Frequent Mistakes Graphic Designer Makes And How To Fix Them

In a world as competitive as Graphic Design it can be hard to get ahead. Having to vie for jobs, bid low and potentially work within strict deadlines are all troubles of the trade. In order to make a name for yourself you have to be able to secure the best jobs and work the fastest, but doing so can lead to making some amateur mistakes.

Often, client relations are the place that mistakes occur, and by avoiding them before you develop bad habits you can avoid the added stress and discontent that comes with each mistake. Graphic Designers at Designhill make the focus all about the client, taking their visions and their company and putting it into a reproducible, recognizable identity for their products. Depending on a client who may have no understanding about what kind of work goes into designing their vision for public consumption however can involve some problems that may trip even the most experienced designers up. The following three client relation mistakes that many graphic designers make can be easily avoided with a little pre-planning

Mistake #1: Communication.

This can be an honest mistake from someone new or seasoned in the graphic design field, or an avoidance tactic used to dodge an over-anxious client that feels it necessary to be walked through every phase of the design process. Either way it’s a big problem both for your reputation and for the client’s peace of mind when communication isn’t open and frequent.

How to fix it? Make sure your clients can reach you at any time or set reasonable expectations for the time frame in which you will respond to their questions. If the client isn’t reaching out then you should be; communicating your progress and any needs the client has to meet before you can move on with the project not only keeps them apprised of your progress, but covers you in the event that information is not provided to you in a timely enough fashion.

Mistake #2: Deadlines.

Many designers will joke about that one time they received a surprise order from a client with an impossible deadline, but it’s not a laughing matter when taking on a new job. Deadlines are an important detail for clients and not knowing how quickly a customer needs their work by can lead to frustration on their part. Rushing in an attempt to meet a deadline you weren’t originally aware of risks exposing yourself to embarrassment when you make easily avoidable mistakes.

How to fix it? Set and agree on deadlines before you accept a project and don’t overestimate your ability to meet them if you don’t have experience working under a tight deadline. If possible build in an emergency margin to give yourself a little more time than you need in case an unforeseen event pulls you away from your work.

Mistake #3: Design Briefs.

Many clients, when approaching a designer for work on their brand or product, are excited, enthusiastic and full of ideas. They could talk to you for hours about what they want and if you’re lucky their ideas and products are interesting enough to really grab your focus. You start work right away, thinking that you have exactly what they’re looking for in mind and you don’t collect the design brief before you begin. Two days later you’ve spent hours on the project only to find that you’ve missed the mark in terms of what your client is looking for and now no one is happy.

How to fix it? Never work without a design brief. While your client might be brimming with ideas for you to work with, they also often come with guidelines for their brand that you need to know in order to incorporate into their design. The design brief will help you see holes in their design ideas and give you a chance to gather additional information that may be pertinent to their needs.

Gold Star in Client Relations

Always treat your clients with the utmost respect and professionalism and actively keep lines of communication open as you work on their projects. Don’t sell them short- if what they’re requesting can’t be accomplished to their satisfaction don’t downplay your concerns about the project. Lying to the customer or misleading them and delivering a design that does not meet their visions will be worse for you and your reputation than politely turning down the job and finding another. This holds true whether you’re an established Graphic Designer or someone starting out as one of the crowd at Designhill.

You’ve heard the old adage “the customer is always right” and as a working professional you probably even know how misleading that phrase can be, especially when said by an irate client. The phrase might not be completely accurate but there is a mindset to the phrase that’s important when addressing the most frequent client relation mistakes made by designers.

Frequent Mistakes Graphic Designer Makes And How To Fix Them

8 Mistakes Every Freelancer Makes

We didn’t set out to be freelancers because we love dealing with clients, sorting out taxes and taking our financial lives into our own hands, we are freelancers because we love the craft that we do. We’re creative people not business people and because of this it’s easy to make mistakes.

In my time of freelancing I made plenty of mistakes which I’ll share with you today and how you can avoid them in your career.

1. Charging Too Little

This is probably the biggest mistake I made and that’s why it’s at number one. My idea was to charge as little as possible for my work with the hopes of that being attractive to potential clients. This actually has the opposite effect. Clients may see you as ‘cheap’ and someone who provides low quality work.

