© 2008 Independent Studios
Oct
22
Mac OSX Leopard is coming…
Huzzah and huzzah!
I must admit to being excited - but also somewhat guarded. I’m always a little hesitant to be the first one on the block to upgrade to the “latest and greatest,” and I’m still looking to err on the side of caution on this one.
From a business standpoint, I’ve [...]
Oct
17
One of the banes of my existence as a freelance graphic artist has been trying to track down weird fonts. You routinely get logos or layouts that have the fonts converted, and they’re invariably something obscure or tacky or from a strange foundry.
If you’re like me, you’ve got thousands upon thousands of fonts from every [...]
Oct
16
When I first started freelancing so many moons ago, I got a piece of advice that is really pretty good. It has nothing to do with finances or design. Nothing to do with software or time management or finding work.
The advice? Get up, shower and get dressed like you’ve got meetings that day - whether [...]
Oct
6
Time management is crucial to the success of a freelance business.
I’ll be posting some links and software solutions, but in the meantime - let’s talk nuts n’ bolts of time management.
I sit in front of the computer far too much, and being sort of old-school, the analog time management system (read: pieces of paper) work [...]
Oct
6
Success as a Freelance Designer can mean not having a lot of time to do other things - family, friends and blogging can suffer.
I’ve been a little lax about the blogging this week, as I’ve been bombarded with work - which is a good thing. Lots of magazine layout, lots of logos, lots of packaging. [...]
Oct
2
Building an effective, hard-selling portfolio is a must for all designers, and there’s a science to building a portfolio.
In many ways, your “book” needs to be very much that - a book of your experience and style. You want to build it in a way that makes sense, is attractive and is easy to “read.”
You [...]
Oct
1
When I first started as a freelance designer, I really thought that I should be able to please everyone. I would work extra, unbilled time on projects and put in far more hours than I should have. My number one aim was pleasing the client - and I’ve found out that I was wrong.
I want [...]