reading them.

Provided by @joshuanhibbert

8. Communicating passion

No matter how well presented your work is or how gifted you may be it won’t communicate your character, passion or enthusiasm. This is where verbal communication skills are essential. Take the time to brush up on appropriate design language through well written blogs and books. Simple hand gestures, changes in tone and speed of voice keep presentations interesting and fluid. Don’t go overboard but be positive and lively. If you can’t answer a particular question try to negate it by being honest and suggest that it’s something you will apply or improve on during your next project.

Suggested by @heinrichdsf

9. Details

Pay attention to the details, from adding subtle textures to moving something that extra 2 pixels will ensure your work stands out. Scruffy finishes on printed work presented during a meeting can draw questions to your ability to deliver high quality work. Potential clients will notice work which has had that extra polish, even though they can’t always pin-point what it is. So, always go that extra mile and you’ll thank yourself afterwards when you’ve landed that new client.

Suggested by @heinrichdsf

10. Diversity

Show prospective clients and interviewers work beyond university and commercial jobs. Display abilities such as writing, critical evaluation, strategy and an extended interest. This might mean subscribing to magazines such as Marketing or Advertising Week or keeping up to date with new manufacturing or print technologies through industry newsletters. Aim to show that you are constantly looking for new information and directions that can be cross pollinated into your design projects.

You don’t need to master all aspects that influence the design world but do communicate an open mind and a thirst for more knowledge.

Provided by @designsurvival

11. Interviews: Ask lots of questions

Show that you are actually interested in the company – that you’ve done your research but want to know more. Having no questions for your interviewer indicates that you’re not really interested in the position or understanding it better.

Provided by @daniKelley

 12. Be realistic

Set a time frame for attaining a full-time position, if you don’t manage to get hired you may have to consider part time work, an internship or freelancing. My generation was told that we could achieve anything if we worked hard enough but with the increasing diversity of specialised courses there are many talented designers graduating at the same time and not enough jobs. The reality is that you may not have the skills needed to be a commercial designer, if you don’t receive a reply after an interview follow it up with a phone call. People will often be frank and give you a clearer idea of where you stand, it’s best to avoid asking friends and family.

Provided by @richbaird

13. Interviews: Relax

Try to relax and be friendly during a job interview. Don’t talk exclusively about yourself and your work, ask questions and get a chance to know the interviewers on a personal level. Make jokes (without being unprofessional), tell stories and chat about things they may find interesting, in the end, they might be your collegues sooner than you think.

Provided by @matteodicapua

14. Expect and respond honestly to difficult questions

At the start of an interview, you may have several softballs lobbed your way. But once you pass these easy opening questions and into the nitty gritty, a good interviewer will keep increasing the difficulty of the questions as the interview continues. The idea is to get a sense of your boundaries, what skills you have in your toolbox, and how deep these skills go.

Eventually the questions might get tough enough that you can’t answer them confidently. This might bring on the feeling that you’re flunking the interview, but in reality the interviewer is just seeing how far your skills go in any one direction.

So relax. Don’t embellish or lie. Know what you know. Admit what you don’t. And be interested.

Provided by @TedGoas

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated list of tips provided by seasoned and international industry experts to help new designers promote their work.

Contributors:

1. Print promotion – Call for entries

Since I started designing I’ve always have had set of goals I really wanted to achieve, one of these was to have work featured in a book. I spent a lot of time looking for submission requests from publishers such as Harper, Index and Rockport so I thought it might be good opportunity to pull together a list of the sites I’ve used.

Crescent Hill

This site also functions for ‘Collins Design’ and ‘Harper Collins’ publications

Submission Cost: Free

I’ve had work featured in two books through this site, ‘Logolicious’ and ‘The Big Book of Packaging’ both really nice but these took a long time to get published. With an international distribution and the free entries it’s definitely worth taking the time to submit your work.

