Download - Your Guide to Typography, Logos, and Selling Your Designs

Your Guide toTypography, Logos and Selling Your Designs

2 | Your Guide to Typography, Logos and Selling Your Design

Your Guide to Typography, Logos and Selling Your DesignIt’s safe to say that graphic designers have never been more in demand. We live in a world that is obsessed with visuals - from logos to immersive web experiences - and so much of the magic that goes into these things is the work of talented designers.

Because of this, finding design work is easy. Just ask your cousin who wants you to design her wedding invitations, or the friend of a friend who could use some help coming up with an idea for their website. But what’s not so easy is finding a way to profit off your talents as

a graphic designer. This eBook will walk you through the basics of making a living as a designer, from determining how much you need to get paid to mastering and marketing your talents in a way that will connect with potential customers.

If you’re a graphic designer who is looking to make money off your designs, you need to figure out what kind of design projects are most likely to make you money. To kick things off, we’ll look at a few options so you can figure out where your talents lie and how you want to earn some extra cash.


LogosWhen done right, a logo can encapsulate so much of a brand’s identity. Think about the Nike swoosh or the Apple apple that decorates the back of every iPhone and Macbook air. These logos are iconic. Even seeing them out of context - on a computer screen, a billboard, or a hand drawn on a piece of paper - calls to mind so many things about the brand. For Nike, the swoosh stands for many things, including fitness, hip-hop culture, and fashion; Apple’s apple stands for innovation, great design, and new ways of thinking about how we communicate.


Logos

Logo design represents both a unique opportunity and a challenge for designers. They get to encapsulate a brand’s value and offerings through their design talents. But because there is so much riding on a nicely design logo, you need to be plugged in to what you potential customer wants. You also need to be prepared to go through many iterations of a design to make sure it’s what he or she is looking for. If you plan on making money off your logo designs, you’ll want to have a solid portfolio of logos that show potential customers just how good you are at your craft. So at first you may want to take on customers at a lower rate in order to boost your portfolio. The benefit of this is that it will help you build your portfolio, as well as get you some experience creating a logo for a potentially tricky client.


Web DesignWe all spent plenty of time surfing the web on our phones, tablets, and laptops. But what you may not have considered is the fact that all of these things require a designer who can breathe life into their form and function.

There are many different kinds of web design, some of which involve backend design which is basically building the guts of a website so that, say, that order you placed from Amazon is properly billed to your credit card, or that record you downloaded actually downloads when you click the buy button.

Front-end development involves more traditional graphic design. When it comes to websites, design encapsulates much more than you may initially think. For instance, designing a website


Web Design

does definitely involve choosing a color scheme, but it also includes designing buttons, the menu, and maybe even using Photoshop on your photos.

Just as with logos, if you want to make money designing websites, you’ll want to start by having a portfolio of sites you’ve designed. One of easiest ways to start doing this is by creating a great looking website for yourself that will attract customers and show what you’re capable of doing. Then, as you design websites, be sure to keep a details list of your creations so you can show potential customers what your talents are and the things you have to offer them.


TypographyTypography is an art form that involves arranging letters in a way that is both attractive and easy to read. If you’re a designer and you want typography to be your specialty, you’ll need to use a different part of your brain than you would for, say, designing a logo.

With typography, the most important thing to have is a wide range of work. You want to be able to show that your capable of creating a large statement at the top of a website, while also being adept at laying out large chunks of smaller text in a way that makes it easy to read and consume.

As is the case with most types of design, you’ll want to get a lot of practice as typography before you start selling your services. Typography isn’t something you can fake or just be so-so at - you need to be great, otherwise your customers’ customers won’t be able to read what they’re offering! And nobody wants that.

This last way of making money has little to do with actually designing. Instead, it’s all about writing and educating others.

Having a blog on your websites can serve as a powerful tool for winning new customers by showing what you know about the latest trends in design. If you’re afraid you won’t be able to have enough content, consider the fact that there is design literally everywhere around you.

Sample blog posts might include the best movie opening credits ever, the most beautifully designed kitchen products of all time, or just a random sampling of things you recently stumbled across the perfect encapsulate your design aesthetic.


Blogging


PaymentOnce you’ve decided you’re going to make money by being a designer, you’ll need to figure out the business aspect of it. Of course, the most important decision is deciding how much you want to charge people for your services. This will generally depend on what kind of work you’re doing and the length of time you’ll spend on each project.

For smaller jobs like a simple logo design, you may want to bill by the hour. If it’s a larger project like building a website or some other web experience, you may want to charge a day rate. For more packaged offerings, like designing stationary, you may charge a flat fee per

order. It all depends on what you think is right for you.

To settle on an actual number, you need to look at your past experience and how much your time is worth. If you’re just getting starting in the world of design, you’ re going to have a hard time charging people a premium price for your services. Plus, the jobs you get as a beginner will most likely be much less challenging than the ones you’ll come across as a more seasoned designer. When you’ve got more experience under your belt, then you can start thinking about charging according to what you’d be making at a full time job, maybe a bit more.


MarketingIn order to sell designs there’s one very important thing you need: customers. Once you’ve decided to make money as a designer, you’re going to want to let people know about your offering. Create dedicated social channels for your designs that will help people easily discover you.

The platforms you settle on will depend on your services. Facebook is a great way to potentially connect with the most people. Instagram’s inherently visual nature makes it a great way to show off you work. And Twitter can be great for letting people now timely news, like a showing of your work at a design fair.

You may also want to join online communities where fellow designers trade information and ideas, and websites that connect designers with individuals who need design work.


Keep at it!Being able to make money doing what you love is something that very few people are able to do. It takes a lot of hard work and time to make it happen. So if you don’t immediately find success selling your designers, or your logo or typography work, don’t fret. Chances are you just need to spend a little bit more time working at it! Eventually, you’ll be a great designer getting the work you deserve.

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Download - Your Guide to Typography, Logos, and Selling Your Designs

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