6 Mistakes Freelance Graphic Designers May Face Up To Their Employment

If you are working as a freelance graphic designer, it could be challenging for some to get proper employment. The beginning is always tough, and being a graphic designer is very competitive in the market. Most of us make mistakes when we don't know how exactly we need to work and from where we begin. You need to trust yourself and need to keep learning to grow.

The graphic designer market is in huge demand, but you might not get the limelight you are looking for because tons of graphic designers are already doing their jobs and are known by many. They know how to promote their work so that people could understand them and their worth. It would help if you made sure that whatever you design is getting enabled or won't catch your audience's eyes. The question is not about how good or bad a designer you are, it's about how you manage your work and the marketing process.

If you want exposure to some good graphic designer company or some other major city or destination, you need to know your worth and how you manage your work. Working as a freelancer gives you a lot of experience about your work and if you are lucky enough, you might get significant exposure in some good company if they notice your work. We all make mistakes, and it's the process of learning, and without errors, we won't understand the journey we are going through. Here are some of the mistakes freelance graphic designers may face up to their employment.

Know Your Worth

This is the first mistake a graphic designer could make that not knowing their worth. There are many designers in the market, but that doesn't make you a bad designer. You need to understand that not all designers will have the same skills, some are just beginners, and some have already begun their work long ago. Experience comes from work. If you think you won't make it to the top, you are not even trying. Know your work and how much time you invest in each design. If you know your worth, then you will know your work value. Don't compromise with your skills even if you are working as a freelancer. Keep designing and keep growing your skills. If you undervalue yourself, you won't get a good job because you will feel like you are still not ready for this work every time. Keep learning from your mistakes and keep gaining experiences, know your worth and the amount of time you are investing for creating that one design, and don't compromise on pricing.

Marketing

Most designers don't know the proper way of marketing. Some graphic designers don't even try marketing their work. If you want to get in a good company, you need to showcase your work and do marketing. It doesn't matter if you have zero knowledge of marketing techniques. It's not a big deal. Connect with people to create a network of people to showcase your talent and share your work. Put some effort into starting a conversation with other people about your work. Social media is one of the biggest platforms anyone can choose to create a community and find people of the same interest. Post your designs on social media pages so that people could know about your work and what type of methods you create. Attend some meetings or try to connect with some companies who are looking for designers like you. You can always find people of the same interest anywhere. You will discover many Facebook or Twitter communities where people of the same interest organize meetings and show their works to know their worth and skills. You need better communication skills to do some marketing, and you may even find better exposure in some companies.

Time Management

It is essential to manage your working time. You might miss the deadline for your project or sending the task at your last moment. This will negatively impact you if you don't know how to manage your work on time. Focus more on important projects rather than wasting time on small tasks. If any company had given you a project and asked you to submit it before a specific deadline, you must complete that work before that deadline. Don't wait until the deadline. Every task you are working on needs a particular time to complete. Don't take too many projects at a time, or you might not be able to meet any of those projects on time. Take a limited amount of projects at a time and try completing those in the meantime. It would help if you organized your work. Freelancing could be done anywhere anytime, but still, you need to know the time management. A bad time manager might face some issues while employed as a company restricts a deadline for a project before that the job must be done.

Pricing for the Work

We all say that we don't need money for the things we love to do. But at the end of the day you need to get paid for your job or how would you live. If you are a graphic designer, then you must know the value of your work. You are investing a lot of time designing a project, and you should charge the same matter of your time. Many designers don't know how much their work is worth. So they settle with the amount of money they receive. Many beginners freelance designers might not even get paid just because they are a beginner, but still, as a beginner, you should know your worth and the time you are spending on designing. If a company hires you but is not willing to pay you enough for your work, you need to switch elsewhere. Don't just settle with the amount you are getting at the beginning as you keep working. Your experience and value increase, and you need to get paid according to your work. Even as a freelancer, you need to charge for your work. If you are investing time in your career, you need to get paid for it.