Logolounge

Submission Cost: Paid – $100 Annually

This is one of the most popular logo series and makes an appearance in a lot of book stores and design agencies internationally. Submitting work to this site is via a paid annual subscription of $100 for unlimited uploads. I managed to get one logo featured in both volumes 6 and 7 after submitting over 40 logos. This was no doubt due to the quality of my work at the time but this is a high profile book and receives a lot of submissions. They have expanded their range to include a master series so the chances of being featured have increased and is worth the cost if you are confident about your work.

You can read my review of volume 6 here.

Design and Design

Submission Cost: Free

365 pieces of work makes up the Design and Design series with one piece of work selected per day making it into the book and the front page of their website. There is also a business card publication that also excepts entries via this site. I’ve featured in both books the quality is continually high and I haven’t made any subsequent editions. It’s free and easy to upload to so it’s worth submitting work when you get the time.

LogoNest

Submission Cost: $29.00 Annual Membership

Prior to the introduction of the annual membership fee I had a couple of logos published in volume one of this series, the book was nice but suffered a few print issues but will no-doubt be sorted for volume 2. As this is a paid site with a low production run it’s worth considering whether the exposure (likely to be limited to other designers) is worth the fee. I personally enjoy this series, the work is by designers I;m familiar with a proud to have work published next to and is a good, affordable first publication to aim for.

You can read my review of the book here.

I Heart Logos

Submission Cost: $10.00 Per Submission

I Heart Logos is another paid site but on a per logo basis so it’s worth considering which are your best pieces. As a contributor you are given the opportunity to vote on the published designs so even if you’re not featured there’s still the chance to participate. Like Logonest the production run is low and predominantly snapped up by the featured designers but is affordable and a good book to aim for when you are starting out.

You can read my review of the book here.

Zeixs

Submission Cost: Free

I haven’t had any work published by Zeixs but it’s free and the small compact books are nicely put together and internationally shipped so it’s worth registering.

Further resources: blog-omotives

If you are a new designer and have a limited budget try to pick out your best work and submit to books with a free, low annual fee or on a per submission basis, this will help you to understand which pieces are more popular before spending money on the expensive sites. Don’t submit all your work, sometimes the piece you’re least proud of my end up being published. Remember, patience is paramount, book publishing takes a lot of the time.

If you have any links to sites calling for entries you would like to share please add these in the comment section below.

Provided by @richbaird

2. Promote in moderation

Don’t bombard your clients, readers and followers with newsletters, tweets or shots. Think about what you want to achieve before sending or posting work and try to keep track of your interactions while keeping them interesting and valuable. You don’t want people to get tired of you canvassing and over doing the commenting (I’ve seen streams of ‘I like it’ from single individuals across multiple projects on Logopond). Think about who you are targeting and what their particular interests are, if necessary create newsletters split into specialisations with links to your website to read more.

Provided by @richbaird

3. Digital promotion – Blogging

I set up a blog about 6 months ago writing branding and packaging reviews. I’ve found that it provided me with an increased stream of traffic to my personal website. These also tended to be better quality clients spending time researching the design industry so that they could fully understand their own project requirements and the processes and prices involved.

There are a lot of design inspiration blogs out there duplicating content from other sites, if you are going to set up a similar blog try to be niche, look for the exclusive and try to add something new to each post. Original, consistent and frequent content is essential for a successful blog.

Make sure you are passionate about what you write about, blogging can be very time-consuming if you intend to do it properly. Reply to comments, ask questions and aim to build a returning readership.

Be patient, you won’t get a massive volume of traffic instantly, don’t force your blog on Twitterers or over promote.

Provided by @bpandopinion

4. Word of mouth

After you’ve completed a project and the client is satisfied, ask for referrals and a testimonial. These are quite frequently forgotten after a busy and intense project but this kind of prompt can help to encourage you client to communicate their positive experience to others in the business community. Testimonials are a great way to stand out but make sure that these are qualified with a client name and website link, if possible try to include a photo, this will help to give the impression that these are genuine quotes.

Suggested by @leonforthewin

5. Link backs

On-line referrals are a great way to promote your work. Constantly submit your latest pieces of work (or freebies) to popular design galleries and forums making sure that you link back to your website and contact details.

