Issue #71
February 28, 2008
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:
- How “Designing Green” Will Boost Your Success
- Quick Tip: Tip: Merging Word, Excel, PDF, and Other Documents Into One
- EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
A New USP for Your Success: How to Become a “Green Designer"
By Kristin Schwarz
From Oprah to the evening news – environmental consciousness is everywhere. And this creates a career opportunity for you.
Why? Because environmentally conscientious companies are selling everything from organic foods and cleaning supplies to bamboo clothes. Environmentally friendly products are sprouting like mushrooms after a heavy spring rain … with no end in sight.
By becoming a green designer, you place yourself in a position to do good for the environment. But you also create a USP for your business that sets you apart from other designers.
And because new “green” products are being developed and marketed almost every day, you gain access to new clients as well as established companies that are starting to embrace greener standards to keep their customers happy.
They all need a green designer to help them make the right choices. Here’s how you can do it … by making only a few slight changes in the way you already work:
Designing with sustainable materials and processes in mind
Paper:
Paper comes to mind as the first green resource to embrace. Many papers available today are made from recycled materials or without the use of bleach. And they are a far cry from the yellowish recycled paper stock of the 90s.
Paper made from alternative materials like cotton, bamboo, hemp, or sugarcane fiber provide a wide range of green choices as well.
You can request free samples from these major paper companies:
Commercial Printing:
To go green with commercial printing, opt for optimum sheet use. Work closely with the printer early in the planning process. Parent sheets of paper typically come in several standard sizes. You can size your projects to make more efficient use of standard sheet sizes by printing two-, three-, or four-up (or more) to use less paper and minimize waste.
When making comps, request the use of double-sided, smaller, reused, or recycled paper.
Research printing houses that use environmentally friendly inks (also called agri-based inks). These are made from biodegradable organic components, such as soy, linseed, or cottonseed oil.
These practices not only help save the environment, they save your client money. So he profits from being environmentally conscious.
Format:
DM companies often have a tight printing and mailing budget, so they are forced to choose the most economical way to do a mailing. But with environmental awareness rising, many of them are looking for ways to make their promotions look as well as be environmentally friendly.
Those that market environmentally friendly products are especially keen to send the right message – so they wouldn’t want to alienate potential customers with, for example, a high-gloss 4-color magalog. A better choice would be a low-key letter printed on recycled paper. And to draw attention to the company’s commitment to the environment, be sure to include a note stating the piece was produced on recycled paper with environmental friendly inks.
Postage:
Cost cutting on postage might not seem environmentally friendly. But if your client saves money on postage, he can afford to spend a little bit more to use recycled paper or agri-based inks. So work with your client to see how the size, aspect ratio, or weight of the promotion can be optimized for lower postage rates.
What does this mean to you and your career?
There is a great deal of demand for green designers who can help clients with DM mailings – a demand that increases daily.
And with few DM designers offering green design services, you have an excellent opportunity to do good for the environment … while you build your career and success.
* * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * *
Do You Have Questions About Your Freelance Design Business?
Get the answers to these and hundreds of other questions about starting and running your own profitable design business: http://www.thedesignerslife.com/ifd/getanswers/
Quick Tip: Need to Merge Multiple Files Into One Document? Here’s the Answer ...
By Kristin Schwarz
One of the most convenient things about Adobe Acrobat is its ability to combine different files into one PDF for emailing, filing, or archiving.
This capability might not come as news to you – but did you know that you can also merge files from different source programs, such as Word, PowerPoint, email, Excel, etc.? And you can do it without even converting those files into PDF first.
Supported file types will automatically be converted during the merging process. You can even choose to merge specific document pages.
Here’s how:
- Open Adobe Acrobat.
- Choose File > Create PDF > From Multiple Files.
- Under “Add Files,” browse for the files you want to merge. After choosing the files, arrange them in the order you want them in the final document. You also have the option of merging all open PDF files.
- Choose File > Save As in order to save the resulting PDF document.
That was easy!
* * * * * * * * Advertisement * * * * * * * *
Are You Worried That Your Computer Skills Are Holding You Back?
Learn how you can fix your “problem” areas … and find solutions to all kinds of problems you might be facing at this very moment by clicking here:
http://www.awaionline.com/ifd/computerbasics/
EXTRA! EXTRA! News and Job Opportunities
- FREELANCE GRAPHIC DESIGNER – Professional Services business is looking for an AWAI trained graphic designer for assignments as they become available. You’ll design a wide variety of online and offline marketing and sales materials – e-book covers, web pages, brochures, lead-generating ads, etc. You don’t need years of experience. What’s important is being able to come up with clear, simple, and attractive graphic designs that support the words on the page. Please send your resume, three work samples, and your fee schedule to Ann at drcopywriter@yahoo.ca
- IN-HOUSE GRAPHIC-DESIGN POSITION IN CHICAGO – South Central Community Services in Chicago has an opening for a graphic designer to join their marketing team. You’ll create print and Web materials for in-house communications, special events, and publications. You must have either a design degree or five years of design experience. Send your information to doddsccs@ameritech.net.
- FULL-TIME DESIGNER NEEDED BY A UNIVERSITY IN TEXAS – The University of Texas-Pan American is looking for a full-time designer to work in the University Relations department. You’ll design a variety of materials to help promote the university. You must be good with people, as you will sometimes meet with vendors and visitors. Submit a UTPA Staff Employment Application, resume, and transcripts to The University of Texas-Pan American, Office of Human Resources, 1201 W. University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78541. To request an application, visit http://www.utpa.edu/humanresources/.
- SEATTLE WHOLESALER LOOKING FOR A DESIGNER WHO UNDERSTANDS MARKETING – Gensco, a wholesale distributor near Seattle, needs a graphic designer to work on catalog layouts, website designs, brochures, newsletters, and more. You must be organized and able to manage multiple projects at once. You should have at least three years of design experience, with some of it on the Web, and you should know Microsoft Office, InDesign, and Photoshop. Send your resume to hr@gensco.com.
COMING NEXT ISSUE:
- 3 Rock-Solid Strategies to Jumpstart Your Career
- Quick Tip: A Free Desktop Publishing Program
* ABOUT INSIDE FREELANCE DESIGN *
Inside Freelance Design is a FREE bi-weekly newsletter from American Writers & Artists Inc., available to AWAI members and friends.
© 2008 American Writers & Artists Inc.
ARCHIVED ISSUES of Inside Freelance Design can be found on our website at www.thedesignerslife.com/insidefreelancedesign.
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