Whats the street name for it? — Rejection

Let’s start off with a topic that really hits the spot for most freelancers, when trying to get a gig. Rejection. How do you take it? Do you take it personally and shed a tear or scratch it and move on like it was nothing?

The article below is by Raj Dash.

Getting Through Freelance Rejection
Raj Dash

The new year is always a good time to reflect upon your business practices of the previous year. Did you perform as well as you’d hoped as a freelancer? Or did you get rejected more often than you were expecting?

When you’re turned down for a freelance gig, how does it make you feel? It stings, right? Even when you have a few years of experience. It’s tough enough being a lonely freelancer, tougher still being rejected for a gig you were hoping for – or worse, counting on.

But this is purely a default reaction you’ve allowed yourself to have. If you detach yourself personally from the outcome, then it allows you to move on and try for another gig. The fact is, most of the time, being rejected has nothing to do with you personally.

Some Questions to Ask Yourself

To make it easier to deal with rejection in the future, ask yourself some questions about recent rejections.

1. Was this really a slight against me? Don’t take it personally. There are many reasons a freelancer does not get the job, and it’s not always about you. When you realize this, then it’s easier to be detached.
2. Did I deliver? Maybe it was about you. Was this an existing client? It’s been said that existing clients are your best source of work. The effort of getting additional work from them is typically less than for finding a new client and an active project. Check back with clients after a project has completed, to be sure that they received what they were expecting.
3. Was I qualified? Maybe someone was more qualified. Clients are going to be more conservative during a recession. Improve your skills for the next opportunity.
4. Were my rates confusing or just wrong? Were my rates too high for the client? Too low? Believe it or not, the latter might lead some potential clients to believe that you’re not offering very much. Or maybe you are way outside the range of your market without clearly explaining what you offer to justify your rates.
5. Did I make clear what I could do for them? If you don’t tell them that you can do “X”, don’t assume they know.
6. Did I communicate properly to the client? Don’t assume that a busy client understood everything. Communications in the digital age get rushed. Long emails or chat sessions might not get absorbed. Ask direct questions that solicit a response, instead of just stating something. Repeat unanswered questions in followup communications.
7. Was there a personal crisis? Personal situations sometimes come up, and a rejection is sometimes due to that or simply an oversight. By checking back with them or staying in touch, you might gain other work.

Does detachment make you insensitive? Not at all. Consider for a moment the philosophy that many creative people subscribe to: a single, feasible, great idea is the result of having dozens or even hundreds of infeasible ideas.

So photographers take dozens of pictures to get one good one. Inventors try thousands of ways to produce a functioning prototype. As they achieve efficiency of style and work flow, later efforts become easier. Likewise, as a freelancer, you might have to apply for/ bid on several gigs before landing one. This gives you the opportunity to learn skills for applying and/or bidding, and to become efficient at it.

Got the hang of it? Ready to face rejection head on? Check out The Golden Pencil’s Rejection Letter Oympics, where blogger Jenny Cromie challenges readers to go out and get as many rejection letters as possible. The more opportunities you try out for, the better your chances of getting a “yes” at some point. Not trying might save you from rejection, but it limits your opportunities.

Have you been rejected for a project lately? What did you do to get through it?

Thanks Raj for sharing this. It is not very often issues like these are addressed or spoken of.

Another Freelancer/Client Article

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any articles on ‘freelancing’. But look what I found today! A fantastic article on the type of clients to avoid. Now, I am not a client hater, but as a freelancer, its a constant learning process on how to deal with people and issues. And not all projects go down well. This is the part that makes me second doubt my dreams of quitting the rat race! I really am not one for confrontation, unless it is absolutely necessary. Even then its something I wish I didnt have to do.

So it’s best to go with that gut instinct if you feel uncomfortable about certain things. Everything in the article below, I can attest to.

How to Spot a Dud Client and Get Out While You Can

by Joel Falconer

I know how to spot a dud client. I spent far longer (read: years) working with one of them than I should’ve, before I wised up and realized that any money you receive from them is not worth it and likely to incur a loss — since that money will likely end up working you ten times harder than it’s worth, strip you of motivation, and is time better spent marketing your business to help you earn cash from more professional clients.