Provided by @matteodicapua

6. Digital Promotion – Galleries

On-line inspiration sites, galleries and communities like Dribbble and Logopond are places frequented by clients looking for designers. Make sure that all your work is well presented within the gallery windows and that they are comprehensively but relevantly tagged. This will draw in a greater number of search results from people looking for designers with specific experience or skills.

Provided by @richbaird

7. Print Promotion – Articles

Writing articles for publication is great way to draw together your design skills and a wider understanding of design and design practices. Write to magazine editors with ideas, you may find that the topic fits a forthcoming edition. It’s often best to pitch ideas so you can see if it’s of interest prior to spending time on writing. (This is how I managed to write for Design Week and feature in Computer Arts Projects)

Provided by @richbaird

8. Case studies

When you complete a project try to draw together your processes with a well written and illustrated article. These will help to promote your work as relevant and more than just a pretty final result. Follow publications on Twitter and look out for case study requests and submit your work.

Logonest | Ziexs | More to follow

Provided by @richbaird

9. Audience

For me there are two distinct categories to self promotion. The first and probably the most important is the one that will drive new work, this is your website, newsletters, print marketing and directories etc. Make sure that your work and communication in these locations is targeted at this audience and that it displays a unified and consistently professional approach. Be aware that written content needs to be clear and as well constructed as your design work, poor spelling and grammar can be a turn-off.

The second is the design community. By uploading and promoting your work on sites like Dribbble and participating in the commenting and critiquing of other designers work you can build a valuable on-line personality and in turn help to get you valuable feedback on your own work. Don’t over do your tweets or re-upload work over and over again because no one comments. Having a large following willing to engage with you can take a long time to foster, if you don’t get immediate feedback be patient and continue to participate.

Provided by @richbaird

10. Promotional activities: Networking

Meeting new people (design and non-design related) is essential to establishing valuable long term relationships with new clients, designers and service providers. You don’t have to be out-spoken to be able to effectively communicate your skills and passion. Simply be confident in your work, polite, professional and prepared to challenge yourself. Set yourself targets (5 new contacts per event) and make sure you leave a positive and lasting impression. Try to ensure your business cards are unique and distinctive, this will help new contacts remember you.

Always ensure your online portfolio is up-to-date before attending an event because you’ll be surprised how many people will have a look minutes after having a converstion with you.

Provided by @heinrichdsf

11. You are your most important brand

Remember, your work will promote YOU most of all, so, make sure your work is memorable.

My father once told me “is not necessarily about being the best at something, it’s who is in the minds of most potential clients that matters the most”. To do that, you need at least 3 efforts of self promotion a month in order to be remembered. What ever it is, make sure people have it clear that is you; whether it’s online, your business card, printed material or branded merchandise, just be consistent with your message.

Provided by @RudyHurtadoDsgn

11. Create and maintain a consistent brand message

Try to emphasize your style. Publish the work which makes you proud. Adopt a professional approach across all points of communication. Your profile picture, a correctly spelled tweet, almost everything matters in the eyes of a potential client, that is if you aim for decent projects.

Provided by @lecart

12. Get active on social media!

One of the best ways to promote yourself as a designer is by getting actively involved in the design community via social media like Twitter and Facebook. If you know what you’re doing and you always post good interesting content then you could become an authoritative figure in the design community.

1. Post regularly:
Create a Facebook page and sign up to Twitter. Start posting relevant and interesting links and images you come across that will be useful to your audience. If you learn something new or complete a new piece of design work post that too. Be careful not to post too much as you don’t want to overwhelm your followers and also try to keep your posts relevant and on topic.

2. Build your following:
The easiest way to get more Twitter followers is to follow other designers. You’ll find that many of them will follow you back. Make sure you have an appropriate profile pic and background image. To get more likes on your Facebook page you could try running a competition where people need to like your page to enter. Make sure that you place your “follow” and “like” buttons on your website and blog to further increase your following.

3. Make friends
Talk to people and share your thoughts and experience just as you would in person. Help others with questions they have and you’ll find that they’ll help you too. The more you give online, the more you’ll receive.