Solution

It’s important to charge what you think you’re worth as well as how much you need to live. Here are a few articles about pricing

• 
  Charging What You’re Worth
  


• 
  How to Price Yourself as a Freelancer
  

2. Contracts

Having no contract or formal agreement in place when working with a client can mean you doing more work than you expect to and some clients may take advantage of this. A contract should make everything clear about your services for the client. This means you should spell out everything about your services from payment schedules to the amount of revisions you’re willing to do.

Solution

You don’t have to be a lawyer to get yourself a contract, there are plenty of templates and samples out there to help you set your terms and conditions for your clients. Here are a few to get you started:

• 
  Protect Yourself with these Contract Samples
  


• 
  Free Contract Templates & Legal Resources for Freelancers
  

3. Knowing When to Say No

Many will argue that the client is always right. Others will argue the opposite. Regardless of this sometimes you need to say no. You may be asked to work less than your regular rate or the client may add tasks to your current work pile. It’s good practice to say no to clients that could harm your reputation, try to barter on pricing and companies with a bad reputation.

Before starting work for any client you should research their business. How do they treat their customers? What are their work ethics like? Answering these questions will help you get a better understanding of the project and also give you an idea of what to expect working with them will be like. If you decide to say no, don’t regret it – there’s plenty of more potential clients.

4. Appealing to Everyone

It makes sense to offer more services to broaden your market. However, focusing on and specialising in one or two services could gain you more clients. This is because you can easily make a name for yourself as the expert in landing page design, for example, but it’s much harder to be known as the best web designer. Pick a niche that you love doing and something you’re good at.

5. Staying in Touch with Clients

You work so hard to find your clients and then once the work is done, you simply pack up and leave. This is something I did often and probably lost out on a lot of work. The easiest way to stay in touch with passed clients is to build an email list that provides your clients with content about your business. Offer discounts to your previous clients and they’ll be sure to hire you again.

6. Time Management

I used to give my clients inaccurate time scales and think that I could work faster than I could. When this happens you miss deadlines and even lose a client’s trust. When giving your client an estimate of how long a project will take, it’s easier to break it up in sections and think how long these sections have taken you in the past. That way, you’ll keep your clients happy!

7. Marketing Yourself

When I first started freelancing, I built myself a portfolio, added some concept work, had business cards made and then waiting for clients to come to me. I now see how ridiculous this sounds because nobody knew who I was and my only clients were people I already knew. If you want to find work, you have to go to them and find your clients. Here’s how.

Blogging

Probably the most popular way freelancers market themselves is by blogging. Show your potential clients how professional you are by writing about your craft.

Networking

Networking online and offline can gain you a lot of clients as they get a chance to know you before they work with you. Setting up your social profiles, sending email proposals and participating in industry meetups will help you meet potential clients and future colleagues.

8. Working Too Much

As a freelancer, you are the only person in your business and means that you don’t get paid time off or other benefits that employees get. This caused me to work everyday all day in fear that I would never have any money and I soon burned myself out. Taking time off for yourself helps you to regain motivation and feel more refreshed to work.

Solution

Many self employed people regularly put earnings into a savings account so that when it comes to take time off for whatever reason, they have the money to do so and not have to worry about losing out on income.

What Mistakes Have You Made?

It’s our human nature to make mistakes. If we didn’t mess up once in a while, we would never learn so don’t feel bad about screwing something up, embrace it! Let me know some of your mistakes you made as a freelancer in the comments below.

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8 Mistakes Every Freelancer Makes

Critical Mistakes To Avoid When Quoting A Web Design Project

Striking out on your own as a freelance designer can be incredibly exciting and rewarding, but to be successful, designers who go this route must hone much more than their design skills. A successful freelance designer must have exceptional organizational and presentation skills. He/She must also understand business development and know how to properly quote projects, something that many new freelance designers struggle with.

In this article, we will look at seven critical mistakes that designers make when quoting web projects and show you how you can avoid them in your own business.

1. Not Fully Understanding the Scope of the Project

No two projects or clients are alike. While the work you have done for other projects may help you on a new one you are bidding on, that new project will also have plenty of unique needs based on that business’s goals and the needs of their audience. Understanding those goals and needs, and having a plan for how you will meet them, is how you establish a scope of work for this project.

Many web projects include a brief of some kind. Be sure to ask for one if missing and to read it – carefully. There is critical information in that document that will help you establish a scope for the project. That scope equates to a number of hours and those hours equate to a price for the project (more on hours shortly). If you do not understand the scope of a project, you are unlikely to properly assess the time or budget needed to execute the project successfully.

