Graphic Design Business Ideas and Tips

By Eric Miller, About.com

Get the Word Out

When starting or attempting to grow a graphic design business, a key factor is finding clients. Unless you are making a living off of personal ventures, you won’t have an income without them. There are many ways to market your company, from blogging to networking to word-of-mouth. Once you’ve impressed a client with your design skills and business sense, it’s amazing how word can get around, and there are ways to encourage it.

• Growing Your Business Through Word-of-Mouth
• How to Create an Email Newsletter
• Create a Business Card
• Get Your Credit Line
• Graphic Design Blogs

Create a Portfolio

When you make contact with a potential client, often the first thing they will want to see is your portfolio. Your portfolio is an extremely important business tool, as many companies will choose a designer based on their previous work, and how that work is presented. Don’t worry if you don’t have “enough experience” to show in your portfolio… student work or personal projects can impress just as much. There are several options, each with different benefits and varied cost and time commitment.

• Types of Graphic Design Portfolios
• Building a Website Portfolio
• Building a PDF Portfolio

Set Your Rates

While it may be difficult to figure out hourly and flat rates, there are processes you can follow that make it easier. Remember, unless you feel you can’t land a job otherwise, you don’t need to give a client the project cost at your first meeting. Take some time to decide if you want to charge by the hour or a flat rate, compare the job to previous jobs, and get back to the client with an accurate estimate.

• Hourly vs. Flat Rates
• How to Determine Your Hourly Rate
• How to Determine Flat Rates

Meeting with Clients

When you hold a client meeting, go in knowing what information you would like to gather. By getting a full understanding of the scope of the project, you can create an outline, an accurate estimate, and ultimately prepare the contract.

• What to Ask Clients in Meetings
• How to Create a Project Outline
• What to Include in a Contract

Managing Projects

Once you have started a graphic design project, there are ways to properly manage it and stay organized. For starters, keep in constant contact with your client and follow the project schedule so the job is finished on deadline. There are plenty of software packages that will help you, from to-do lists to billing.

• Project Management Software
• The Benefits of Time Tracking
• Time Tracking Software

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- http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/career/ss/business_ideas.htm

Free Vector Sources

You can find individual vector files (as well as some packs) at the following websites:

• Vector Stock
• Qvectors
• Vecteezy
• FreeVectors.net
• CoolVectors.com
• Vector4Free.com
• VectorPortal.com
• VectorJungle.com

Mumbai under attack

Late Wednesday night, Mumbai, India found itself the target of a ferocious terrorist attack, and the situation remains unresolved even now, three days later. According to reports, upwards of 60 young men entered Mumbai in small inflatable boats on Wednesday night, carrying bags filled with weapons and ammunition, and spread out to nine locations to begin their attacks. Lobbing grenades and firing their weapons, they entered hotels, a railway station and several other buildings, killing scores and wounding even more. As of this moment, the identity of the attackers has yet to be definitively determined, though there are reports indicating some of the gunmen were Pakistani - at least nine of them have been killed, nine more arrested. As of this writing, there were a reported 151 people killed from 11 different countries - though nearly 100 were Indian. More than 300 injuries have also been reported - those numbers may yet rise as several hostage situations still exist in the city. (35 photos total) - full story on http://www.boston.com

A city bleeds, nation mourns and an army of heroes who have dedicated their lives to the country fight a savage battle with extremists to restore peace and order. But the truth is the terrorists have claimed victory and a small section of their inhumane breed will call them martyrs. Cowards they are. If this what their religion teaches them to do, then I am proud not be born as one among them. Its true, they only represent a small fraction and others from their community cant be held responsible, but my heart cries looking at these images. These are common people from all walks of life. People who are at peace with the word while they fight their own individual battles. Do they deserve to be caught in this ghastly act.
Shame on those who participate and perpetuate these. Shame on your so called religion.

Posted by Bleeding Soul November 28, 08 12:18 PM to www.boston.com | The Big Picture

From The Big Picture.



A reporter talks on her phone as smoke is seen coming from Taj Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the top of the landmark Taj Hotel in Mumbai on Thursday and heavy firing could be heard, a Reuters witness said. (REUTERS/Arko Datta)
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Injured Indian security personnel lie at the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008. The two men later died from their wounds. (AP Photo/Mumbai Mirror, Sebastian D'souza)
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A gunman walks through the Chatrapathi Sivaji Terminal railway station in Mumbai, India, Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2008. (AP Photo/Mumbai Mirror, Sebastian D'souza)
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Employees and guests of the Taj Mahal hotel, site of one of the shootouts with terrorists, are recued by firefighters as fire engulfs the top floor on late November 26, 2008. (LORENZO TUGNOLI/AFP/Getty Images
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Firefighters try to douse a fire at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai November 27, 2008. Indian commandos freed hostages from Mumbai's Taj Mahal hotel on Thursday but battled on with gun-toting Islamist militants. (REUTERS/Punit Paranjpe)\

- full story on http://www.boston.com

its wrong to blame pakistan or any other muslim country ...[PS: im NOT A MUSLIM]
its the western countries like US and Britain who milk feed terrorism and its centres .....and then pretend to show solace to the victims ......why the hell does US support Pakistan and afghanistan (previously) ....there is a deep divide and rule policy that these countries adopt against asian countries ...and yess ...fuck china too!!!! ....bye take care...love u all ...nothing personal!!!