I’ve only had a few of these clients, and I don’t have one now and I haven’t had one for some time. That’s because once you learn to spot a dud, you can avoid them pretty easily. Unfortunately, many freelancers are caught in a cycle working with those dodgy clients on the bottom of the rungs and have just given up on thinking that freelancing is anything more than this. The idea of a client who pays well and on time, and doesn’t frazzle your mind with ridiculous requests and claims, is a mythical beast of ancient lore to them.

If you’re in this situation, you need to find a way out of the cycle, and the first step is learning to spot the rotten apples so you can make a change from the bad to the good — not just from the bad to more of the same. Likewise, even if you’ve only got one of these fellows on your client list, it’s equally important to move on and reinvest the time on better things.

1. Perpetually Late Payments

It’s totally normal to receive the odd late payment from a client. Sometimes bank transfers don’t work speedily to everyone’s advantage, or sometimes the money is caught in a bottleneck for a few days. But if you’ve got a client who is consistently late on an all-too-frequent basis, and is more than a few days late each time, you’ve got a problem. Professional clients pay on time, almost all of the time.

2. Constantly Trying to Haggle You Down Below Industry Standard Rates

It’s hard to say what an industry standard rate is in this hodge-podge, ad hoc method of working we call freelancing, but we all have some idea of where the line must be drawn. And it’s also fairly reasonable and expected for a client to try and talk you down a few dollars.

But here’s where it gets out of hand: the client takes you on board for a job and pays you for a project. The next time they want to use you — you were worth the money, after all — they try to take you down to criminally low pay levels. “It cost an arm and a leg last time, and I was hoping our good relationship would be a factor in this…”

Suddenly they want the mate’s rates, and not just any mate’s rates; the kind you’d give to your own grandmother (what’s that, free? $10?). In other cases, from the get-go they’ll be trying to get you down to $10 an article or weasel a $200 website from you. These are easier to shut the door on than existing clients, but still a pain in the rump.

3. Moving Targets

Ever feel like you’re getting close to the end of a project and the client suddenly changes the goalposts? They want twelve thousand words, not eight. They want a Flash game hidden inside the website as a “special interactivity user experience market penetration strategem.” (The scary part is, some marketing manager somewhere might actually call it that.)

There are clients who will try to redefine the whole project multiple times over its lifespan. There are those who will insist that you add to the project without extra pay. There are those who are just never happy with anything you do. Clients who move the goalposts are duds.

4. Clients Who Act Like Secret Agents (I did not know this was common)

There are a million of these guys out there: the overly secretive client. The client whose every idea, every plan, every thought, every drop of perspiration is going to alter the world and revolutionize society and the ripples in humanity will be felt for the next thousand years. And so, to glean the wisdom that obviously shines from even the bottom of this client’s feet, we must sign an NDA and swear an oath of loyalty and secrecy.

Okay, I know there is a need for an NDA in many situations. I’ve used them myself, so I couldn’t say they were a bad idea if I wanted to. But that’s not the point in itself; there are companies who use NDAs to protect themselves. Then there are clients and companies for whom the copious NDA signing is a ritual in itself, a tangible representation of the paranoid and secretive corporate culture where that piece of paper is the most important bond people have between them. When clients are so secretive that they get in the way of your completion of the project, they are duds.

And, I must add, their ideas never end up starting that big revolution. Probably because nobody ever got the chance to hear about them!

5. A Bad Memory

Your client might not think they have a bad memory, but it certainly seems that way to you. Their version of events is always different, their recounting of some verbal agreement always swung further to their advantage than you’d have allowed, and their ability for catching you off-guard and getting you to agree to something verbally without realizing it is a strong one.

These manipulative clients use “their version of events” to wring what they want from you, even when their claims run contrary to the record of emails, phone calls and meetings.

A dud client has a memory that isn’t congruent with other General Elements of Reality.

6. They Can Do Your Job Better

When people hire a freelancer, it’s usually because they need a professional to do a job they can’t. Granted, there are times when a professional will contract another professional to take on excess work, but for the most part the client doesn’t have the same skillset as you.

