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Graphic Design |OT| Be, INdesign

cbox

Member
I met a dude I know at training.


He asked me if I wanted to do a bit of graphics work for him. He is the co-owner of a company that sells CMS solutions to movie studios.


I've been helping him out 5-15 hours a week for over a month. He asked me some weeks ago what they could do for me - and I admitted that I was a complete rookie and wanted to use the stuff as a portfolio he said sure, and that he would also give a letter of reccomendation.



The thing is, that now I am doing more tasks, more ad hoc jobs and the likes, and I am now part of the team as an inturn. He asked me how much I am available from now on and I said between 10-20 hours a week.


The thing is, being a newbie, being an inturn will I ever be entitled to get a pay? It has never gotten up. It was made clear from the getgo that he took a chance on giving me a shot.
A previous designer before me was fired for not being "creative" enough.

I have confidence in my artistic skills, but I know no coding, have no formal education, so I feel like a chicken shit for asking to be compensated for my work.



Am I an entitled douche for thinking this??


Every time you do free work for him, you are devaluing yourself. Yes you are entitled to be paid for your work, and yes it can be a sticky situation. But at the end of the day, you need to ensure you can put food on the table.

Sounds fishy, did he pay the other designer he fired?
 
Every time you do free work for him, you are devaluing yourself. Yes you are entitled to be paid for your work, and yes it can be a sticky situation. But at the end of the day, you need to ensure you can put food on the table.

Sounds fishy, did he pay the other designer he fired?

I am not sure mate.
Thing is that I am a bit of a chicken shit and I devalued myself from the beginning. Thing is I am going to school, and he calls me up all the time. "can you get this done in an hour".



This is tough. I should have been more aware from the beginning. What if he fires me from just bringing it up? I have no other jobs, contacts or anything.
 
It's illegal for non-paid interns to work on for-profit projects.

IsX9tnGl.jpg
 

Kikarian

Member
I met a dude I know at training.


He asked me if I wanted to do a bit of graphics work for him. He is the co-owner of a company that sells CMS solutions to movie studios.


I've been helping him out 5-15 hours a week for over a month. He asked me some weeks ago what they could do for me - and I admitted that I was a complete rookie and wanted to use the stuff as a portfolio he said sure, and that he would also give a letter of reccomendation.



The thing is, that now I am doing more tasks, more ad hoc jobs and the likes, and I am now part of the team as an inturn. He asked me how much I am available from now on and I said between 10-20 hours a week.


The thing is, being a newbie, being an inturn will I ever be entitled to get a pay? It has never gotten up. It was made clear from the getgo that he took a chance on giving me a shot.
A previous designer before me was fired for not being "creative" enough.

I have confidence in my artistic skills, but I know no coding, have no formal education, so I feel like a chicken shit for asking to be compensated for my work.



Am I an entitled douche for thinking this??
Not at all. You should be being paid for your services.

You are helping his company out, thus getting him money. So you should be getting a fair share of that money.
 

MrGerbils

Member
I met a dude I know at training.


He asked me if I wanted to do a bit of graphics work for him. He is the co-owner of a company that sells CMS solutions to movie studios.


I've been helping him out 5-15 hours a week for over a month. He asked me some weeks ago what they could do for me - and I admitted that I was a complete rookie and wanted to use the stuff as a portfolio he said sure, and that he would also give a letter of reccomendation.



The thing is, that now I am doing more tasks, more ad hoc jobs and the likes, and I am now part of the team as an inturn. He asked me how much I am available from now on and I said between 10-20 hours a week.


The thing is, being a newbie, being an inturn will I ever be entitled to get a pay? It has never gotten up. It was made clear from the getgo that he took a chance on giving me a shot.
A previous designer before me was fired for not being "creative" enough.

I have confidence in my artistic skills, but I know no coding, have no formal education, so I feel like a chicken shit for asking to be compensated for my work.



Am I an entitled douche for thinking this??