Posted by varun November 30, 08 09:21 AM to www.boston.com | The Big Picture

- full story on http://www.boston.com

Dover Middle School’s 10 Tips for Photography Students

1. Hold the camera steady with your elbows close to your body, or propped on something stable (table, bench, etc.) OR use a tripod.

2. Don’t be afraid of angles or changing your orientation (portrait or landscape).

3. Before pressing the shutter button, check your focus points. Is your photo focused on the subject or on something in the foreground or background?

4. Check your camera settings before shooting photos…Are they correct for the current conditions? ie: ISO, Shutter Speed, White Balance, etc.

5. Listen to your teacher (if in a classroom situation) AND use great resources such as DPS!

6. Listen to experienced photographers. Also, view and study works of other photographers. This helps provide different perspectives and inspiration.

7. Learn how to use the Macro settings (or Macro lens) for your camera. Give the smallest details of nature great importance!

8. Use the continuous shooting mode to capture movement.

9. Take LOTS and LOTS of pictures!

10. Have FUN!

You can see some of the work of the class who put this list together here.

Web Typography Sins - Top Ten

- By Steven D.

While many designers have been quick to embrace web standards, it’s surprising how often the basic standards of typography are neglected. Here are ten deadly sins to avoid in your web typography:

1. Using hyphens instead of an em dash

If you need to interrupt yourself, do it with an em dash (—) instead of a pair of minus signs. This is a top pet peeve for countless editors.

2. Using periods instead of ellipses.

Most fonts provide a dedicated ellipsis character (…) to keep your type tidy. The ellipsis character fits the three dots into a single letterspace, which is especially beneficial for content that might be printed.

3. Using dumb quotes

These straight “up and down” quotes used in your markup should stay in your markup. In your content, only use them to indicate a measurement in feet or inches.

4. Double-spacing between sentences.

The antiquated practice of double-spacing between sentences seemed like it was finally laid to rest thanks to web typography. Just a few short years ago, it required manually inserting a blank ASCII space to commit this font faux pas. Now, some content management systems will actually format the double-spacing for you if you let them. Don’t give them the chance! Only use single spaces between sentences.

5. Improvising a copyright symbol.

Not only is it ugly and lazy, a copyright symbol hacked together out of a capital C and parenthesis might not even cut the mustard in court. Use the real McCoy (©), and bill your clients extra for the legal advice.

6. Using too much emphasis.

You can bold text. You can italicize it. You can underline it. You can even use all caps if you really need to hammer home your point. Just don’t use more than one at the same time.

7. Underlining your hypertext links.

Underlines cut right through the descenders in your typeface, making it harder to read. Instead of text-decoration: underline;, use border-bottom: solid 1px #00f; to draw a line below your text instead of through it.

8. Faking families in Photoshop.

If your font doesn’t offer (or you couldn’t afford) the bold, italic, or smallcaps branches of the family tree, don’t try to fake it in Photoshop. Sometimes you can get away with it in print, but at web resolutions, it’ll be a mess.

9. Not using accent characters.

I know how annoying they can be (especially when you’re writing about Ikea furniture), but if somebody’s name includes an exotic character, be polite and include it.

10. Not using CSS for capitalization effects.

I know it’s CRUISE CONTROL FOR COOL, but if you’re using caps (or lowercase) for decorative reasons, be sure to use the text-transform property. It’ll save a lot of trouble if you ever decide to change things later.

About the author

Steven D. is a web developer so secretive that he won’t even tell you his last name without entering a mutually-binding NDA. In his free time, he enjoys working instead of enjoying his free time.

My Secret Weapon to Getting Contracts

- By Hollis Bartlett

In my first days of freelance web design, I did all the right things to get business — web-site done, Chamber of Commerce joined, social media networking done. So why wasn’t the phone ringing? I suspect many freelancers feel the same way. The big question remained: where do I get business?

Then I discovered a secret weapon. I wanted local business, as it’s easier to build referrals that way. I went through the local directory looking at businesses without web-sites, or with very old and poor sites and made a list. I made a small brochure, put on some decent clothes, grabbed my business cards and actually physically walked into their offices! I got enough business within two days to keep me busy for months, and had a blast at the same time.