Dud clients don’t seem to get what all the fuss is about, because they believe they know how to do your job better than you. They tell you how to go about things, what to change and where, and tell you how and why you’re wrong when you explain why their ideas aren’t good for them.

I knew a guy who would sit down in a meeting with one designer and one developer and they’d come up with a plan for a site. He’d call himself the site’s “designer” and ultimate creator, and claim that the designer and the developer were just part of the “assembly team.” That’s a classic case of a presumptuously arrogant client.

Projects starting to smell? Get that Contract signed next time!!!

Its been a few days since I have posted anything up, yes I know. I’ve been busy trying to get projects done and out. Through the course of this time, I’ve noticed a recurring trend in our creative filed. A trend that seems to have been embraced by us designers as the norm, when in fact it isn’t. A paragraph I came across regarding this point,

“Working without the benefit of having a signed contract can result not only in the designer not being paid but also possible litigation after things have gone wrong. Of course, graphic designers are blessed with a number of wonderful skills and talents but unfortunately business savvy is not always one of them. Too many times, graphic designers fear that asking a client to sign a contract will sabotage the air of trust and goodwill between them and the client and result in a losing the project. This fear is sometimes reinforced by actual experiences with reluctant clients who seem perfectly willing to give a graphic designer a project but openly balk at signing a contract.”

As a designer, I can attest to that statement, especially in my beginning years. Then one day it dawned on me (as I was signing a contract that stated I would be paying $30/month to Rogers for a span of 2 years)…how is this any different from the contracts designers present? Atleast designers present contracts that cover both the client and designer, but these phone contracts just make sure the company gets their money. So why do we designers feel uncomfortable presenting the client with a ‘contract’ a.k.a working guidelines and standards? After all its their means of bread and butter, paying bills etc.

Few things to consider before committing to a project.

- What happens if, for some reasons beyond both parties’ control, the project is abruptly terminated? Designer might’ve spent hours on the project, with nothing to show for in the end, all because they didn’t secure themselves, by stating guidelines from the beginning.

- Keep the relationship strictly business. Getting into personal details might make things complicated, should things go wrong with the project. If a friend requires services similar to what I offer, I graciously point them in the direction of a fellow designer, if I feel it could jeopardize our relationship.

- Treat all clients with the same professionalism. Introduce the contract. Don’t differentiate because John is the son of the lil old lady next door to you who bakes you cookies every Sunday. Do the best you can, maintain your professional boundaries. You’ll get more respect.

“Contracts are not there to be set in stone. Your contract is not written in a tablet of stone, it’s meant to be a meeting of the minds and a point at which both parties agree and feel comfortable going forward to do business. Don’t make the mistake of working without a contract. If a client is completely against the idea of signing/using ANY contract, you are not missing anything by walking away from the project. Chances are they have no intention of paying you anyway!

Be smart, be reasonable and remember “only one thing matters in this life … get them to sign on the line that is dotted.”

Use your judgement and decide if it’s worth taking on that project, without a contract.

Some more Graphic Design humor

Summer has left I saw it this morning…all the kids lined up waiting for the school bus. Thats never a good sign….means snow is around the corner! But atleast I had a fab long weekend in Jersey!!! Oh yea, tax free shopping, baby!

Now that I am back, it’s the count down to the weekend….alll over again. lol

Useful Resources for Web and Graphic Designers

It’s friday again, summer seems to be passing swiftly. Had a pretty good week, mostly listening to Eddie Izzard’s ‘Death Star Canteen’, its soooo funny (some swearing involved). “Do you know who I am?” lol

Anyways, below is a list of useful websites that can help generate some backgrounds for websites.

1. Background Image Maker
2. Stripmania
3. Ajaxload

This is a blog that has some templates to display your artwork on (i.e. stationary templates, packaging templates), all with a simple Layer Options > Multiply.

Clear images for Identity Design

To Pick a Logo

I had to do a few logo concepts for a valve company. Which one makes more sense? The one with the valve you think? Hmmm…

valve logo by claricegomes.com

Graphic Design enables women to pee standing!?!

