Guide to Starting a Business - Graphic Designer

Description of Job

• Design logos, letterheads, business cards, and other graphics for businesses.
• Produce electronic files for brochures, catalogs, and forms.
• Specify and coordinate printing.

The Need

The “paperless” office is a myth. We still live in a clutter of forms, business cards, and written correspondence. Even though the Internet has taken over a significant slice of wholesale and retail sales, electronic commerce, too, uses logos and graphics.

The job of the graphic designer is to translate the corporate identity of a business into a readily recognizable logo and to help create order and logic in printed materials, including brochures, catalogs, and forms.

Once the design has been made, the graphic designer works with a professional printer to specify colors, paper, and process.

Challenges

Graphic beauty is in the eyes of the beholder; make sure you work closely with your client and obtain approval for work in progress before it is committed to print.

Your agreement with the client should be very specific regarding the ownership of any designs you make. In most cases you will be selling all rights to your work, but anything is open to negotiation; consider the case of Harvey Ball, who designed the original bright yellow happy face button as a promotion for State

Mutual Life Assurance Company in 1964. He was paid $45 for the design, and neither he nor the insurance company trademarked the image, which has gone on to uncounted millions of uses and has made millions of dollars for others.

In some cases, the graphic designer may be called on to produce newspaper advertisements or flyers; unless you choose to accept the additional assignment of writing and editing advertising copy, you should ask the client to involve a professional copywriter.

Know the Territory

Although many artists and designers begin with a blank piece of paper and a pencil (with eraser), nearly all production work is completed on a computer using a drawing program such as Adobe Illustrator or a digital editor like Adobe Photoshop.

Page production for books, magazines, brochures, and catalogs as well as smaller jobs like business cards are typically produced using software like Quark XPress.

The digital files can be reviewed on-screen or as printouts, then edited before being transmitted to a printer.

How to Get Started

Post flyers and ads showcasing your work in community centers, retail stores, and schools. Place ads in newspapers, shopping guides, and newsletters to the business community.

Send samples of your work to area businesses. Ask friends and relatives to recommend your services; offer a bonus or discount on future work for business they send your way. Do the same with satisfied customers.

Create a portfolio of your work to show potential clients; the work can also be made available over the Internet or on a CD you can produce by yourself.

Contact area advertising agencies and printing companies; they may recommend you to their clients if you use their services for the project.

Up-front Expenses

You’ll need an artist’s tools for sketches. For production you’ll need a capable computer, plus digital drawing and editing software and a high-speed Internet connection to communicate with clients and printing companies. Artists can work with either PC or Apple Macintosh computers, although over the years the art community has been one of Apple’s mainstays. Other expenses include advertising and promotion.

How Much to Charge

Basic work is charged on an hourly basis plus the cost of any materials and supplies. Some artists charge a flat fee for designing a logo, with the understanding that the client can then use that logo for any future purpose. (Remember the happy face.)