CHRIST MAN, you should be getting paid for your work! This person is not your friend, they're an asshole and they are taking advantage of you.

No matter who you are or how inexperienced you may be, you deserve at least minimum wage in your country. A dude flipping burgers is getting paid infinitely more for his service than you are for your specialty skills? That's ridiculous.

If you're in any way adding to his profit, then you deserve to be compensated. Being a chickenshit would be just accepting minimum wage.. Not getting paid at all is all sorts of immoral and illegal.

If what you're doing for him was so easy, he'd have tons of people offering to do the work and obviously wouldn't have had to fire the last guy, and certainly wouldn't be calling on you for last minute fix jobs. Clearly you're doing good work. Get paid man.




Updated OP.

Great updated info. Friendly crit on the banner:

 

Futureman

Member
so if a company wants to produce a ~10 page brochure about their remodeling company, how much would a designer charge to set this all up? Assuming all the copy is written and photos are selected, they just want someone to design it and get it print ready.

My roommate is asking me to do this for the company he works for and I want some ammo when he's probably going to be like, "Yea I'll throw you $50."

I realize this would vary by region, but maybe just a ballpark. I was thinking probably $500-1000 depending on the area and complexity?
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
so if a company wants to produce a ~10 page brochure about their remodeling company, how much would a designer charge to set this all up? Assuming all the copy is written and photos are selected, they just want someone to design it and get it print ready.

My roommate is asking me to do this for the company he works for and I want some ammo when he's probably going to be like, "Yea I'll throw you $50."

I realize this would vary by region, but maybe just a ballpark. I was thinking probably $500-1000 depending on the area and complexity?
A minimum of $1000 is what I would charge. How many hours do you expect this to take?
 
CHRIST MAN, you should be getting paid for your work! This person is not your friend, they're an asshole and they are taking advantage of you.

No matter who you are or how inexperienced you may be, you deserve at least minimum wage in your country. A dude flipping burgers is getting paid infinitely more for his service than you are for your specialty skills? That's ridiculous.

If you're in any way adding to his profit, then you deserve to be compensated. Being a chickenshit would be just accepting minimum wage.. Not getting paid at all is all sorts of immoral and illegal.

If what you're doing for him was so easy, he'd have tons of people offering to do the work and obviously wouldn't have had to fire the last guy, and certainly wouldn't be calling on you for last minute fix jobs. Clearly you're doing good work. Get paid man.

Thanks for all the suggestion guys. I talked to him about it and he basically said they fired 4 people before I came in. I am the only one who is working for free. Programmer, and production assistent gets paid full time. So does my all my bosses. They have a guy in India who works for 3 euro an hour apparently...:/
So not much hope for me.


But good news is I am going to a job interview on thursday.


It's graphic designs applications are in the backseat to helping people with CMS systems. I have a very basic understanding of CMS as I have only used a few in-house ones. Do you guys have anything I can read or do to get more familiar with it? I thought about signing up for squarespace and playing around with it for a bit, but is there any generally I should read up on that would help me on the interview?
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
It's graphic designs applications are in the backseat to helping people with CMS systems. I have a very basic understanding of CMS as I have only used a few in-house ones. Do you guys have anything I can read or do to get more familiar with it? I thought about signing up for squarespace and playing around with it for a bit, but is there any generally I should read up on that would help me on the interview?
Well, I'd start with reading up on Alfresco, Drupal, Joomla! and Sharpoint, the basic stuff. If you want some books to read (short notice, I know), I can recommend the following:

Web Information Systems and Mining
ISBN 978-3-642-05249-1

On web infomation retrieval, web information extraction, web information classification, web mining, semantic web and ontologies, applications, XML and semi-structured data, web services, intelligent networked systems, information security, E-learning, E-commerce, and distributed systems.
http://www.springer.com/computer/database+management+&+information+retrieval/book/978-3-642-05249-1

Enterprise Content Management in Information Systems Research
ISBN 978-3-642-05249-1

