Fresh Design Content

wow...well I think you got a point there...being a New Designer doesn't mean that being an Old one is bad or viceversa it just means you like looking at things one way or doing what you like the way you like to do it. Being one type of designer doesn't mean you can't turn into the other one without even noticing and go back whenever you want to. I think it's good that you have made clear, in this article or the other, that without the new techonologies there is no place for you in design cause it's the truth even you consider yourself of one or the other type of designers. Very nice articles, very good writer.

Yes! Skype is a GREAT tool for freelancing and online collaboration!

Another benefit of skype is it's cross-platform compatibility

very, very true - great points!

Great job. The use of spot color is nice, and I applaud the incorporation of the illustrated dog. A bit of cute - but not over the top. You played the line well. Nice work. -@dsmay

I liked how the client knew how to create a better version of the logo. The most overlooked and important part in the process is the communication with the clients. Excellent work, I love the logo.

You have to enable API access or something like that within freshbooks in order to use the widget.

Glad you found the Mac to be great. Interesting.. I just got a new Dell and it screams.. Dreamweaver, Fireworks and all - they work like a charm. It's funny how every person has a different take on things. One'o these days I'll probably end up with a Mac but there are just too many other things I need a Win platform for that a Mac does not do. I must say, almost everything you mentioned the Mac doing that you love, I get the Dell to do; a lot of it is software; Apple does have a lock on wonderful hardware form and function, for sure.

I like wandering around my local public library or antique shop. you never know what inspiration will find you at these spots!

Great article, the inner nerd in me loves this kind of info :)

Good sound advice, any way to get a new client engaged in conversation is usually the best way to win them over and putting phone numbers or contact form on your website is a very good idea

This is among my favorite articles. I find one of the most frequent questions I face is, "You're just one person. Can you handle my project?" I'm re-designing and re-writing much of my current site, in the new model I'm going to be more transparent about the freelance process and how it involves, when necessary, hiring other freelancers and building a team around the task at hand. "My office may be a coffee shop, and my 'staff' might not be full time, but that is less overhead I have to charge you." Occasionally, I find people wary of a freelancer hiring other freelancers, though this has always been resolved when I explain that the people I'm bringing on board are not random replies I've received via Cragislist, ect., but belong to a long standing, thoroughly tested and trusted network.

So true. I had a guy not only copy my article once, but copied the entire page's HTML including my sidebar and widgets. Too bad my name was on everything, therefor all over his page so it was obvious he stole it. He didn't even bother taking the CSS lol.

Sooo True. I'm constantly struggling with the first two. You would think people would have the courtesy of returning an email. Keep up the awesome articles!

There is no point in forcing a CMS on clients who only need a simple website. As their business grows and there requirements do A CMS may become appropriate. Forcing something on them that they don't need or understand is less likely to lead to repeat business in the future.

Great article. I liked that you discussed both sides. Many people forget to consider the designers point-of-view for streamlining their business. I have also found that education is key. Even though it is easy to assume clients know their options, demonstrating the product allows them to truly see the value and make educated decisions.

This is a little difficult to answer also. Sometime designers spend the time to create beautiful designs and try their best to keep their codes compliant. Once a company takes over the CMS, the italic, bold, underline and do everything under the sun to break your original design (typography) and the back-end code now looks horrendous. This is just my opinion though. Good article.

Hi, thanks for the article! I'm a freelancer last 5 years, and all described in article problems solved, so... not bad, he-he!

Love your post!! Been freelancing for 7 months and your post was spot on!

Great post! I have been shouting the point about the modern designer being business savvy and entrepreneurial to anybody who would listen for a while now. Design today is no longer an artistic indulgence, but a measurable business strategy that effects marketing, ROI, cash flow, etc. I also liked the paragraph about the New Designer having influence. That's a great point, and a modern design characteristic that I hadn't really given much thought to till now. Thanks!

What an excellent definition! I am probably, by your definition, a "New Designer" as I am a blend of "Designer, Developer, Business Owner, Blogger and teacher". I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with your blog.

