If you want to get paid for your freelance work

…then access to tools is no longer sufficient. Everyone you compete with has access to a camera, a keyboard, a guitar. Just because you know how to use a piece of software or a device doesn’t mean that there isn’t an amateur who’s willing to do it for free, or an up and comer who’s willing to do it for less.

…then saying “how dare you” is no longer a useful way to cajole the bride away from asking her friend to take pictures at the wedding, or the local non-profit to have a supporter typeset the gala’s flyer or to keep a rock star from inviting volunteers on stage.

…then you ought to find and lead a tribe, build a base of people who want you, and only you, and are willing to pay for it.

…then you need to develop both skills and a reputation for those skills that make it clear to (enough) people that an amateur solution isn’t nearly good enough, because you’re that much better and worth that much more.

…then you should pick yourself and book yourself and publish yourself and stand up and do your work, and do it in a way for which there are no substitutes.

It’s true, if someone wants professional work, then he will need to hire professionals. But it’s also true that as amateurs are happy to do the work that professionals used to charge for, the best (and only) path to getting paid is to redefine the very nature of professional work.

Scarcity is a great thing for those that possess something that’s scarce. But when scarcity goes away, you’ll need more than that.

via Seth Godin’s blog

Anonymous Asks: Does good design even exist?

Short answer: Yes, good design exists. There is a lot of amazing and effective design in the world. There just happens to be a lot of shitty designs in the world as well. The issue is how much bad design is there next to good design?

REALLY LONG ANSWER BEHIND THE CUT

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Design Talk

Howard Duffy 6:30 - 8:30 

rsvp by June 20 for free admission: events@nycoba.com

does good design even exist?

Yes, good design exists. there is a lot of amazing and effective design in the world. There just happens to be a lot of shitty designs in the world as well. The issue is how much bad design is there next to good design?
Good design, by the way, doesn’t mean it lacks gradients or papyrus. Good design means a message is somehow communicated through the branding overall. Like, this is going to sound like beating a dead horse but Apple has AMAZING design. Their branding is so effectively done from just the words to the image that you instantly know. Every one of their products incorporates the same voice and ideals, that’s fucking great. That’s AMAZING design techniques. 
I think Target does a good job of using red/white in a world filled with red/black/white. A lot of companies like Gamestop use that design and it’s just OK (more on that later). Target has issues but I love their approach in a way. They just have really cluttered catalogs but really nice ads. It’s weird. A lot of department stores end up doing that, but compare Target to Wal-Mart and you’ll see a considerable difference in care to look. Wal-Mart always feels lazy to me. Besides the issue with the company itself it feels, it always feels despair inducing in a wal-mart. Like I said, Target has it’s issues but their branding is spot on in a way.
My third example of good design is Fresh and Easy. Inside and out a Fresh and Easy has clean, simple, beautiful design imo. They keep a consistent brand, their ads actually have a nice combination of typefaces and everything feels spaced. Not to mention Fresh and Easy really aesthetically keeps in mind how to arrange their PRODUCTS. Design is beyond keeping the shapes and colors the same, they care about every little bit it’s great. I really fucking love their approach.
There’s a shittone of bad design, I wont deny that. There’s SO MUCH bad design in the world, but that’s why we need more good design. People need to recognize there is a lot of BAD design. Not just opinion bad but just plain across the board BAD. Bad design goes beyond using comic sans and gradients. Again, design is about communicating a message and taking care of how you communicate that message. 

Graphic design is giving an idea an image.

If you give something a bad face people will not understand. If you say something is a face but you are in fact pointing at a butt, congrats you failed at communicating a face. Not only that but design should consider the concept and tone of a company and figure out “how can I say that but differently?” Graphic designers are problem solvers. When a problem is solved badly there is only more confusion in the end. Trying to say too much or using clip art, is bad problem solving. You are just giving something an image that ANYONE can use. Thus it is bad. If you use basic gradients, you are just trying to add design masturbation to something.
That’s why we see a lot of bad design though, a lot of people think they can do graphic design when in fact, no you cannot. It is not something ANYONE can do. It’s the OPPOSITE of that. You have to learn what it is that communicates a thought, you also have to learn how to filter all that shit. Since everyone with photoshop thinks “YEAH I’M A DESIGNER” and is a tremendous idiot for thinking that, there’s a lot of people who have not learned how to filter their own thoughts.
A lot of people pretending or a lot of people thinking they can spend only 10 bucks for a fill in the blanks/template design is why there is a lot of bad design. All of that “oh i know someone with photoshop” is why people end up with shitty logos.

That being said there is also a lot of OK design in the world. Good design is keeping an idea consistennt. Earlier I said Gamestop, I put gamestop here because well it does it’s job. You see games, you see game references, but it’s just black/red/white and that’s a very BLAND and PREDICTABLE color choice for trying to attract the male audience they aim for. Their design also goes all over the place, I know I worked there and went “wow this is nice design too bad it’ll change next week.” It sounds weird but like, they use to do really out of the blue holiday designs. They got better about having a consistent brand but it’s all so predictable? Their designs are just, eh. ALL CAPS LOOK AT US GAMING IT’S SERIOUS COOL. It’s BLAH. It’s OK. Kind of boring, kind of does something different? 
OK design is what we see a lot of the time, OK design normally becomes WHY DID THEY DO THAT design.

There’s also the issue of trends and all that. It’s just, there’s a lot of good design. We just see the bad shit more. Coke has good design, pepsi has consistent design but they keep fucking up little shit. Pepsi is so close to having good design all the time I just wanna shake them and be like “LOOK AT SIERRA MIST YOU DID THAT RIGHT.” 

This is going to sound bad but beer is my favourite. Alcohol is filled with some of the best and worst design. I can’t accurately describe it, walk through a BevMo or a good liquor store or even just the alcohol isle and you’ll see it. You’ll see the beer’s that have wicked interesting design and then the Budweiser and Tecate. You’ll see bad design then something like Grey Goose comes along and GREY GOOSE HAS THEIR SHIT DOWN. Vodka, man just look at vodka. Some of the worst vodka has some of the most interesting design. And it works, I’ve totally bought shitty vodka because I was like “wow this design is cool.” And then Stoli has this OK but really works for them because it’s so traditional and boss at the same time design and i fucking LOVE stoli. It’s just, it’s weird.

TLDR; Yes, there’s good design. You guys just keep looking at the shit while I laugh at it. Looking at bad design is important to recognizing good design.