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Tag Archives: Freelance designer
“Promotes us as a professional recruiter”
I recently created some corporate literature for the specialist recruiter Sugarman to use to promote their services across Australia.
Here's what my client had to say upon receiving the completed document:
This is excellent and will be a huge help to us as we have pretty much zero marketing material at the moment. Gives us an added approach into clients and really promotes us as a professional recruiter.
It's always nice to hear I've done a good job!Knowing your rights
As a freelance designer you own the right to all the work that you produce, unless you have officially signed it over.
Making the move into becoming a freelance graphic designer has been one of the best decisions I have made in recent years, however, although there are many perks to being a freelancer, there is no safety net of an employer or a company legal team to fall back on should legal rights be called into question. Knowing your rights as a freelancer is an important aspect of running your own business. A few months ago I wanted to learn more about copyrights in particular, and came across some useful sites along the way. I thought I'd share them should you be doing a similar search now or in the future: www.gov.uk: I found this site had a lot of useful information in an easy to digest format, including information on copyrights and protecting your intellectual property. As a freelance designer, everything you create, whether commissioned or not, is your intellectual property for which you own the copyright. There are also links on there should you wish to officially register any design work and useful contacts should there be any disputes relating to design rights. www.copyrightservice.co.uk: Although not the most attractive of websites, the UK Copyright Service site provides everything you need to know about the world of copyright and knowing your rights as a UK freelance designer. There are also some useful fact sheets, collating the important facts which can be downloaded for free. www.creativebloq.com: This is a useful online article containing various links to useful resources to do with both UK and US copyright laws. Freelance Handbook available through www.creativebloq.com has some very useful pages with tips regarding how to protect your assets as a designer, as well as how to negotiate any royalties. The handbook as a whole is a handy tool to have by your side. So there you have it, a selection of some of the links that I have found to be useful to have up my sleeve to refer to if and when it has become necessary to talk about copyright with my clients.
Tags: copyright, Freelance designer, Graphic design, handy tip, legal
Run out of application memory?
I recently encountered a running out of application memory issue, and after much googling didn't seem to find the true root of the problem. However, I have found a suitable answer for now...
The other day I was doing what I always do, using Illustrator and InDesign, along with a few other applications all open at the same time, and all of a sudden out of the blue my laptop fans start buzzing hysterically and I'm flagged a message that says I have run out of application memory. Immediately the programs I am running freeze up, with the only solution to shut down and restart. This happened at least 5 times in quick succession before I was ready to tear my laptop in half or throw it through the window. This really shouldn't be happening, I have 16GB RAM, which is far more than I needed for the job in hand and to add insult to injury to frustration, my free apple support had ended just 7 days before this episode....This all seemed very bizarre, the only thing I had done differently was move my work space to downstairs. My laptop obviously didn't like the Feng Shui down here...
But! I have found a handy work around, plus I think I may've stumbled across the answer myself. After googling and contacting Apple Support through Twitter I was advised to update my system to Yosemite. This I wasn't willing to do, I didn't want to lose anything on the off chance that this might work. What I did find online was a handy tip about checking out my activity monitor to see what was guzzling all my juice. Within the activity monitor I noticed that there were two items on the list using an awful lot of energy, these being the Kernel and the Finder Web Content. The Kernel is the operating system and so without that running you have in essence switched off the computer, it needs to be running - but what about this Finder Web Content? I found that I could force quit that through the activity monitor and that immediately solved the problem on a short term basis. That seemed to solve the problem, however, a few days ago the same thing happened, however, I was able to act quickly with this handy tip and so didn't lose any of my work. As the fans started, I immediately checked out my activity monitor, however, this time I felt I had sussed it out...In both cases I had been sent a word document that had been saved as a pdf by my client, through running it through mac pages.
This was the root cause of the problem. I asked the client to send the original pdf and worked from that instead. The problem was solved. So, to sum up. If your system looks like crashing, act quickly! Check out your activity monitor to see how the energy is being distributed across your system and quit anything unnecessary - you may just save your work in time. If you receive documents that aren't in their original format, always try to find the original document as you will be able to work more effectively and meet your clients needs more quickly.have yourself a merry little christmas
It's been a fun year, ending far differently than it started, with Southern Hemisphere exploration having taken place as well as the chance to build up a graphic design empire.
I couldn't have done it without the help and support of my fantastic clients, who put their trust in me on a daily basis to get their design tasks done. Their expectations are high and I do my best to achieve them, and hope to continue doing so into 2015 and beyond.
On that note I shall sign off, and wish you all a very merry christmas. Handy tips
A useful resource
As I stumble along in the world of Graphic Design, there are the odd occasions where I come across a bit of a road block and have to consult google for assistance. I therefore thought that it might be a good idea to collate some of my issues as I go along within this brand spanking new blog category "Handy Tips."
I intend for it to build up as I go along, so I will share my issues and solutions and any useful links I find along the way to help others paths run a little more smoothly. In the same way, if you have any suggestions to add to this page, feel free to drop me a line. Who knows, we may create a useful resource for other designers...?