Share the love on social media and soon you’ll be having so much fun learning about design and chatting with your new friends that you won’t even realize that you’re promoting yourself!

Provided by @AdhamDannaway

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated guide to help new designers manage money and price their services provided by seasoned and international industry experts.

Contributors:

1.  Tailor your prices to specific projects

Never mention pricing in your first contact with a potential client without knowing the specific problem, target audience, etc. Not only because it’s unprofessional but also because you need to establish a valuable dialogue with a prospect in order to become a client. A personalised proposal will set the right tone and show that you are interested in both a well visualised and strategic resolution and not just about making money.

Clients are curious about what you can offer them and it’s your job to keep this curiosity and enthusiasm alive. Price should always be considered second to providing the right solution to their problem, any client who makes this their primary focus is unlikely to be interested in a creative and engaging result.

Provided by @gertvanduinen

2.  Contracts

It is very important to have a contract with a fixed price, whether that be a total cost or a per hour rate (with an upper limit). This prevents any confusion down the track as both you and your client have agreed on price. If your client wishes you to take on additional work then I would recommend agreeing to a secondary contract instead of renegotiating the original price.

Provided by @joshuanhibbert

3. Be confident

Stand behind what you charge and don’t be afraid that you’re too expensive, there are always other designers who will work for less. Don’t get into an aggressive negotiation situation, stand firm, it’s better to have a single well payed job that two low-paid.

When your rates are too low you will often attract a certain kind of client, these are often out for a quick and cheap design and have little appreciation for your craft.  Make sure your price is reflective of the value you can add to a business and go that extra mile, make sure people remember a positive, inclusive and collaborative experience not the price.

Provided by @hugodenouden

4. Raising your fee

As you gain confidence and experience there will be a point where you will feel that you can justify raising your prices. This can often be a difficult and uncomfortable process, will your clients be happy to be charged more or will they leave? From my experience if you are realistic about your abilities a client will gladly pay a bit more, they are business people themselves and understand you have to pay for good people but don’t get greedy or arrogant.

5. How and when to raise your prices

Keep it consistent, I review my fees each year and provide the client with a formal e-mail outlining the new charges, be polite and honest.  Don’t increase your price immediately and out of the blue, give the client a month or implement the increase at the start of a new year.

Provided by @richbaird

6. Pricing

This is one of the hardest things to manage when starting as a freelance designer. It can be difficult to gauge the price of your abilities and get a good idea of the market. A number of designers have been very kind and provided their basic logo design fee so it’s possible to get a rough idea of skill vs price, click on the images to view their portfolios. Help new designers by adding your fee here.

@RokasSutkaitis - View Portfolio

$350 – 400 - Two concepts and three revisions.

@d0wsoncreative  - View Portfolio

$700 – 800 – Two concepts, three revisions and stationery design.

@richbaird  - View Portfolio

$1500 - Design strategy, three concepts and three revisions.

$1,670 - Three to five concepts, $335 – $470 for each additional concept.

@gertvanduinen  - View Portfolio 

8. Unit fees

Charging by the hour or by the day is best suited to projects that you feel may go on for an extended period of time and likely to include lots of revisions. Make sure your client is continually made aware of the costs incurred on a weekly basis and provide a breakdown of the hours you have spent for each day on the invoice. This will avoid any uncomfortable surprises at the end of the project.

9. Project fees

Project fees are best suited to designers who can confidently gauge how long it will take to complete a job and provides a greater opportunity to increase income through efficient time management. Make sure you outline what will be include as part of the price and any costs that will be incurred beyond the project proposal.

Provided by @designsurvival

10.  Never work for free

As a rule of thumb you should never work for free. If you know the client really well then the odd small revision may help strengthen your business relationship but know when to draw the line. Charging for these revisions can often help the client focus on what they really need doing rather than constantly trying new things at your expense.

In the end it’s a case of being accommodating but ensuring you keep your mind on the business aspect of freelancing.

Provided by @heinrichdsf

11. A detailed brief leads to accurate pricing

Make sure you get a detailed brief from the client, finding out target market, what they want to get out of the proposed work to be done etc. This way, you won’t be underestimating the design price for something.

