Freelancing has its ups and downs. We get the freedom to make our own schedule, but we don’t have steady paycheques all the time. We are our own bosses, but in reality, our clients are our bosses. Making the jump to freelancing or running a small business is a scary thing, but the best part about it is that, by and large, we get to make our own decisions and take advantage of the benefits of that. One pro that I’m experiencing right now is working remotely.

Working remotely – aka from a remote location, or a location other than your usual work place – is the stuff of legend amongst freelancers and small business owners. We long for the beach and a laptop, checking our email, watching our business grow while we sip on margaritas. While this may not be an entirely accurate picture, working remotely definitely has benefits and is easier than you might think to achieve.

Hit the jump for the full article!

The Benefits

I’m writing this post from a patio of a coffee shop in Nelson, British Columbia. I’ve only been here for a couple of days, but the work has been flowing steadily. Benefit one of working remotely: new inspiration. Nelson is completely different than my regular working city of Edmonton; way more laid back, the landscape is completely different, the environment completely different as well. All these changes in scenery, attitude and more are a brand new, untapped source of inspiration, and some of the best design work I’ve done has come as a result.

Benefit two of working remotely: productivity. I know it sounds backwards, but an inspired designer is a productive one. When mixing business and pleasure, you’re going to want to work efficiently so that you can get out and enjoy the sights and sounds of whatever location you’re in. For example, Nelson has some epic mountain biking and I’m an avid mountain biker. I’m staying with a friend who knows the trails inside, out and backwards, and we’re riding in the evenings. Thus, I’m working efficiently in order to complete my day’s tasks so I can go riding in the evening without anything hanging over my head.

Benefit three of working remotely: enjoying life. Broad? Yes. Vague? Perhaps. Accurate? Definitely. The majority of us work so we can enjoy life and do the things we love (although I, and I assume many of my readers, love their work too). If travelling or generally “getting away” is part of what you enjoy, then do it. This is perhaps the biggest benefit we have as freelancers, and it’s our responsibility to actually take advantage of it. It all comes around full circle: if “getting away” makes you happy, and you can still get your work done, you will be a happier, more fulfilled designer/freelancer. Ask any client whom they’d rather work with: a bitter, burnt out designer who logs 60 hour weeks and never leaves their office, or a happier, more fulfilled designer whose love of life is reflected in their design? The answer will always be the latter.

It Doesn’t Have to Be Expensive

For some people, the term “working remotely” brings about the scene I described earlier: a beach somewhere exotic, laptop in one hand and Corona in the other. However, working remotely doesn’t have to come with a $2500 all-expenses paid trip to a Mexican resort.

As I mentioned, I’m staying with a friend in Nelson. No room & board fee (other than some beer, because I’m such a nice guy ); no need to eat out every night. Nope, the only real expenses over and above what I normally spend on food, etc while I’m working remotely here are the gas to get to Nelson and back. Mountain biking is free (minus the initial cost of getting a bike), WiFi is free, and that’s about all I need. See what I mean? It doesn’t need to cost you an arm and a leg – it’s more doable than you might have realized. I’m sure all of you have a friend of some family living in a place you’d love to go visit. Drop them a line, see what they’re up to, and make sure you’re a gracious visitor while you’re there.

Finally, one last note: make sure to tell your clients that you’ll be working remotely from date X to date Y. Let them know the time of day you have designated to work, how to reach you and all that good stuff. If you’re constantly taking off to “work remotely” and your clients are always getting your voicemail, they may be wondering just what they’re paying you to do. How often you leave to work from another locale is up to you and the specifics of your business – some businesses allow for it more often than others – but communication with your clients should always be clear and honest.

It’s important to be responsible as a freelancer and/or business owner, but it’s also important to take advantage of the perks it can bring. It’s very easy to find yourself chained to your desk for 10, 12 hours a day, which is a quick path to burning out. I hope this article has shown you that working remotely can be a feasible and productive change of pace to your design lifestyle -now get out there!

psst… you might also like our article on How to Work with Long-Distance Clients.

photo by Andrea Costa

Chances are that if you’re reading this, you’re either a designer or someone interested in design at some level. On top of that, a good percentage of you readers freelance either full or part-time. There are a lot of freelance designers out there, and the majority of us brand ourselves as just that: a freelance graphic designer. But is that really accurate? Do we only offer graphic design services, or do we offer a wider range of services – one of which is graphic design? Allow me to explain.