When establishing a project’s scope, take your time and do it correctly. Fully digest the client’s brief. Dissect it. Turn it on all sides. If you have questions (and you should have questions), talk about them with the client, because ambiguity is not your friend when quoting a project.

2. Underestimating the Number of Hours Needed for the Project (and for Life)

At its most basic level, web design, like other forms of consulting, is about trading hours of your time for money. You only have so many hours available to you, so to be successful, you need to use (and bill) those hours wisely. Unfortunately, this is an area where many freelancers stumble.

When establishing how many hours you will need for a project, do not forget about the time needed to manage the client, present ideas, follow up on emails, and execute the many aspects of the job that are outside of the “design phase.” All of those hours will add up, so if you are not billing for them as part of the project, you are costing yourself time and money!

In addition to the time needed for a project, you must also consider the time needed for your personal life. It’s important to balance your working hours and free time spent with family and friends. There will certainly be times when a deadline is looming, and you need to put in some extra hours, but that should be the exception, not the norm. When planning your schedule, be sure to account for time away from projects and work.

3. Not Taking the Coding Part of a Web Project into Account

The creative and design parts of web design are likely what motivated you to begin this type of work, but just because your strengths are in design doesn’t mean that you can turn a blind eye when it comes to the coding aspects of a web project. There are, however, ways you can address the coding needs of a web project without needing to become a coder yourself.

Option #1: Plan to subcontract the coding part of a project to a web developer. This is how many freelancer designers get the code for their projects done, but if you started a freelance practice because you want to work independently, this might not be an appealing option.

Depending on a programmer, this can be very challenging since you now need to manage their schedule and needs, as well as your clients. Additionally, you can expect a big chunk of the project’s budget to get sucked up by manual coding. That means less money for you and your freelance business. So far, this option isn’t sounding that appealing, is it?

Option #2: Work with a professional website building platform that generates W3C-validated code for your designs. Have you ever heard of Webydo? This platform is a powerful web design suite that allows designers to do what they do best (design visually stunning websites) while the software writes the code for you. Modern web features like pixel perfect responsive design or parallax scrolling animation effects allow you to have complete control over all aspects of the project (including the budget) while still delivering a powerful website for your clients.

4. Not Defining the Number of Design Revisions Included in the Project’s Price

We’d all like to deliver websites that are immediately loved and accepted by our clients. Unfortunately, hitting a home run on the first swing rarely happens. Most of the time, clients will have feedback for you and they will ask for some changes. This is perfectly acceptable, and it will actually help you create a better end product, but how many rounds of changes are you willing to make?

It is impossible to determine how many rounds of revisions a project will need before you begin that work, but you absolutely must establish a number of revisions that are included with that project as part of the initial scope. I find that 3 rounds of revisions are usually sufficient. Make sure to get a full list of requested changes after each “round” is presented so that you can maximize your time and the client will understand that each round counts as part of the agreed upon work.

If a project requires more revisions than you have initially planned for, be prepared to have a conversation about a change order on the project to pay for that additional design time. Remember, you do not work for free. If the client wants you to do additional work, there needs to be additional budget allocated to pay for that work.

5. Failing to Communicate about Additional Costs

We said it earlier in this article and we will say it again – ambiguity is not your friend. One of the main areas this is true is with additional costs that may arise on a project. These could include services that clients have to pay for outside of your labor, like website hosting, or it could be for premium plugins that the site will require or stock photos that need to be purchased. Discuss these items with your client and make sure they understand about these costs and get everyone on the same page right from the start.

6. Not Establishing Milestones or Initial Payments

Remember at the start of this article we mentioned that one of the skills you will need to have is organizational skills? This is where those skills come in handy.

An organized project is one that has established milestones throughout that project. Those milestones should cover the work that you will deliver at each stage and the financial payments that the client will be responsible for at that time. Those payments should include an up-front deposit to get you started.

Clients want to place their trust in a professional and organized designer who clearly knows what they are doing. Milestones help establish you in this way, and a clearly defined payment schedule ensures that you are not stuck having done most of the work for none of the money. Remember, you’re running a business and businesses don’t run on promises!

7. Failing to Sign a Contract

You’re a professional prepared to deliver a valuable service to a client in exchange for a certain amount of money. There are expectations and requirements on both ends, and those should be clearly stated in a contract.

Many of the potential mistakes covered in this article can be averted right from the start if you make them part of a contract that both you and the client understand and agree to (meaning they sign it – don’t accept a friendly handshake in lieu of a signed contract). Find yourself a good lawyer and make sure you have the right contract needed to cover the work you do.