Provides a research perspective on ECM that is oriented towards bridging the gap between ECM research and practice

Takes a holistic view of ECM research, covering the foundations and methods of ECM implementation and offering sample applications

Connects technological and managerial research on ECM, involving not only technologies, but also strategies, methods, and processes

The book consolidates our current knowledge on how today’s organizations can manage their digital information assets. The business challenges related to organizational information management include reducing search times, maintaining information quality, and complying with reporting obligations and standards. Many of these challenges are well-known in information management, but because of the vast quantities of information being generated today, they are more difficult to deal with than ever.
http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-642-39715-8

The second book is on ECM primarily but provides really good info still if you want to know about CMS. These books are quite pricy, but well worth it. Check at your local library first though to see if they are available for loan.

Good luck on the interview.
 
Rösti;103182665 said:
Good luck on the interview.

Thanks. It went well, but it turns out it would be more of a support function, and apparantly a lot less graphic designed related than I expected. Basically it's a supporter for real estate agents who call in, very agitated about problems with their sales numbers. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but the interview itself went great. Not sure if I have the stomach for getting yelled by real estate egents with god complexes.




In the mean time, I have six days to place my application for a respectable design education. They will take people without full college degree if the portfolio is impressive enough. I have tried making posters and such, but I wonder what they are really looking for.


They suggested making a new campaign for things like Tabasco, sugar free candy, a new way to promote firefighter volunteers and so on. Focusing on good ideas and visual execution. I've made this, as a "swearing" campaign for Tabasco. Feedback appreciated on what I could do better.



The base vector graphics of the devil woman is not made by me, and neither is the fire. I manipulated with them, but since these are just a showcase, they don't care about copyright in that sense.


Just wanted hear some thoughts or ideas on what I could try and show in an portfolio.
 

cbox

Member
Well for one, you really shouldn't put those two hues together. There isn't enough contrast between red and green for it to be suitable to read at any distance. If you have a red background, you should go for yellow or white. Also in regards to the fire, you may want to smooth out that transition, or perhaps add more flames so you don't see such a hard edge.
 
Well for one, you really shouldn't put those two hues together. There isn't enough contrast between red and green for it to be suitable to read at any distance. If you have a red background, you should go for yellow or white. Also in regards to the fire, you may want to smooth out that transition, or perhaps add more flames so you don't see such a hard edge.

Thanks mate, exactly the type of feedback I was looking for!
 

Axiom

Member
I've been tasked with taking over the layout for a non-commercial magazine and I'm having a bit of trouble.
I turned in the first draft and they then let me know that the example issue they gave me was a one off and that in fact the entire magazine is in black and white and I need to cut about 10 pages.
So I did, and I was happy with how it was going still, but with the second set of feedback things have taken a bit of a turn.

My main issue is that I need to squeeze a bunch of content onto pages that just aren't taking it in a coherent or consistent way, I keep getting new content and new ads. So I was wondering if anyone with more experience than myself (I've only recently graduated) had some advice for squeezing every last millimetre out of a page.

With all the compromises I'm having to make, it's just turned into an ugly baby.
 

cbox

Member
I've been tasked with taking over the layout for a non-commercial magazine and I'm having a bit of trouble.
I turned in the first draft and they then let me know that the example issue they gave me was a one off and that in fact the entire magazine is in black and white and I need to cut about 10 pages.
So I did, and I was happy with how it was going still, but with the second set of feedback things have taken a bit of a turn.

My main issue is that I need to squeeze a bunch of content onto pages that just aren't taking it in a coherent or consistent way, I keep getting new content and new ads. So I was wondering if anyone with more experience than myself (I've only recently graduated) had some advice for squeezing every last millimetre out of a page.

With all the compromises I'm having to make, it's just turned into an ugly baby.

Is it possible for you to post a small screenshot of what the page looks like? Also, you may want to give the content team a character count limit for several sections of the page so it doesn't turn into a mess.
 