Graphic design is a skill. This skill can be manifested in the design of a business card; the design of a marketing print piece; the design of a website. It is a skill that is required by every small business at varying levels; however, it is also a skill that has to be in touch with a variety of previously defined goals and strategies of that business in order to be effective. Here at Paper Leaf, we preach about knowing the end user and designing with them in mind. We also talk about goals and designing towards achieving those goals (for example, for a web user to follow a predetermined path throughout a website that culminates in a phone call or email). With all that in mind, ask yourself: do your clients come to you with these goals and end users already defined? Or do you help them strategize and set goals prior to setting pencil to paper?

Hit the jump to read the full article.

Strategic Design vs. Pixel Pushing

We work primarily with small businesses, as do many freelancers; thus, the majority of the time we’re helping clients define goals & strategies as part of our design process. However, we also receive projects where we are essentially expected to carry out an already planned design – essentially, act as a “pixelpusher” as the design community sometimes (usually negatively) calls it. These latter projects are quite different than the former; the latter are projects where we are not asked to use our cerebral or strategic knowledge of design. Rather, we are more or less the “labour” – we know the Creative Suite, we know CSS & HTML, we know WordPress – and this is why we’re hired, to simply work in these areas. I realize this sounds somewhat negative, but I don’t intend it to be so all the time. I’m just trying to clearly define the two types of projects: strategic design projects (where the freelance designer acts as creative director, chief strategic officer and so on) and basic design projects (where the freelance designer solely brings a design to life, or working format), for lack of better terms.

When a project comes to us that has clearly defined end users, goals, and creative direction, it is a pleasure to take part in as a “basic” designer who is tasked to carry out the vector/pixel/coding work. However, there are also misguided projects that come to pass, where an ill-equipped project manager acts as creative director, UX planner, and designer without any prior experience. These sorts of projects rarely turn out well, and plenty of designers have experienced them – just read Clients From Hell – and it got me to thinking: by branding ourselves as “designers” or a “design studio”, are we inviting in the “basic design projects”? After all, being a designer isn’t the same thing as being a creative director, or being a strategic planner. It’s also not the same as being a “creative problem solver”, a more general umbrella term.

The Definition of a Designer

Designers view the term “graphic designer” as a well-rounded term, where a good graphic designer can not only carry out the actual work (drawing/layout etc) but also strategize and set goals in order to design effectively. However, not all clients view a “graphic designer” in this light. Some do; some also view a graphic designer as the aforementioned “pixelpusher”. This difference in understanding is no doubt where so many common client/designer complaints come from. Perhaps branding ourselves in a different light is the answer.

Consider Your Audience & Your Services

Who makes up the majority of your work? What sort of projects do you want to take on? These questions should, as always, steer your branding effort. For example, if you’re a freelance designer who acts as a subcontractor to many larger advertising firms, perhaps branding yourself as a freelance designer is accurate and effective. After all, an advertising firm will have a creative director who works with the client to define their goals; they are subcontracting to you to carry out the actual design work, not to carry out the larger spectrum creative thinking as well.

On the flipside: if you’re a freelance designer who works with many small businesses who don’t have a marketing or creative department, perhaps you would be better off branding yourself not as a freelance designer, but as a creative director & graphic designer, or a creative/visual problem solver, or a strategic business designer (or some other term; these are just examples off the top of my head). After all, you are offering more than just design work – you’re offering strategies for the blog you just implemented for them, or helping them define their target audience.

Find These Clients

Once you’ve figured out what you truly offer, what you want to focus on, and how you’re going to brand yourself, you have to go out and find the clients who need your services. Your success rate of finding new clients will improve thanks to your newly focused rebranding. I guess what I’m saying is that it’s good from time to time to re-evaluate your work/business/brand and see if there are any ways to improve. By rebranding yourself to focus more accurately on what you truly offer – or what you truly want to offer – you will not only get more business, but you will get more of the business you like to work on. This will lead to an improved quality of life, work-speaking, and nobody complains about that, right? What are your thoughts?

No doubt, whether you design for an agency or whether you design as a freelancer, you have had to deal with the aggravation of “rush” work. Usually, rush work is a product of a client’s poor time management, over-eagerness, or lack of understanding of what exactly goes in to a proper design job. It could also be the fault of the novice designer, promising completed work by an unrealistic date. Regardless of what effects caused the “need” for this rush work, one staple remains true in pretty much all rush work cases: the end result will be, at best, average.

Rush Work Equals Rushed Planning & Research

When you have an overly cramped timeline to complete a design project, corners have to be cut. One of the first to be cut is the planning & research stage: essentially, the foundation of the project. Good design is effective design, and discovering what will be effective is a product of logical planning and research – both of which take time.

When we cut corners on the planning & research stage, we are laying a foundation that is already weak.

