Starting a business is a life changer!
The last few weeks have been a little crazy. The work I've been commissioned for is proceeding nicely and they have now asked me to design a flyer and sticker for a new product they hope to sell soon. The website is of course the top priority and that should be completed soon. I really enjoy the creative give and take between myself and the owner as it is a great learning experience. You really have to remember that you are not designing for yourself but for the client and their customers. Once you understand that, its not hard to receive critique and you can adjust accordingly without ego coming into play. My job is to give them a great website, make them happy and make the money spent on it worth it. Period. So far, I think I've done that.
I'm now having to design two websites for myself! I was almost done but it wouldn't be a site to have potential clients visit as it's a more personal one. I wouldn't want them seeing photos or blogs where I rant about how shitty movies are now or how I fucking hate people throwing up gang signs on Facebook who live in suburbia! See what I mean?
So, I have to decide what type of clients I want to attract and make a professional site that reflects that. I see lots of tea and late nights ahead!
I'm also getting all my information together and doing what I have to do to register PSC Designs as a business. Get a biz license first, open an account with my bank as a small business owner, sign up for a better deal on internet and cell as a biz, grab my domain name and get the site done. Fairly simple and not too expensive.
Learning how to work with Apache servers, php, and MySQL, has been challenging. I like what it will do for me later on. I want to host my own websites from a home server and cut out the costs of paying someone else to do it. Surprising how easy it is with a little elbow grease but I've never been afraid to get dirty on a computer.
This is not all because of one client or simply one job. Whether it is a part time job on the side or it becomes something bigger, I've always wanted to run my own business and take charge of my fate but was just too scared to try it. The excitement, knowledge and satisfaction it has given me so far is worth it. Are there better, more talented, experienced designers out there? ABSOLUTELY! You don't get experience sitting on the couch complaining about how nobody will give you a break or that people are better then you so why bother? I plan to learn from my mistakes and just work my ass off to get better. I never stop trying to learn more about the design business and what the future holds for it. Constant process to make yourself better.
You get older and start realizing you just gotta take the bull by the horns and take that first step. I'm reading a lot of different types of books (Zen philosophy, Shintoism, Buddhism) and I came up with this line that I am going to follow from now on:
The journey on the road to enrichment begins with a single step. It's not what you find at the end that is rewarding, it is simply that you began in the first place.
I've begun the journey.
The last few weeks have been a little crazy. The work I've been commissioned for is proceeding nicely and they have now asked me to design a flyer and sticker for a new product they hope to sell soon. The website is of course the top priority and that should be completed soon. I really enjoy the creative give and take between myself and the owner as it is a great learning experience. You really have to remember that you are not designing for yourself but for the client and their customers. Once you understand that, its not hard to receive critique and you can adjust accordingly without ego coming into play. My job is to give them a great website, make them happy and make the money spent on it worth it. Period. So far, I think I've done that.
I'm now having to design two websites for myself! I was almost done but it wouldn't be a site to have potential clients visit as it's a more personal one. I wouldn't want them seeing photos or blogs where I rant about how shitty movies are now or how I fucking hate people throwing up gang signs on Facebook who live in suburbia! See what I mean?
So, I have to decide what type of clients I want to attract and make a professional site that reflects that. I see lots of tea and late nights ahead!
I'm also getting all my information together and doing what I have to do to register PSC Designs as a business. Get a biz license first, open an account with my bank as a small business owner, sign up for a better deal on internet and cell as a biz, grab my domain name and get the site done. Fairly simple and not too expensive.
Learning how to work with Apache servers, php, and MySQL, has been challenging. I like what it will do for me later on. I want to host my own websites from a home server and cut out the costs of paying someone else to do it. Surprising how easy it is with a little elbow grease but I've never been afraid to get dirty on a computer.
This is not all because of one client or simply one job. Whether it is a part time job on the side or it becomes something bigger, I've always wanted to run my own business and take charge of my fate but was just too scared to try it. The excitement, knowledge and satisfaction it has given me so far is worth it. Are there better, more talented, experienced designers out there? ABSOLUTELY! You don't get experience sitting on the couch complaining about how nobody will give you a break or that people are better then you so why bother? I plan to learn from my mistakes and just work my ass off to get better. I never stop trying to learn more about the design business and what the future holds for it. Constant process to make yourself better.
You get older and start realizing you just gotta take the bull by the horns and take that first step. I'm reading a lot of different types of books (Zen philosophy, Shintoism, Buddhism) and I came up with this line that I am going to follow from now on:
The journey on the road to enrichment begins with a single step. It's not what you find at the end that is rewarding, it is simply that you began in the first place.
I've begun the journey.