i'm about to drop some of the most useful knowledge out there as a graphic designer drawn
out from 15 years of graphic design experience but in six short but sweet minutes this knowledge
is going to probably change how you look at things through the eye of a graphic designer so the first
thing i learned somewhere along the way is that pre-saved and pre-made things are an absolute
lifesaver and by that i mean things like having contract or invoice templates ready
to rock and roll mock-ups saved or ready to use and libraries of icons saved into folders
also ready to use having these things ready to tailor onto a client's project will save
you so much time and energy which are actually probably your two most precious resources as a
graphic designer that leads me on to the next point time management is in fact a superpower
don't just simply trundle along your day as a graphic designer without much of a goal in mind
manage your time down to the nanosecond okay it may be not that precise but make sure to plan out
your time and ensure it's being used efficiently i could not emphasize this enough i really do
hope you're jotting this stuff down or bookmarking this video which reminds me of the next point and
that is to back everything up not once but twice you can even go for thrice if you feel like it
many years ago now i actually ended up losing my entire body of graphic design work in one
fell swoop and that's simply because my laptop was stolen i was quite a noob back in the graphic
design space at that time and my work wasn't actually that great anyway but of course that's
beside the points make sure to back your stuff up on external hard drives and something like a cloud
application losing everything isn't just annoying you will actually disrupt your workflow later down
the line when our clients need something reworking or expanding on bad typography ruins everything
this isn't an over exaggeration in the 15 years of being a graphic designer i've realized
just how much to design success relies on typography at least being semi-decent
if you haven't done already learn the basics of typography and also typeface psychology
and speaking of psychology this is another thing that i've come to learn a lot of graphic design
uses psychology as a fundamental tool this doesn't mean you have to run off to university
and major in psychology but you should brush up on things like color psychology shape psychology
and educate yourself on how designs influence people's emotions and their feelings and if you
can actually implement that into your workflow and your designs well you're going to become a graphic
design god also the legend goes anyway how you reply to potential clients can be a game changer
they say first impressions are everything and that's almost true some things that can
actually harm your chance at landing clients are being cold being rude replying to infrequently
not seeming interested poor grammar curse words i guess that does count as being rude and
not understanding what the potential client wants so another aspect linked to this is not having a
professional email address my main email address isn't professional but i set it up when i was
more of an idiot and i didn't actually know any better by the time i realized that it should be
something like tom at satori graphics.net it was just too late so i had loads of clients and loads
of people using that email address and shifting them all over to a new one would be just simply
a headache here's an example of an unprofessional email address this kind of address will make you
appear somewhat unprofessional to any clients and it's going to hamper your progress so progression
is another thing that you need to keep an eye on by that i mean the progression and evolution of
the graphic design industry this thing is really changing faster than a chameleon on a lava lamp
as the industry changes you need to adapt and change with it just think back to the
1960s and 70s and what the graphic designers were like back then they were used to making
things with their hands but as soon as computers rocked up they had two choices continue as they
were or learn how to use computers those who continued on as they were likely would have lost
lots of clients lots of work and even potentially their business this next piece of advice is one of
the most important things that i've learned it's especially helpful to those who freelance who are
thinking about starting their own business there are only 24 hours in a single day and each person
only has a certain amount of energy eventually you will need to start hiring people to do some of the
easier tasks for you which will free up your time to work on other areas of your operation
without biting the bullets and actually paying people to do things for you and work with you
you're not gonna grow before the last tip in today's video here are some honorable mentions get
deposits master the principles network with people and document your skill progression year to year
so the last thing in today's video about 15 years of graphic design experience is that you have to
100 know who you're designing for yeah it's not even for you and it's not even for your clients
the design is for a specific group of people who your clients brand or business is tailored towards
so there are some of the things that i've learned in the 15 years of being a graphic designer
and hopefully you can make use of them too but of course if you want to further your education
just click a video on screen until next time guys design your future today peace
you