Rush Work Equals Fewer Concepts

Generally speaking, if a project’s deadline is too soon, fewer concepts will be explored by the designer & other project members. It’s a simple time issue; there really isn’t enough time to fill up your artboard with various concepts, playing around with some, fleshing some out, and so on. The designer’s process, which he or she has honed over the years if they are an effective designer, will be compromised. When compromising the process, we compromise the result.

While I’m not a proponent of quantity over quality, I do believe that some of the best ideas come later in the drafting process. I know I’ve been multiple hours deep in a logo design project, with multiple design concepts that aren’t quite there yet, only to finally come across the winner much later. Had these projects been on an overly tight timeline, chances are I would never have gotten to that point – leading to a final design that isn’t quite what it could have been.

Hit the jump for the rest!

Rush Work Leads to Errors

When everyone’s rushed, the members of the project are constantly dividing their time between their true responsibilities – be that project management, design, or other – and clock-watching. When we’re constantly diverting our attention, we are much more prone to errors. Simple things like missing kerning errors you normally would have caught, or missing a dead link on a website, become the norm in rush jobs. Not only does this ultimately slow down the project and create more rework, it put us designers in poor light. Multiple errors are not the hallmark of the professional designer, but they are near impossible to avoid when rushing to complete a job.

These errors compound, too, because rush work also leads to little or no testing time. This is mainly when we’re designing in an interactive medium, like a website. All of a sudden, that time you normally have slotted into your project management workflow is cut short, and next thing you know you’re launching a site with dead links, incorrect paths and the like. All these things should be caught in the testing phase; however, if the testing phase is cut short in order to meet a deadline, chances are they’ll be missed.

All this – less planning & research time, less time to explore concepts, more errors – will inevitably lead to an average design (if you’re lucky). A lot of the time, it leads to below average work; it is rare that the rush project ever results in a great design. Remember, great design is a process that requires thought; time for thought is usually the first thing to go in a rush job.

And the absolute worst thing about rush work and the subpar results? It’s rare that the client recognizes if they were the cause; more often than not, you will be the one to blame for the subpar work (and this isn’t great for client-designer relationships, either). And perhaps that’s fair; it’s up to you to refuse rush work if you feel the end result will not be up to your standards. Remember, the proof is in the pudding: if you start releasing a bunch of average to below average work, your reputation will take on that light. That’s poison for your career.

How to Avoid Rush Work

If you want to have a solid portfolio, a long career and all of your hair, it’s best to learn how & when to avoid rush work. First off, most designers will tell you that most work that clients deem “rush” does not actually need to be rushed. It might be an issue where your client is getting pressure from their boss; it might be an issue where they are just really excited to launch a new website; it might be an issue where they just have no idea how long it takes to complete the project they are commissioning you for.

If this is the case, put on your communicator’s hat (which should always be on, really) and let them know that their deadline does not need to be so tight. Let them know the downfalls of rushed design work; in the end, the work will be there for a long time, so the quality will be remembered far more than the fact that it was completed in 8 days.

If your client refuses to budge on the deadline, you have two options: take on the job, or pass on it. If you take it on, make sure you communicate very clearly to the client that corners will have to be cut. They will get fewer revisions and fewer concepts. If you have other projects on the go, which I imagine you do, consider a rush fee. You have multiple clients you have to keep happy, and taking on a rush job will bump their project down the ladder and risk upsetting your client- some think that it’s reasonable to demand a higher cost in order to take this risk, but that’s in your hands.

If you refuse the job – and saying no isn’t a bad thing – let them know why. When Paper Leaf refuses rush work, we let the client know that we’d love to work on their project, but not under the circumstances outlined. We want our work to be strong & memorable, and rush jobs generally don’t allow for that.

Keep in mind: the payment for a rush job is immediate, but the effects of a below-average design with your name on it are much longer lasting and wider-reaching. What are your experiences with rush jobs?

We’re going to take a quick break today from our regularly scheduled, design-informing programming to jump on the Self-Involved Train and talk about ourselves for a minute. Why? Because this month Paper Leaf Design is featured in Parlour Magazine. This Edmonton-produced design, lifestyle and fashion magazine is available in Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, and is noted for its great design, photography, and content.

We’re honored to have been mentioned (and so kindly!) in their favorites section – judging by the quality of the other talent featured in the section, it’s no small feat. So thanks to Parlour for mentioning us, and if you see Parlour in your city, pick it up! It’s free and the content is awesome – for example, this issue features articles on the Bouncing Souls and Metric, as well as highlights of up & coming fashion for the season. If you’re not in Edmonton, Vancouver or Calgary, read the new issue online here. Also, much thanks to Leah Rae Photography – she took the photo of us that appears in the ‘zine (and on our About Us page).

