Issue #35
October 03, 2006

Welcome to Inside Freelance Design (IFD), your free, bi-weekly e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every other week, you can receive this special alert with secrets, tips, and insights from AWAI's graphic design pros to help you improve your skills and reach your goal of becoming a professional graphic designer in the fastest time possible.

IN THIS ISSUE:
  • Avoid Playing It Safe for Maximum Success
  • Quick Tip: How to Use Quotation Marks Like a Pro
  • The IFD Mailbag
  • EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
For Maximum Success … Avoid Playing It Safe
By Will Newman (with contributions from Master Designer Peleg Top)

Recently, Master Designer Peleg Top sent a message to the subscribers of his excellent online newsletter eTopic (www.topdesign.com). Its message is one we can all benefit from:

“In my regular morning ritual of reading the newspaper, an article in a recent USA Today column caught my attention. Craig Wilson wrote about a friend who was afraid to travel to Washington, DC, to visit Wilson. She was convinced, irrationally, that the city was just too dangerous. Wilson listed all the things his friend was missing by not making the trip: the cherry blossoms, a favorite restaurant, a wake-up lick from his dog. He wrote, 'A high price to pay, I'd say, for playing it safe.'

… Playing it safe means letting safety concerns always guide our decisions, even at the expense of other important values …”

To that, I would add that playing it safe comes at the expense of success.

When you're willing to make bold choices and step outside your safety zone, you set yourself apart from competitors. You stand out from the crowd. You get the assignment instead of the other guy.

But—and this is crucial—you must make those bold choices carefully and with an eye to success … not just to be different.

The Graphic Design Success program is proven successful. Don't abandon those strategies, but rather make bold choices by incorporating them. Here are some ideas how to do that:

Outside-the-Safety-Zone Strategy #1: When you're first building your portfolio, the best place to start is with local businesses. They're steppingstones to larger, better paying clients. But don't stand on these steppingstones too long. Very soon after you reach out locally, take your self-promo efforts further out. Contact bigger potential clients with samples. Make sure your samples are compelling, which brings us to …

Outside-the-Safety-Zone Strategy #2: Don't wait to build your portfolio based on real work assignments. Design sample packages you aren't being paid for. For example, design a package for a potential client who's never used a magalog to show him what it could look like. Or do a design for a fictitious product. Your portfolio's purpose is not to show what you've done. It's to show what you can do.

Outside-the-Safety-Zone Strategy #3: Don't eliminate potential clients because they're too big … or too small. Don't talk yourself out of approaching them because you're sure they wouldn't want to see your work. Or they've never used a graphic designer before.

Be bold. Look at every sign, every ad in magazines, every web promotion as potential clients. All you're risking is hearing “no.” That “no” doesn't mean you're not a good designer (or a good person). All it means is “we don't need your services … yet.”

Outside-the-Safety-Zone Strategy #4: Don't let “no” responses keep you from asking again. We're trained almost from birth that “no” means that's it. No more. Don't try again. Truly successful designers know this isn't true and keep trying.

Outside-the-Safety-Zone Strategy #5: You'll hear this all the time from clients: “We've always done it this way. Our customers expect our newsletters to look like this.” When you hear this, politely suggest that a new, bolder design may just capture customers' attention better and lead to more sales. A client for one of GDS's associates recently commented about their first magalog promotion:

“Wow! That is so different than anything we would have done and that's a good thing. We were in a rut, doing the same type of thing over and over with diminishing returns.”

Be bold. Suggest new approaches, new designs … even something as simple as a new color scheme can make a huge difference in customer and client response. But only if you're bold enough to refuse to play it safe.

But when you leave playing it safe behind and give yourself permission to be bold, there's something you have to guard against. Don't let the urge to be “artistic” overcome the solid, successful strategies you're learning in the GDS Program. There's plenty of room in those strategies for boldness and creativity. … and your ultimate success.

[To learn Peleg Top's most successful self-promotion secrets—and to speak personally with him and master designers and self-promotional experts—click this link: http://www.awaionline.com/graphicsbootcamp/]

* * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * *

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Everything you need to land new clients fast. How to
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http://www.thedesignerslife.com/ultimateguide/

QUICK TIP: Conquering Quotation Marks
By Kammy Thurman

Quotation marks are not the most difficult bits of punctuation. But when they aren't used correctly, they can leap off the page at your prospects … and reduce the credibility of the copy.

Here are 6 quotation mark strategies to make your designs professional looking:

  • When using justified text, hang quotation marks just outside the left and right margins. This makes the block of text look more even on the sides.

  • When quotations are interrupted by non-quoted material, the first word of the second sentence is capitalized only if it begins a new sentence:

    “Antioxidants are destroyed when heated,” the report said. “So eat raw vegetables.” BUT: “Antioxidants,” the report said, “are destroyed when heated.”