I couldn’t help but applaud this one. What a classic idea to avoid all those nasty washrooms. Although, I must say, peeing in this stance would need some getting used to.
I can’t help but think, ‘another genius idea, brought to you by graphic design’. I wonder if this will reach Canada…
Click on the image below to view the idea in its full glory!

Living, Breathing & Eating Design

A nice list of things us designers tend to do. I find a lot of them to be true. Original List from CG Files, I’ve added a few of my own in here.

1. You’ve almost rear-ended the car in front of you because you were analyzing a font on a billboard.
2. You get pissed when a free Photoshop brush you download is less than 1000px in size.
3. You’d rather study the paisley pattern on your boyfriend/girlfriend’s shirt than listen to what he/she has to say.
4. You can use keyboard shortcuts at light speed, blindfolded, but you can’t type a paragraph of text without staring at the keyboard.
5. You’ve had “Software Nightmares,” when you’ve been working way too much.
6. You consider meals, interruptions.
7. You’ve learned your lesson and stopped using the word “final” in any file name when saving.
8. You clean your keyboard more often than you wash your car.
9. You’ve intentionally given up trying to explain your projects to non-designers.
10. You see CMYK and RGB like Neo sees the Matrix.
11. You’d rather organize your desktop than your sock drawer.
12. When you heard that Adobe was acquiring Macromedia, you had a Design Orgasm.
13. When you look at Album art all you see are grunge Photoshop Brushes. (Then you see the album art a couple minutes later)
14. You’ve Photoshopped out a watermark for a comp or mock-up.
15. Everytime you come across an intricately designed site, you must take it apart and figure out how it’s done using the wed developer tools in Firefox.
16. You’ve actually $paid for a font.
17. You’ve totally slaughtered a great design concept because the client thinks he/she knows best. (everyone thinks they are a designer)
18. The amount of words you’ve written with a sharpie labeling burned discs total more than the amount of words you’ve read in novels.
19. A lot of time is spent browsing CSS websites for inspiration.
20. You’ve had to explain to a client that a layered file wasn’t part of the deal.
21. You’ve kept a ragged concert ticket just so you could scan it.
22. You’ve nicknamed the OSX spinning wheel. (and not affectionately)
23. You bookmark a resource more often than you have a fun night out on the town.
24. You’ve intentionally overbid a project because you can sniff out a bad client from a mile away.
25. You can’t go to a restaurant without secretly critiquing the menu design.
26. You download the weekly free image at istockphoto.
27. You have an amazingly huge font collection, and an amazingly short temper.
28. If you had a penny for every mouse click, you would have been a trillionaire 3 years ago.
29. Lunch break at work is spent working, sketching or thinking up design concepts for your freelance clients.
30. You cannot watch TV without having your laptop in front of you (it just wouldn’t be right!).
31. While away on vacation, your laptop is most missed.
    

(HAHAHAHA) Graphic Design Humor

Collection of Graphic Design jokes for all us designers who slog to create good design, only to have our clients and bosses make us do horrible things to our masterpieces (i.e. fill up white space, use clip art, comic sans or better yet, lay things out in WORD!!!)

How many of us have heard the line “Can you make the logo bigger?”. This is a brilliant ballad composed and performed by Burn Back for I Have An Idea‘s Portfolio Night 5. This was posted on Speak Up
Listen to ‘Make the Logo Bigger’ Song

Make The Logo Bigger (Lyrics)

Make the logo big.
Make the logo bigger.
Make the logo big.
Make the logo bigger.

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

That logo isn’t big enough.
So, make the logo bigger.
Bigger, bigger, make it big.
Make the logo bigger.

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

Yelling
Don’t try to be the brave guy!
We don’t have a job for you!
You know what you’ve got to do!
You gotta stick to the process!
Make the damn logo as big as you can!

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

I don’t want to tell you how to do your job.
But, could you make the logo bigger?
Bigger, bigger, make it big.
Make the logo bigger.

Chorus
Make the logo as big as you can.
And make the logo bigger.

Make my Logo Bigger Cream

Mac vs PC