To be a good designer you have to abide by few rules that will make you a great professional and help you deliver the best work you can.
Written on the 21st day of December in 2009.
Design is a noble profession and each person who has the balls to practice it must adhere to some hard nosed rules and regulations. I am not talking about artistic rules, I am talking about business rules that are not meant to be broken. Anyone who brakes them does a disservices to their own respectable peers, the client, and own-self. The following are few rules no designer should brake.
Never do Spec Work
Some clients shop for work and pay only if they like it. These clients are shooting themselves in the foot and the designer in the head. By soliciting free work the client is missing the big picture and not solving their problem, but creating a new one by shooting darts in the dark. Do not do work for these clients, if you cannot educate them in the process.
Have that Contract Ready
Always have the client sign their copy of the contract. By doing so, you are telling the client you are a serious professional. In your contract you will list all design items you have to deliver, for which you as a designer will have something to hold yourself accountable for. Your client will love you for it! And in case something goes awry during the process, you will go back to the contract and read what you had agreed to do.
Deliver Your Best
After you have cleared the tough part of signing contracts and bargaining about the final price, you have a job to do. You have to serve the client (for the allocated time you've set aside for them) and give them your all by pouring out everything you have learned up to date. Remember, you are giving your experience on the project...and experience costs money.
Be all you can be - the army way!
Never do Spec Work
Some clients shop for work and pay only if they like it. These clients are shooting themselves in the foot and the designer in the head. By soliciting free work the client is missing the big picture and not solving their problem, but creating a new one by shooting darts in the dark. Do not do work for these clients, if you cannot educate them in the process.
Have that Contract Ready
Always have the client sign their copy of the contract. By doing so, you are telling the client you are a serious professional. In your contract you will list all design items you have to deliver, for which you as a designer will have something to hold yourself accountable for. Your client will love you for it! And in case something goes awry during the process, you will go back to the contract and read what you had agreed to do.
Deliver Your Best
After you have cleared the tough part of signing contracts and bargaining about the final price, you have a job to do. You have to serve the client (for the allocated time you've set aside for them) and give them your all by pouring out everything you have learned up to date. Remember, you are giving your experience on the project...and experience costs money.
Be all you can be - the army way!