11a. The small things count
Always think about how long it is going to take you to do the design. If you know the client well, you might know that they’re the type of client that requests a lot of revisions to be made. Make sure you take into account the time you would spend on the numerous revisions, in order to include it in the final proposed price.

11b. Hourly Rate or Fixed Price
There’s two ways of pricing a job. For example, you would always know how much you would want to charge for an hour. If the job will take you an hour to do, charge your normal hourly rate, If you’re not sure how long it’s going to take, and can only give a rough estimate, do it on a timesheet basis, at your hourly rate. If you know it’s going to be a big project, work out how many days/weeks it would take then to complete it, including revisions, then work out the price again, based on your hourly rate.

Provided by @ellishollie

12.  Pricing

If you’re serious about design, and serious about making it your career, then be serious about what you’re worth. A $300 identity project might seem tempting if you’re going through a freelance drought, but stop + think for a moment to be sure it’s the right move for you. If you know a project is worth more than you’re about to charge, you’re not only cheating your skills and your talent, but you’re also cheating the design community. As long as folks out there know they can hire someone to spend 30 hours on a project [including redesigns] for $300 – which comes out to a measly $12/hour – they will rarely give the $1500 quotes a look. Be smart and stick to your guns.

Provided by @alanariley

13. Recommend reading

The Dark Art of Pricing by Jessica Hische

Why I Charge More – An open letter to clients by Blair Enns

Provided by @gertvanduinen

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).

A continually updated basics guide to help new designers understand and effectively utilise typography, provided by seasoned and international industry experts.

Contributors:

1. Useful terms

Created by @richbaird with the assistance of @davidwieland & Sameer Tahir - DOWNLOAD

Further resources: Typomil

2. Legibility

Legibility is one of the more important factors of typography. There are a number of things to consider including leading, kerning, measure, alignment and contrast.

When working with CSS, some of these terms are known as line-height (leading), letter-spacing (kerning) and text-align (alignment). Line-height should be around 1.4-1.5 times the font-size, text-align should generally be ragged right and the measure (line-length) should be a reasonable size.

Contrast is another key element to good, readable typography. Make sure that the colors that you choose are appropriate, and stand out from the background.

Provided by @joshuanhibbert

3. Master kerning

Never settle on software defaults or kern pairs built into a font, balance out the negative space manually to achieve the best results.

Provided by @gertvanduinen

4. Keep your type choices simple and complimentary

As a designer you have a vast array of typefaces at your disposal, all screaming out to be used. As a general guide most projects will require no more than two typefaces. Either use two complimentary typefaces, such as a serif with a sans-serif, or two different weights from the same font family.

By limiting your selection of fonts you’ll force yourself to be more creative on how your typefaces are used on-screen or for print.

Provided by @heinrichdsf

5. Consider your type options as early as possible 

One of the biggest obstacles I find new designers and students share is their constant battle with trying to make type “fit,” and by fit I mean squeeze it in so it doesn’t look awkward and out-of-place.

Typography is one of those elements that can make or break the greatest design; Be it a website, 2-page spread, poster, or brochure. The best way to use type is to consider it from the beginning, don’t focus on the layout, graphics and pictures without considering how the type will flow. Implement a grid system, play with color, use type as a texture, follow the rules and break them at the same time. Remember every aspect of the principles of good design – Rhythm, contrast, harmony, shape, etc. All can be applied to type, not just shapes, logos and illustrations!

Provided by @HeyRui

6. Typefaces

Created by @richbaird Source: Wikipedia

7. Legibility on-line

Two of the most important things about guaranteeing type legibility (even if you have a well constructed typeface) is the line-height and top margin. For the best results a, 24px line-height is best for fonts sized up to 0.9em. About the top margin, it has to be somewhere close to the line height value.

Remember that spacing is everything!

Provided by @cosminnegoita

8. Designing Your Own

When creating your own typeface try not to duplicate the same forms across multiple characters, (i.e. rotating an ‘e’ to form an ‘a’ or adding a stem to an ‘o’ to form a ‘b’) this is the quick way but very common in low quality, free fonts, try to build a unique and distinctive character set.

