Graphic designers work in a variety of environments. There are in-house designers, agency creatives and, of course, self-employed designers.
Many designers see self-employment as a goal which will allow them more creative control, recognition of their talents and also the freedom to concentrate on the projects that they prefer to work on. But starting out as a freelance graphic designer can also be a daunting prospect.
Pros and cons
The advantages of being self-employed are many and graphic designers become self employed for a variety of reasons. Many give up paid jobs, some voluntarily whilst others have taken advantage of redundancy packages to set up on their own.
Of course freelancing has many pitfalls and responsibilities that paid employment does not. Issues such as sales and marketing, self promotion, taxes and invoicing all become an every day part of the self employed designers lot.
Sales and self promotion
Graphic designers are experts at promoting other people's businesses, but many soon find that promoting themselves is much harder than it seems. For the first time many creatives will find themselves in the ironic position of struggling to design their own logos, business cards and web sites. And of course there is the fun, yet difficult, task of choosing a name for your design business.
There is also the question of finding the time for self promotion and marketing. It is interesting to note how many graphic designers (including some established agencies) have yet to find the time to even design their own web site portfolio.
Freelance contracting, self employment, partnerships?
There are a number of business models that designers can choose when deciding to work for themselves. Some creatives specialize in working at client's premises – usually on a short term contract basis. Others will set up their own studios - either at home or in a small office. Whilst others may form partnerships with other creatives to share skills, office rent, equipment and utility bills.
Work space, hardware and equipment
A graphic designer's working environment is not like most other office-based professions. Graphic designers need much more than simply a desk and a cheap personal computer. Equipment such as light boxes, cutting tables, spray booths and storage space for paper, boards and other presentation materials are also a requirement. It is for these reasons that many small office /home office (SOHO) designers eventually decide to find premises away from their living environment.
Creatives who are planning to meet clients on their own premises may also want to investigate the availability of meeting room space. Many shared office environments have 'board rooms' that can be booked for meetings.
And when it comes to technology, designers also have to be very careful about choosing which computer they will be using. Lots of processing power, RAM memory, large monitors and fast hard disks are all a crucial part of the graphic designers' tool-set. Deciding whether to standardize on Apple Macs or Windows PCs may also be consideration. Traditionally print designers tended to prefer Macs, but is no longer such a crucial factor.
Web designers may decide to budget for both operating systems, if only for testing purposes. Although now that Intel-based Macs can run Windows natively, this may be easier to achieve than previously.
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