Lack of Design Process

Designing is a kind of creative work, and you cannot stick to the same design every time you design something new. It would be best if you were innovative with whatever you design. Many designers don't find a job because they are all similar to one another. Why do you think a company would hire you when there are tons of other designers identical to you? It would help if you were unique to find your style of work. Great design will take time, but you need to keep working to find a better and unique working style for yourself. You also need to organize your work. If you don't manage your work it might become frustrating for you. You need to inspire other people with your design. It takes time and some effort to be a great designer. Many graphic designers in the market are designing the same thing with the same interest, but if you want to get discovered and want to stand out of the box, you need to think something different from other designers. Organize your working hour. If you are not getting paid for working extra hours, then you are not valued enough. Find a place where you are being valued for your work and your skills.

Invest On Yourself

If you want to improve your skills and experience, you need to invest in yourself continuously. You are investing in the sense of knowing what's new in the market and improving your skills. If you find some excellent tools for your design but need to pay some money for it, try to get that tool. Don't hesitate to invest in what might help you with your work and improve your skills. There are lots of free toolkits in the market for graphic designers, but they have some limitations. You cannot access all the features of the tool for which you must buy a subscription. Try different devices; don't stick around with a single tool. You might not know when and where you need to use which tool. If you have worked with all the tools you would know which tools are perfect for your work. You also need to do some marketing for your work, and sometimes you also may have to invest some money for marketing to get recognition. You need an objective for yourself. Stay updated with the new trends that are being followed in the market to keep up with your work and what the audience wants. Technology is always changing with each new invention, and you need to stay updated with each. Know about other designs and how you can create something new out of them.

Working with Wrong Clients

Many designers complain about working with the wrong client. This is common for all graphic designers. No matter how good your work is, your client may never get satisfied with your work, and you get frustrated with your client. This could be because of a bad understanding or bad communication. Some designers have no other choice other than working with these clients, but if your client doesn't know your worth, it's useless to spend much time working with them. As a designer, you should know your value, and if you are not valued, you need to switch places to work. At first, you might have to listen to your boss for not working as they want, but if you feel like that this isn't the place you should be working, then find yourself a new place where your client understands you and values your work. You might not even get paid the right amount for your work, then what's the point of working. There are lots of companies who are looking to hire you and your work. You need to do some good research. If you have experience for quite a long time, then you will get the right company for yourself.

Not Enjoying Projects

As a freelancer, you might not be enjoying all your work. Some projects may be boring, but you need to complete them anyhow. If you don't want a particular project to work on, you might tell your client rather than sit and waste time and effort. If you don't understand something, you need to ask your client. Sitting and complaining won't solve your problem. Graphic designers have to face a lot of issues because of a particular project. If you find something that you love, then do it and if you don't enjoy the thing, then let it go. Wasting your time and effort on a single project is ultimately a waste if you don't like it in the first place. Graphic designers have lots of tasks to do, and you can choose any. You can even work on a project that will make you creative and more focused on the work. You need to give equal time to your work and on yourself. You cannot work 24*7 and investing time on a useless project is entirely a waste of effort.

It takes a lot of effort to become the best graphic designer in the market. You need to keep working and keep improving to reach your goal. Mistakes are what we learn from. If you don't make mistakes, you might not know the right way. Graphic designing is about experience and constant effort. Putting your work upfront and showing what you can get you where you want to be. Freelancing is just the beginning for everyone; it helps to learn and gain experience in your work. Just like a seed, you will grow over time. If you don't find the right company or client for yourself, keep looking. Many hirers are looking for designers. You might have to initially work for a low budget, but as you keep learning, you will get better exposure for your work.

Many companies are there is not a world like graphic design Austin who looks for a graphic designer for their company. You can work with some good companies to learn. Sometimes it's not always about money but experience and knowledge. You may even have to work without getting paid initially, but you will learn something from it. Keep working on your dream until you reach your goal.

About the Author:

Hermit Chawla is a Marketing Manager at Sprak Design. He would love to share thoughts on top advertising agencies in Pune , Lifestyle Design, Branding Firm, Exhibition design etc..