It seems many of us have trouble getting over the fear of actual cold-calling. We will do anything possible to avoid it. We will waste time on catching up on blogs, RSS feeds, Facebook, anything to avoid cold-calling, and still chalk it up as ‘work’. However, once you try this method you will forget all other marketing ideas.

So, if you are new into freelancing, or business is slow, try the GOYAKOD method — Get Off Your Ass and Knock On Doors!

About the author

Hollis Bartlett is a full-time freelance web designer & developer located in Nova Scotia. He loves the freelance lifestyle as it gives him flexible time to spend with his wife, 3 daughters, supports a blacksmithing hobby and still gets the bills paid.

Top 10 Photoshop Moves

- By Tom Giannattasio

Is time kickin’ your ass? Well, learn to defend yourself! Master these killer Photoshop keyboard combos and you’ll find yourself with more time for the important things (e.g. Facebook trivia questions). These combos assume you’re using Photoshop CS3 on Windows platform with default keyboard shortcuts.

Legend:
( ) = Repeat as desired
{ } = Manual Input Required

10. Cloak of Invisibility

Remove everything from the screen except for your file.

• F, F, F | Cycle through Screen Modes
• Tab | Remove Tools and Palettes
• Ctrl+H | Hide Extras (Grid, Guides, Slices, etc.)
• Ctrl+R | Hide Rulers

9. Quick Brush Jab

Quickly and easily customize a brush. This combo is a staple for digital painting.

• B | Brush Tool
• Right-Click and Select or F5 and Select | Open condensed or full Brush Palette
• or . or , or Shift+. or Shift+, | Cycle through brushes or jump to first or last brush
• [ or ]: | Shrink or enlarge brush radius
• Shift+[ or Shift+] | Decrease or increase brush hardness
• {Numeric Input} | Change brush opacity (e.g. ‘5′ = 50%, ‘55′ = 55%)

8. Quick Brush Jab Path Stroke

Stroke a path with a customized brush.

• {Draw Path} | Use any tool to draw a path
• B | Select Brush Tool
• Quick Brush Jab | Use the Quick Brush Jab Combo to customize brush
• Enter | Stroke the path with your customized brush

7. Gaussian Attack

Apply a filter, fade it and apply again. Good combo for fine-tweaking filters.

• {Apply a Filter} | Manually choose and apply a filter (warning: using the Lens Flare filter may result in a swift kick to the mouse balls)
• Ctrl+Shift+F | Fade the filter
• (Ctrl+F or Ctrl+Shift+F) | Reapply filter with or without dialog box

6. Shadow Maker

Create a basic shadow based on a chosen layer.

• {Select Layer} | Select the layer the shadow will be created after. The transparency of this layer needs to resemble the desired shape of the shadow.
• Ctrl+J | Layer via Copy
• Ctrl+[ | Move layer down
• D | Reset color defaults
• Alt+Shift+Backspace | Fill with black and preserve transparency
• Ctrl+T | Free transform
• {Transform} | Modify to your liking
• Enter | Commit

5. Layer Catcher

Select, group and mask layers. Often easier than using the layers palette.

• V | Selection Tool
• Ctrl+Click or Ctrl+Shift+Click or Ctrl+Shift+Right-Click | Select your layers
• Ctrl+G | Group Layers

4. OCD Layer Sort

Rearrange your layers quickly and easily. Great cure for you neuroticism.

• F7 | Show Layer Palette
• Alt+[ or Alt+] or Alt+, or Alt+. | Select a layer
• Shift+Alt+[ or Shift+Alt+] or Shift+Alt+, or Shift+Alt+. | Select more layers
• Ctrl+[ or Ctrl+] or Shift+Ctrl+[ or Shift+Control+] | Move layers down or up or send to bottom or bring to top

3. Ultimate Flattener

Merge All Layers (even those hidden). Quick way to flatten a file.

• Alt+. | Select Top Layer
• Shift+Alt+, | Select all layers between currently selected and bottom layer
• Ctrl+E | Merge the selected layers

2. Infinite Dupe

Duplicate and evenly distribute or transform items. Nice way to distribute something like nav buttons.

• Ctrl+T | Transform
• {Transform/Move} | Manually Move or Transform
• Enter | Commit Transform
• (Ctrl+Alt+Shift+T) | Duplicate and transform relative to the newest item

1. Finishing Move - The Web Extractor

Extract a selection and save it for the web. Extremely useful when pulling individual elements from a design, such as buttons or rules.

• {Create Selection} | Select the area you want to extract
• Ctrl+Shift+C | Copy Merged to clipboard
• Ctrl+N | Create New Image based on selection size
• Enter | Confirm New Image
• Ctrl+V | Paste from clipboard
• Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S | Save for the Web

About the author

Tom Giannattasio is a Web Designer/Flash Developer living in Bethesda, MD. In his free time, he enjoys reading, philosophizing, digital painting and going to the zoo. To view a sample of his work, visit his website at www.attasi.com.