5 Mistakes Designers Make
posted about 1 month ago by jimmyheartcore
I've been working in the music and apparel industries for the past five years, and as far as I can tell, most of the mistakes that designers make are directly related to putting up with crap from the client.
This is my list as a part of Go Media Zine's 15 Awful Mistakes Designers Make.
1. Biting someone else's style for a client.
Every now and then a client will come along and ask you to do a design. They'll show you some of what they have in mind, and ... what? It's all by the same artist. Not the ideal situation.
In most instances, I would turn down this type of work and tell them that they should just contact that artist and have them do a design. But sometimes you're hard up, and you need the dough.
Yeah, it will get you some extra cash, and get your phone bill paid. It will help you explore that designer's style.
The downside? You're making a design that will be confused with that artist's work. You are copying what they're doing, and not doing something original. Can you really put that in your portfolio? I wouldn't. Do yourself a favor, and stay away from these types of jobs!
2. Selling yourself short because of a client's pay rate.
It's natural for clients to want to save themselves a little money. Everyone wants the biggest bargain. This theory doesn't apply to design, and don't let anyone convince you otherwise.
Gauge the amount of work you put into something by the amount of money you're getting paid. It doesn't make a lot of sense to spend 12 hours on a design for someone who isn't going to pay you sufficiently. If a client has a set pay rate of $150 for a design, give them a $150 design.
If you give them way more than they're paying for - you're taking up time that you could be pursuing other work. And, if you make something really awesome that you feel is worth more - tell them. If they don't want to pay it, don't be afraid to save it for someone else who's willing to pay you for the work you put into it.
3. Giving the client artwork before you get paid, and not invoicing / following up with clients who are deadbeats.
I hear a lot of horror stories about this. Huge faux pas, and it's always the designer's fault for not having a set methodology for invoicing, collecting money, and sending the artwork.
Always get a deposit first. This insures you against the client pulling out of the job. You're going to get paid something for your work, at the very least. 50% of the total expected invoice is pretty standard.
If you're working on an hourly rate, start out with a few hours worth of pay. If you're getting close to going over the time you've been paid for, get some more money!
If you've made some mistakes along the way, and you've given the client artwork without getting paid ... you might be out of luck. If the client doesn't want to pay you, and they have your artwork it might not be worth it to you to pursue legal action. It can be expensive, and take up a lot of time.
Contact the client directly. Remember to be professional, but firm. If you get nowhere, you can attempt to get some business mediators involved. The Better Business Bureau offers their services nationwide, and can add a little bit of professional assistance in resolving your dispute.
Otherwise, it's an expensive lesson to learn.
4. Not knowing the fundamentals of apparel production when setting up artwork.
Over the past several years of running my own print operation [www.printmytees.com], I've encountered loads of artwork from designers that is horribly not ready for print. Sure, in most cases I can correct any issues - as a printer should be able to do. However, sometimes there's just too much to fix.
If you're giving artwork to your client that is for apparel production, and the artwork sucks - your client will end up getting charged more money from the printer for separations, corrections, etc. Do yourself and your client a favor. Learn the basics of apparel printing!
Each color in your design is going to have a separate screen for printing. This means that you want to keep the number of colors in your design as low as possible.
If you're using Illustrator to design in, make sure all of your colors are uniform. Make sure the yellows are the same yellow. The black is black. Use the Pantone Solid Coated color book from your swatches library to select your colors. This makes printing directly from your file much easier.
If you're using Photoshop to design, take care to put each color on it's own layer while you're designing. It keeps the printer from having to separate colors later on, and ensures that little details aren't lost. Sometimes when separating out colors from a flattened image, photoshop won't register really small marks in a file and they end up getting left out. Label all of your layers by color.
Though there is a ton of information online, youtube is a great place to search for screen printing information. 95% of the people in the apparel industry use this method for transferring your design to a garment. Do some research!
5. Not being able to take criticism.
Something that I see as a recurring problem with designers is their inability to accept criticism. If a client isn't into the work that you're doing, they should be able to convey this to you. After spending hours and hours on a design it is easy to get bent out of shape when someone questions the work you've been doing. However, getting feedback is a part of the process and important to improving your skills. If you can't take simple criticisms, it makes you look childish and unprofessional.