  • When quoted material contains several paragraphs, add a quotation mark at the beginning of each paragraph but only at the end of the last paragraph.
  • Use single quotation marks to indicate a quote within a quote:

    The doctor said, “Heed the advice of John Smith: 'Eat your vegetables.' Let me show you his book.”
  • Use quotation marks to enclose the titles of short works: short stories, short poems, chapters from a book, articles or sections from magazines and newspapers. Titles of long works such as books, magazines, newspapers, albums, long poems, etc. should be italicized.
  • Should you use quotation marks or italics to indicate words that receive special emphasis? Ask the copywriter. It can be done either way and most writers have a preference.

* * * * * * * * Special Announcement * * * * * * * *

Recently, Master Designer Lori Haller held a free teleconference on this year's FastTrack to Graphic Design Success. During the call she gave all the details of this year's exciting new program and answered many questions you and your fellow aspiring graphic designers sent to us.

We have received lots of positive feedback after the call. In case you missed it, here's your opportunity to listen to it for free. http://www.thedesignerslife.com/downloads/bootcamp06/

FROM THE IFD MAILBAG…
by Kristin Schwarz

We start out today's mailbag with a question from Steve who needs more information on printing.

Hi Kristin,

I'm in the middle of the GDS program. I'm learning a lot, even though I've been to design school. I was trained in web design and illustration more than graphic design, so my knowledge of printing is very limited. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

So, where and how do I learn about printing? What resources do you recommend?

Thanks,
Steve

Dear Steve,

Thank you for your email. I am glad to hear our Graphic Design Success program contains useful information for you. With regards to printing, here's what I recommend. Quality control is key!

Most designers run into problems either because their files are in RGB instead of CMYK, or their images are low resolution. The recommended resolution for photos is 300dpi. Here are some steps you can take that will help you prepare your files for printing:

1. Check color mode (change RGB to CMYK)

2. Check image resolution (300dpi)

3. Make sure you send all photos, illustrations and fonts that you used in the layout in a folder to the service bureau doing the printing.

Most graphic design layout programs let you run a Preflight and alert you to anything that is wrong with your file. This is a great function. Next you can package your file for output, meaning that you do not have to worry about fonts and photos, since the program packages them for you. Always run the Preflight and Package for Output before you send anything to the printer.

(Or, if the service bureau can accept PDF files, this is a good way to send everything in one file).

Are you coming to Bootcamp? We are holding a session specifically on printing and Preflighting. www.awaionline.com/graphicsbootcamp/

My favorite book about printing is The Non-Designer's Scan and Print Book by Robin Williams. The book explains the printing process and goes into great detail about what to look out for in your files.

I hope this information is helpful to you. Please feel free to contact us any time you have any questions.

Dear AWAI Graphics Team,

One of my clients just lost their in-house designer, and they are giving me assignments he worked on in the past to make changes on them.

One of the things I find difficult is that the designer locked most of his objects down but not all. I have to select and un-lock them to be able to work on them.

Some of the documents are very long and contain many objects. It takes me a long time to figure out which objects are locked and which ones aren't and then unlock them one by one.

Is there an easier way to find out what objects are locked and maybe unlock them all at once? I am working in InDesign.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,

You can select all the objects by pressing Control-A (press the control button, hold it down, then press the “a” key) on a PC or Command-A on a Mac. Then go to the Object menu. Both the “Lock Position” and “Unlock Position” Commands are available at the same time because some objects are locked and some are not. Select “Unlock Position” and all locked objects are now unlocked. Good luck!

That's it for today. Have a productive and successful couple of weeks.

Kristin

[Ed. Note: If you have a question or comment for Kristin, please send it to:
insidefreelancedesign@awaionline.com, Attn: Kristin Schwarz.]

EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER -- New Creative Enterprises Inc., a leader in outdoor décor for the home, seeks an entry-level graphic designer to join their team in Cincinnati, Ohio. You work on the designs for catalogs, advertisements, marketing materials, and more. You must know Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator as well as Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. Send your resume, cover letter, and salary requirements to hr@ncegifts.com.
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER -- Comdata in Brentwood, Tennessee helps commercial merchants process credit and debit cards. They need a creative and technically savvy graphic designer to work on their marketing materials. They want a well-organized individual, good at communicating, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. Send your resume to resumes@comdata.com.
  • GRAPHIC DESIGNER -- Stimulus Worldwide, a full-service advertising agency, needs a passionate graphic designer. You work on a variety of projects to create powerful advertising designs. You must know the Adobe creative suite, and Flash is a plus. Send your resume to hr@stimulusworldwide.com.
COMING NEXT ISSUE:
  • Sales, Psychology and Color
  • Quick Tip: Hold a Contest with Yourself for Self-Promotion
* ABOUT INSIDE FREELANCE DESIGN *

Inside Freelance Design is a FREE bi-weekly newsletter from American Writers & Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.

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