Provided by @designsurvival

9. Type sizes and layout for print

Don’t be afraid to adjust the leading (line height) by a maximum of 2 points +/-. Anymore and it won’t look right.

Alignment – use your typography consistently, so if the type on the business cards is left aligned, the type on the compliment slips and letterheads should be left aligned too.

Smallest point size on business cards – 6pt.
Smallest point size on letterheads and compliment slips – 7pt.

Remember, the audience always reads in a ‘Z’ formation, so design your type around that to keep them interested.

It takes only a matter of seconds for a person to decide if they’re interested in reading what’s in front of them, so make sure it captures their attention, either with a nice sleek design, or something more bold and dominating.

Provided by @ellishollie

10. Hierarchy

Look at what you are trying to say and assign a hierarchy of information to it using size, scale and colour.

This may be as simple as setting headings, and sub headings to your text, or in display pieces, pulling out the words that will get the message communicated from within the larger body of text.

Provided by @StvCummins

11. Don’t fall back on the same, safe type choices

There are only two typefaces a designer will ever need: Comic Sans & Papyrus.

But seriously, it’s natural that you will develop a fondness for certain typefaces, but don’t become wedded to the same ones. Rather than going into the process with preconceived notions about which typefaces you want to use, let the direction of your design guide your type choices.

It’s important to understand that harmoniously paired image and type has a powerful impact on the psyche. Improperly matched type can kill an otherwise great design.

Provided by AtomicVibe

12. Customize your typefaces

Whatever your font choice and where applicable, try to adapt and enhance the typeface to make it work around or with your design.

Script fonts are perfect for this as they have nice swashes and movement already.
Serif fonts can be linked using some thought and creativity.

I always find it useful to study the form of chosen font very closely and then sketching on some graph paper before deconstructing it on screen.

Enhancing / adapting fonts for typographic logo work always adds that extra something instead of it just being a simple off the shelf font.

The smallest ‘tweaks’ can make a huge difference if done correctly.

Provided by @anilamrit

13. Learn the rules and then break them!

It’s important to learn and understand the fundamentals of typography and typographic layout. From this appreciation you will be able to break these rules and create something that the reader will find interesting and engaging.

Provided by @jankovarik

14. Crafting a successful typeface

Typography is very much like logo design in several aspects. Just as each company’s logo is unique to that company, each character is unique to each font. Because there are so many typefaces that exist in the world today, the subtle details in the letterforms really distinguish one typeface from another.

While sketching is a crucial stage in any sense of typographical design, a key thing to remember is that in order for it to be a working font, it must be vectorized and turned digital. That being said, being able to create each character as a vector image on the computer is one of the most, if not the most, important parts in font creation. The end result of a font is always a file on the computer, so being tech savvy is a necessity.

Throughout the process of crafting a font many obstacles are brought about that need to be dealt with carefully. While you may have originally thought that something would look good, say a tail on the ‘a’ or a vertical cut on a ‘C’, it may be the case that it doesn’t blend correctly with the rest of the characters when in context. The goal of a font is to not have one character be overpowering over another, but rather to have a seamless blend and continuity in any arrangement. This can only be achieved with meticulous testing and altering until the desired results are achieved.

In the end, typography is around us everyday and we analyze it subconsciously. It is on road signs, menus, instrument panels, warning labels, skyscrapers, etc. Just about anywhere the eye can see there is typography, and the typography speaks to us in the way that the typographer meant to communicate when designing the font. After all, typography is meant to communicate a message to the audience in some form or another.

The key thing to remember is have fun and let the characters do the speaking for you. Typography design is an art, a skillful art at that, and the end result of a completed typeface is the most rewarding aspect for the typographer.

Provided by Joe Prince

Contribute!

If you are a designer and have any advice you would like to add, please submit your contribution here or as a comment at the bottom of this post (remember to include your Twitter, Dribbble or Forrst ID so I can credit each tip).