“Just amazing”
Over the past few months, I have worked predominantly for the Cordant Group, across a range of the ever expanding brands. From corporate literature, to interactive web reports, to infographics and exhibition stands, I have worked alongside Tamara to get the job done.
Here's what Tamara Holland, the Group Marketing Manager, has to say about working together:
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Elizabeth. Her ability to interpret our often last-minute projects into creative design in short timescales is just amazing. Her creativity has been of great value during a very hectic time in our businesses. I would certainly recommend her but really want to keep her all to ourselves!
I thoroughly enjoy the projects that are sent my way and the range of brands expands on a monthly basis - it's never a dull moment working with the Cordant Group!infographic design
Are you into infographics as much as me?
Over the past few months I have designed quite a few infographics, close to treble figures, across a multitude of the Cordant Group brands and recruitment sectors, and I have loved doing it! I have selected a few to sit within my portfolio right here on my website, however, if you want to browse through a few more of my designs, I have added them to an album called "Little Miss Infographics" within my business Facebook page. Have a look and see what you think... Now, infographics are a great tool to help build your company followers and traffic to your site. They are great for SEO purposes, plus customers love to digest information visibly rather than having to read every word. For me, infographics combine my love of design plus my slightly geekish statistical tendencies, so if you have any facts or stats you want jazzing up send them my way!hashtag social media
Getting all my ducks in a row was one of the first things I did.
Over the past few weeks I have been engaging socially with the world out there in the space of social media. What I find truly awesome about this world, is that I have conversed with people from the USA, Southern England and Asia without leaving my own front door, finding common interests despite often being thousands of miles apart. But how much reliance is there on social media in the workplace? I have found LinkedIn to be extremely useful for making contacts and having interaction with others, sometimes helping out if I know the answer to a query, creating group discussions, or simply learning from others experiences. LinkedIn too was strongly linked to my working with most of my current clients. Twitter too has led me to make contacts and keep on top of trends. Facebook has not proven quite so handy on this front, but I see it as a shop window more than anything else, for clients or potential clients to get to see the real me a bit more, and showcase my personality and share thoughts and news... Getting likes for the sake of getting likes has never, and will never be my target. I want somebody to engage with me because they want to and not for any other reason than that. One thing I did do though, across all my social sites is get my ducks in a row, and create my www.offthewallcreative.co.uk brand. If you find me on the social sites, you'll know you've come to the right place when you land on my homepage, continuity is key! I know that I have it a lot easier than some companies as there is only me to handle it all, but giving a consistent message I feel gives the impression of competence and a feeling of an eye for the details. So here's the question - are your ducks in a row socially? Are your messages consistent? Is your brand consistent? I've helped out a few clients now getting their social sites up and running with banner designs and what not on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Google+. There's a whole load of them out there, so I'd suggest you impress your customers by having them designed up in a brand identifiable way.Create the right impression without the need for a power suit or phone call.
People, clients and customers are quite judgemental people and if you have mis-messages and non-consistency, what does that say about you and your brand?freelance designer for hire
Well it's been quite a while since I last wrote something profound on my blog, and I'm sorry to say today isn't the day for profound statements either!
Since we last spoke, I have been off gallivanting in the Southern Hemisphere for a few months seeing the sights, but still maintaining contact with my UK clients and picking up a few new ones along the way. Since returning home I have taken the plunge into becoming a real life freelance designer (a very scary thought) and have actually started to both fear and get excited about the future. I've sorted out my website to a level I'm happy with promoting (it's always going to be a work in progress!!) so here goes - wish me luck!So what exactly have I been doing on the freelance design front I hear you cry?
Well, I've done lots and lots of infographics for Cordant Group and it's sister companies, a great many web reports and user documents, and a few logos and business cards for start up companies too. Check out my portfolio for examples and testimonials if you don't believe me! With that said, do you know someone whose design is in need of a little TLC? Are you in a design related crisis? If so, I could be the one to swoop in and help save the day... I quote on a case by case basis, so get in touch to see what I can do for you.Eureka!
Mark Sands-Foy of M Sands Photography is one of my newest clients. Here is what Mark has to say about the design process he experienced:
I contacted Elizabeth as I needed a logo and business card designing. From the outset she made the process easy and hassle free. Elizabeth initially gave me pointers of what she needed to make the first draft logos, from there I simply said which bits I like and didn't like, at which point she went away and refined the logo until "Eureka" that's the one! It was a similar experience with the business cards too! She listened to what I said throughout the process, and threw in a few other ideas of her own.
If you are looking for design, I don't think you could go far wrong using Off The Wall Creative and Elizabeth. I'll be recommending them and using them again myself.
Specialising in sports photography, Mark has an extensive photographic portfolio which can be viewed at www.msands.photography or follow him on Twitter at @msandsphoto It's always good to help small businesses establish their brand identity and I'm glad I could be of service!