In the end, you will find that most of the clients you work with are good people who are excited for the great work you will do together. For them, the contract simply clarifies what you both already know, but for those instances where things do go wrong, a properly written contract can be the difference between getting what you are due or watching as your business takes a hit.

Conclusion

If you are hoping to run a successful freelance design business, you must be prepared to quote on projects. By avoiding the pitfalls covered in this article, you can ensure that you keep your business running smooth and profitable for many years to come.

The post Critical Mistakes To Avoid When Quoting A Web Design Project appeared first on Speckyboy Web Design Magazine.

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1. 4 Ways To Simplify Your Designs


2. Are You Selling Clients What They Want?


3. The freelance pricing trap and how to get out of it

Critical Mistakes To Avoid When Quoting A Web Design Project

When Launching a New Website: Avoid These Four Simple Website Mistakes

Having a website is essential for just about every business these days. Not only is it expected, but it helps improve your image and your accessibility for customers. Putting together a website doesn’t have to be complicated, but it isn’t just a snap and to go project either. It takes work. Businesses often tend to make the same mistakes. Keep an eye out for these common errors and correct them before they become a problem.

Unprofessional Or Too Large

“The Importance of Visual Content States” that people tend to respond to pictures and videos more than words. If you have a local market to tap into, then having local pictures can help you give that needed flair. But that doesn’t mean you should just go out, snap some shots, and then post them. Make sure that the images you use add some value to the site and are at least semi professional looking.

Being professional doesn’t mean you should load up your website with massive images. The larger the file, the longer it will take for it to load. “Top 30 Web Design Mistakes” lists slow loading speed as one of the more common devastating errors. If your website doesn’t load within a reasonable amount of time, your potential customers will go elsewhere. As a general rule of thumb, your website should load within 4 seconds on the average system. If it doesn’t, then look at cutting down your image file sizes until it can. Remember that people are coming to your website to find out about your business and what it can do for them, not look at all your pretty pictures.

Now if you are in an industry where you need a portfolio or plenty of high quality images, then have a clearly marked portion of the website where viewers can check those out. You can use simplified versions on the home page and about pages. Some businesses even have two versions of a website, allowing customers to access a site with higher resolution if they would like to.

Poorly Proofed and Developed Copy

Even if the only pages you have up on your website are about your business, your contact information, and the basic details, you still need to make sure it’s well developed. It doesn’t matter how long or short it is. Make sure that it is crisp, clean, and accurate. Always double check contact information and other similar details. If, for instance, you’re taking advantage of the new domain extensions or you have recently changed your phone number, make sure that that information has been updated.

Nothing says unprofessional like simple mistakes. It is advisable that you go through published resources from reputed online players like Shopify to understand how you can best benefit from domain name extensions.

Unnecessary Information

One of the benefits of a website is that you can put up as much information as you want. But the “5 Major Mistakes Businesses Keep Making with Their Website Homepage Design” lists “company updates” as one of the most unnecessary bits of clutter likely to show up on a business website. It’s not that you can’t tell everyone about what you’re doing, but you need to make sure it’s put in its place.

Many businesses start by putting it on their home page rather than on a separate page. Likewise, you can post announcements on Facebook and Twitter so that people know what’s going on. But those activities should not be the front and center of your website.

Disputable Claims

It can be tempting to make yourself look more important than you are or to suggest that your business is doing better than it is. But if you haven’t actually won the local award that you’re listing on your site or you haven’t actually been voted the friendliest business in town, don’t put it up there. You need to remain above board. So don’t put up any details or descriptions that aren’t accurate.

One of the best ways to tank your reputation is to lie on your website. You might not think anyone will catch you, but if they do and you get called out on it, you will have a reputation for lying. Whenever you make a claim on your website, it’s best to use one that’s verifiable. This way if someone fact checks you, they know you’re telling the truth.

Conclusion

Having a website is practically a necessity for your business. You can put one together fairly quickly, but it does require some work. A recap of what we covered in this article: using unprofessional photos or images that are too large. Your website should look professional and load swiftly.

All of your copy should be proofed, and your information must be accurate and pertinent to your customers. Additionally, you should make sure that any claims you make on your website can be verified. Never try to pull the wool over your customers’ eyes. By avoiding these common errors, your website will be in much better condition and better suited to serving your customers.

When Launching a New Website: Avoid These Four Simple Website Mistakes