Burn Your Portfolio: Stuff they don’t teach you in design school, but should (Daniel Serrano's Library)

the best graphic designers regularly and purposefully exceed their clients’ expectations

IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED

IN YOUR CAREER AS A

GRAPHIC DESIGNER,

YOU NEED TO FOCUS

TIME AND ENERGY INTO

DEVELOPING YOUR

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS.

He continues by noting John D. Rockefeller’s famous quote that states that the ability to deal with people is a purchasable commodity equal to sugar or coffee, and that he himself would pay more for that ability than all others.

Don’t be afraid to break ties with the client and part ways; this may include painfully returning monies previously paid, and maybe even taking a loss on the project in order to get it smoothly and successfully off of your books and out of your hair.

If the scope is changing all the time, you will be trying to hit a moving target throughout the duration of the project.

FPO images should also be “designed” for each project. Be sure they are cropped properly and adjusted for levels and contrast. Bad FPO image usage can scar a great design and keep a client from recognizing the greatness behind a comp—even if the design is the greatest thing since the invention of the iPhone.

“In our final team critique of the design, just before sending it per our predetermined deadline agreement, we came up with an additional navigation solution. We wanted to make sure we hit our deadline, so we sent you what we had at the time of our internal critique. We should have the alternate comp ready for you tomorrow morning. On the new comp the design will largely stay the same, but the navigation will change. We look forward to your feedback on this and on the extra version that will arrive tomorrow.”

In order to progress in your design and production capabilities, you must continually ask yourself, what would make this better? Keep pushing yourself and refuse to assume that the idea you are provided with is always the best and only one.

Instead of looking for someone else to blame for his late night, he was blaming himself. He was worried about getting fired for not getting the work done faster. He saw ample areas where he could improve and listed them for me with advisement that he was working to get better. A huge moment of relief swept over me. I appreciated this employee and his extra efforts, and he recognized that. And his willingness to personally find ways to improve his workload helped me discover that each employee could work towards finding the balance in their own workload.

I have seen over and over again in my career that the people who are willing to go the extra mile and do whatever task is required of them by their boss or client are among the most valued in the company.