The good client: The client knows what they do and they know it well. But they also know that you know your job and that you can help them get their product/service to the public in a new and innovative way.

The bad client:They know their job but they think they know yours too and expect you to give them their ideas on a silver platter.

So what happens when you hire a designer?

Improve your image: When you’ve decided to hire a designer, great! You’ve made a big step. We’ve all seen the perforated business cards printed on an inkjet printer in the office. We’ve also seen the flyers printed on bright yellow or orange paper tacked to billboards or handed out. A designer will help you avoid these and other mistakes while improving your image.

The Money Issue: It makes sense that you can save money by doing it yourself. But how much are you charged for set up when you take it to a printer? How much was the cost of not knowing what a bleed was? Do you still not know what a bleed is? Despite what you think, hiring a designer may cost money up front, but in the long run they’ll save you money. Did you also think of how much money a designer could actually MAKE you as well? How much more impressive as that flyer at drawing in business now that an actual graphic designer got their hands on it?

What NOT to do: Don’t come with preconcieved ideas and notions. The designer is trained at picking the best colors and images to define what you do and how well you do it. They also know how to use these to draw in customers. A great-looking web site may look good but if it doesn’t draw in customers or make you money, then what good is it? A good designer will help you know when to choose functionality over “being pretty.”

If you’re getting a logo created, don’t come to the designer with sketches of what you want. Let him give you ideas for what would represent your business best. In fact, if you’re just starting a business I recommend going to a designer before you even pick the name of your business. Many logos suffer from not having very engaging names.

The Big Picture: A designer is there to help your business succeed in making money… NOT in making it look good. If a designer gives you an average looking business card but it gives you 50% more business, then that was a good design. If they create an award-winning web site for you but it doesn’t draw in any more business then was that a great design? The best designers will help you to get the best of both worlds. Isn’t this what you really want anyway?

Well I finally found one of those elusive jobs you hear keep disappearing. I can now start building my career at Legend Web Works, a local web design firm in Mason, OH. So now my list of things I need to do is starting to dwindle down. I now need to find a place to live in the Mason/Lebanon area (if you know of any good ones, let me know), upgrade my car, finish designing our wedding invitations, and then everything else that comes along with moves and weddings.

• career job
• apartment
• wedding plans
• etc.

Even though it’s still early in my life (at least I hope it is), I’ve come to realize that I am somewhat of a pack rat and collector. I’m not sure how I’m going to take everything I have, combine it with someone else’s, and still manage to walk through an apartment. One of these items, my rather large and much prized drawing desk I bought this past summer to aid in my sketches. It’s going to be interesting, I’ll just say that.

So when I tell people that I’m a graphic designer, I get a question thrown back at me a lot. What does a graphic designer actually do? I don’t think that that’s what people are really asking. They’re really asking, “What is graphic design?”

It’s hard to answer. The textbook definition doesn’t do it justice. It almost just says “to make things pretty.” But that’s not all it is. We don’t just make things look good. We tell consumers how to feel about a product. We give emotion, presence, and a self-being to products… an identity.

That’s what we do.

We give otherwise lifeless objects life and definement.