- Hey everybody, this is Roberto Blake of robertoblake.com
helping you create something awesome today.
So, today we've got a controversial question
that I'm gonna try to answer
and I know a lot of you are not gonna like my answer,
but that's okay, because this is gonna be practical,
actionable advice.
And the question that I get so often on this channel
and so often in comments, in emails is,
do graphic designers actually make money
and can you make a living at this?
So many of you are discouraged or
people are trying to talk you have become a graphic designer
because they don't think there's a money in it.
And the reason is so many graphic designers think of
and portrait themselves and have the narrative
of being artists instead of being marketers.
The most successful graphic designers, honestly, think like
and execute and market themselves and promote themselves
in the context of marketing and advertising,
whereas the most creative and the best and most acclaimed
designers, if you care about that thing,
if you care about the vanity, style themselves as artists.
And that's the reasoning.
So, if you want a lot of likes, and you want to get
a lot of comments in behance or deviantart
and everything like that,
then you'll title yourself as an artist
and you'll prefer yourself that way.
You can be an artist in your heart, but in your execution,
you need to be positioning yourself as a marketer
and here's the reason why.
When so many of you are being discouraged by
your parents or relatives or anybody else
to not become deisgners,
what I need you to do is you need to ask them,
take a look around, whatever room you're in.
And then, you need them to show you one thing
that was purchased in that room,
that a graphic designer didn't work on.
And that is the secret my friends.
That is the secret.
Reality is that the cover of this book,
even though that must be a design book,
a designer had to design the cover,
someone had to layout the interior pages,
someone had to do the digital print production.
There were a lot of designers that were paid
to produce this.
Every single item on my desk had a logo designed for it,
had packaging designed for it,
had advertising and marketing, whether that was print
or digital or billboards associated with it,
and that's the key.
The way graphic designers make their money,
is by facilitating the sales of products and services,
and that's all products and services, everything.
Everything you probably own had graphic design work,
that someone was paid to do, associated with it.
And so that's the sales pitch, to anyone who's trying talk
you have gone to design school or pursuing this profession,
if you don't think you can make money at this,
the problem is that maybe, you're not looking
in the right places for that money and that value.
Maybe you're looking at your local market
and who can hire you there,
instead of looking at the global marketplace.
Or maybe you're looking at the wrong small businesses
or the wrong startups and you're not
like reaching high enough for people that can afford
to pay for what your skill level is,
and what you can actually provide,
and what you might need to live off of.
When you do that, you'll be successful.
But as long as you're positioning yourself
and talking about it from an artistic perspective,
instead of associating the value of what you can create
with how it generates the sales of a book,
or a product, or a service, or whatever it is,
that's where the problem and the glass ceiling
is gonna come into place.
So, can you make money as a graphic designer?
You absolutely can.
Can you make a living as a graphic designer?
You absolutely can.
You can't do it when you're charging the bare minimum
and you can't do it when you're doing it
for five bucks a pop.
You can't do it when you're doing it for the same
non-skilled labor wages, that someone doing,
bagging groceries,
it's like those people,
but like you should not as a creative professional,
that has artistic, creative skills, design skills,
with technology and strategic branding,
and knowing how to actually use these computer applications.
Why are you charging what unskilled labors are charging?
Why are you changing the same amount of money
and why are you thinking of yourself as having
the same amount of financial value to your salary as
somebody who's unloading things from a moving truck
or somebody who is mowing a lawn
or, you know, we're doing it to ourselves.
So, when designers aren't getting paid what they need to,
it's not because people are just paying cheap
cakes in the marketplace,
because designers are not storytelling in the right way,
about the profession and what the value of it is,
and then also, there are too many people who,
out of desperation, are reaching for low-hanging fruit,
and tanking the marketplace.
So, those things are a real problem and a real issue,
and the way we address it is by
not using websites like Fiverr,
educating people instead of attacking them when they do,
just I used to do that,
because if someone's only got 10 bucks in their pocket
and they need to try and start something
that's gonna change their life, then sure,
there should be an answer and a solution for them
other than learning it themselves.
Cool.
I would argue that there's still better solutions
than that out there, but whatever.
The bottom line is, don't go for that client then.
Position yourself to where you don't need that person
to be your client, and that's the real answer.
And you do that by developing your portfolio of work.
You do that by charging the appropriate prices.
You do that by being able to communicate intelligently
to non-designers about what you do,
and by taking more shots.
You miss all the shots you don't take.
So, taking shots that you feel safe or comfortable to take
instead of risking rejection or hearing no
by reaching for the top,
that's part of the problem too.
It's a confidence issue in the marketplace,
and it's something that creatives struggle with.
I'll probably do some videos specifically about that
in the near future.
But, I made this video to encourage or make you understand
that if you're positioning yourself right,
if you are doing all the right things,
if you are putting together a great portfolio,
a great website and if you're charging enough money,
then, when you do get a yes,
for charging the right amount of money,
it only takes a few yeses to matter,
versus, if you charge half of that,
you have to work twice as hard to get twice as many people
to say yes.
So, just think about those things and again,
if you have questions, leave them in the comments section
and we'll try and talk about it.
Anyway, I hope you guys found this video
helpful, informative.
I hope it motivates you to rethink how you're approaching
your design career.
Anyway, like this video if you like it.
Don't forget to subscribe.
Check out the other awesome content on the channel.
As always you guys, thanks so very much
for watching and don't forget.
Create something awesome today.