Grate post!And very well said : "Old Designers don't know much about running a business, or just know the basics. They just want to design. But to be a freelance designer, you must have a business that is sustainable". Today, to get a project done, you must implement that objectivity, not only to the design itself, but to the entire project. hope to see more real articles like this, more quality and less commercial stuff.

neatly said... I ve allowed myself to grow and become New designer or maybe even older Designer. This conclusion after a chat with a construction student, others, reading this post. I think http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo they to figured that they had many skills that could and should be joined in order to make progress. So that we in later time could divide it up again and specialize in one thing. Through all of this i did notice one thing. Lack of (art)skills u might aren't/ will or might not be needed any longer and/or shouldn't be focused upon as a new designer. My believe is that influence, the business sense and design (craftmanship) once disappear and people like who are like da vinci and michelangelo or the new designer will someday soon be old again. And focus on specialisation... Please correct me if i am wrong :) Create & enjoy mirella klas

Great reading. I found something new for self

Do you remember a few years ago, the person that looked after the web site was the web master, usually someone from the I.T department, then as the web grew Web design companies grew and took over this role. The web design companies grew each person or department had their own specialty. Things are changing again, and no doubt things will keep on changing

Good insight from yourself. And this is definitely something all designers need to start realizing. :) Entrepreneurship is very important unless you've no dream/goal to work on your own or form your own company.

This doesn't apply to design only. The idea that any business that wants to be successful needs an entrepeneur (for making business decisions and company strategy), a manager (if only to make sure everything gets planned and within time/budget) and a technician (to do the actual work) is not particularly new is it? In case of design I would add a fourth role, a creative mind, as design is more than learning JQuery. This article assumes that the new successful designer will be all these personalities in one. Hm...I wonder who will be able to pull this off? After all it are conflicting personalities, creativity is not something you can switch on from 9 to 5, yet the manager role likes to put a planning on it. And while there is a need to learn more about how to do business, the technical part in ourselves is more interested in learning JQuery (or any of the toys in the giant sandbox and doesn't wants to get bothered with marketing). It's the same old question: would you rather be a jack of all trades (different trades, that's for sure) or a master of one? If I had to choose between a small team where each role is filled by a person doing 100% his job or a freelancer who needs to be 25% entrepeneur, 25% manager, 25% JQuery-loving technician qnd 25% creative... I know which one will produce the best results. Look around you, successful companies are not 1-person companies. Succesfull projects or products are not achieved by one person, freelance or not. It's always teamwork by a large or very small team of highly engaged people doing what they do best. The Old designer is back! He/she just brought along a few friends with complementing competencies.

Responding to Jorix: Thanks for the response. I basically wrote this article based on myself. There will always be different business models to choose from in the world of design but I don't subscribe to the idea that a person must be limited. A "New Designer" as I have described pushes the boundaries which obviously makes some people feel uncomfortable - innovation always does.

nice post, i like the logo, thanks

Thanks for the textures. I really like them all. I did have one issue that I was able to download, but on the page the download link for the Metal Textures points to the Grunge textures. To all, follow this link for those wonderful metal textures http://www.freelancereview.net/fr/Images/2/2010/jan/texture-pack-1/Metal.zip Happy New Year! Keith

Thanks Keith - we've fixed this now! Enjoy.

Thanks for these. It's always useful to have new textures in the resources folder!

Great textures set. Thanks share!

You are completely right about the power of testimonials ! That's why our company (BBC) appealed to Our Clients (www.our-clients.com). Our-clients is an online tool that makes it easy to collect testimonials from your clients and keep them up-to-date. The testimonials are completely trustworthy thanks to the fact that not only you but also your clients have control on what is published. And testimonials have to be updated or confirmed every 12 months. So you end up with a list of testimonials that are real and recent. Only those will convince your prospects.

beautiful! Thank you so much.

Unfortunately, if we avoided all clients like this, we'd all be broke :P

I think I've worked with just about every client type described here. We don't have many clients that fit outside of this because I'm pretty sure not many exist. Good list none the less!

As both visitors above have said, it's an amusing list, but not really in-tune with reality. And there exist no perfect client.

Don't forget about the client that wants you to be a "partner" in the company!!! I think this one should be at the TOP of the list..... P A R T N E R actually spells NO MONEY, they want you to work for free with some huge payoff in some galaxy far far away. I know that it is similar to the "charity case" but with alot more sweet talk....

The most common of them all... the charity case! Very entertaining post. Thanks! And thank you Randy for your funny - yet very true - addendum.

Love the analogy... love cats. The one time I thought I succeeded on sneaking up on my cat, I got laughed at: by him... he was just being lazy. Great post. Cheers!