Here’s some shots of the inside of the magazine (we’re the big photo, where Andy is threatening me with physical harm).

Alright, enough about us. Back to dropping design science in our next post!

In today’s day & age, many paper products are slowly heading the way of the dinosaur. The Yellow Pages have long since been replaced by search engines; newspapers are begrudgingly focusing on their online content; eBooks are growing in popularity thanks to devices like Apple’s iPad and the Kindle. However, one item that is holding fast in the realm of paper is the business card.

I suppose one day the business card might become extinct; however, for now business cards hold fast as the main way to quickly & effectively trade information between two individuals. Because of this, business card design still remains as important as ever. But like everything, for every well-designed business card out there, there are 10 horrendous designs. In this article, I’ll touch on a few tips to help you effectively design business cards.

Hit the jump for the full article!

1. Identify the Purpose

Before you even set pencil to paper and begin sketching, ask yourself this question: what is the purpose of this business card? The immediate answer most people will jump to is “To share my contact information”. While this may be the basic purpose for some, it may not be for others.

For example, a photographer may be looking to meet new clients; chances are, he/she will not be hired without that potential client (and business card recipient) seeing their work. Perhaps, then, the main purpose of the card should be to direct the recipient to their online portfolio, and only that.

In this case, showing only the url to a portfolio is a unique way to present the business, and the resulting simplicity will pique the interest of the recipient – resulting in, hopefully, more follow-throughs to the website. After the recipient has viewed the portfolio, a well-designed website will allow the viewer to easily contact the photographer/designer/whathaveyou.

2. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

There is an ever-present tendency, especially amongst small business owners with small budgets, to try and “maximize” their expenses. While this can be justified in some senses, it can also lead to information overload when it comes to design, as the client wants to fill every inch of space with contact info, mission statements, summaries of their business, and the like. I can understand the reasoning – the more information presented, the better the client will know my business, and the better chance I have at getting their business – but unfortunately information overload leads to largely ineffective design.

With that in mind – simplify your business card design. Keep tip number one in mind, and design to the purpose of the business card. Be self aware and understand that while the business owner may find their business’ vision & mission statement incredibly interesting, it might not belong on a business card. Keep in mind that a standard business card is 2 inches by 3.5 inches; you don’t need to fill that space with the company’s life story.

The point of a business card is to present a company’s basic information to the recipient in an easily digestible manner – and in a manner that visually reflects the ethos of the business. Overloading a business card with information that can come later in the developing client relationship is a mistake that should be avoided. Remember – a business card is not a business’ biography.

3. Know Your Audience

Like it or not, people will judge a business quickly and on a few factors. Things like the elevator pitch, the logo, and the business card are very important when making that first impression with a client. With that in mind, say you’re designing a card for an interior designer who has clients with very fine, high end tastes. What card stock do you think these cards should be printed on? Probably a high-end, heavy duty stock. Do you think you should be using a well-designed, classy typeface or a free, playful typeface with curly serifs? Probably the former. All these elements are picked up on, either consciously or subconsciously, by the recipient of the card. The impression the client gets from the design of the card can be the difference between a follow-through phone call and the card going in the garbage.

The high-end business card design is a somewhat typical example, but think outside the box a bit. Say you’re hired to design a card for an environmental non-profit group. It might be worthwhile to explore printing the card on recycled paper, or printing smaller-than-standard size cards so as to reduce waste. The main point here is: know your audience, know their tastes, and design to appeal to them.

4. Make the Card Remarkable

I chose the word “remarkable” very consciously, based on a TED talk given by Seth Godin. He describes the term “remarkable” in a literal sense – “worth making a remark about”. A truly unique business card design can go viral, in a sense. If you design something unique and worth sharing, people will share it – in this sense, pass the card along (or a photo of the card, as we see fairly often in the design community). If this happens, all of a sudden one business card has gone from reaching one client to two, five, ten, fifty… who knows? In any case, a card that is truly remarkable becomes even more effective, by way of reaching a much larger audience.

Now, as designers we all know that not every client will be willing to take the risk that comes with thinking outside of the box. However, if you truly feel you have an idea that will properly represent the company and one that will do so in a truly unique manner, don’t be afraid to state your case and stick to it. The client might not share your vision; however, they just might and, in turn, let you run with it (hallelujah to these clients!). Below are a few examples of cards I’ve seen that I think are truly remarkable.

Hopefully these tips will help you focus on designing a creative, effective, and overall great business card design the next time a business card design projects lands on your desk. Any other tips? Leave ‘em in the comments!