Kirby102

Member
Hey guys,

Love all your work, I wish to be as awesome as you guys, but I gotta start somewhere small.

Just helping out my friend design some logos for his IT company website. http://summitcomputers.com.au
It's still pretty basic, but he wants something that's simple. Ignore the inconsistencies, that will be tended to at a later point.

He gets the final say in what they like, but they want something simple and be related to ... mountains?

I have come up with a few designs though:

YwIDW79.png

My v3 of the logo. I like this one for the simplicity, but not sure if it fits in.

4UUiKUr.png

This one, I made the logo, but the title/words is not my edit, it feels out of place, but ideally the logo looks nice? (v1 & v2)

Guide me with your wise words GAF. Also, I'm colourblind, so I do need assistance with colour coordination <3
 

Laieon

Member
Is anyone doing freelance? How do y'all come up with your pricing?

A former coworker is wanting me to create some manuals for him (he went and opened a game studio and makes his own SNES games, niche market, but whatever), with each one being 16-25 pages long. I can't decide how much I want to charge without sounding too greedy and potentially burning that bridge, but I also don't want to get taken advantage of...
 

MrGerbils

Member
Is anyone doing freelance? How do y'all come up with your pricing?

A former coworker is wanting me to create some manuals for him (he went and opened a game studio and makes his own SNES games, niche market, but whatever), with each one being 16-25 pages long. I can't decide how much I want to charge without sounding too greedy and potentially burning that bridge, but I also don't want to get taken advantage of...


Buckethead wrote this a little up the page, and it's a good method to figure out your rate:

(Hourly rate * length of time with 20% padding for administrative/figuring shit out included) * 1.25 = Project Price.

The hard part in here is figuring out what your hourly rate is and properly guessing how much time it will take you. When you're estimating the time it'll take, be sure to include the time for the inevitable revisions the client will have.

For your hourly rate, certainly don't go lower than min wage, but ideally go around the pay of your last job, no matter what it was you were doing.
 

jett

D-Member
Made this thread about an InDesign issue, copypasting, someone please help me out. :(

http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=800181&highlight=indesign

Long story short, I have to edit a file made by someone else and it's driving me insane. There are these text boxes everywhere in the file that have to be aligned with images that just won't scroll along with the rest of the text.

This is what it looks like now:

zpdmrQ3.png


So I say I want to add some text, it becomes all screwed up like this:

ffotxCC.png


Those little text boxes just stay where they are without scrolling along with their corresponding image, so to speak.

Is there an easy to make this thing behave like an unfucked word processor would behave? I know little to nothing of this program, btw. :p
 
any cheaper alternatives to the wacom cintiq?

strong emphasis on good pen accuracy, but I want to draw on the tablet itself, with decent functionality with mainstream programs like painter, photoshop, etc
 
Okay so I have this opportunity to win a PlayStation 4, I just have to make a banner I which is self promoting my PlayStation Live Channel. If someone is willing to make this for me- I'll gladly give you a brand new Dual Shock 4 in return for your efforts.

PM if anyone is interested.

(sorry mods if this is not allowed, I can delete)
 

MrGerbils

Member
I've been tasked with taking over the layout for a non-commercial magazine and I'm having a bit of trouble.
I turned in the first draft and they then let me know that the example issue they gave me was a one off and that in fact the entire magazine is in black and white and I need to cut about 10 pages.
So I did, and I was happy with how it was going still, but with the second set of feedback things have taken a bit of a turn.

My main issue is that I need to squeeze a bunch of content onto pages that just aren't taking it in a coherent or consistent way, I keep getting new content and new ads. So I was wondering if anyone with more experience than myself (I've only recently graduated) had some advice for squeezing every last millimetre out of a page.

With all the compromises I'm having to make, it's just turned into an ugly baby.

It's well within reason for a layout designer to request edits to content. Tell them what they want doesn't fit and show them why. If they value your input as a professional, they'll follow your lead. If not, it will probably just have to be ugly.

If content doesn't fit, it doesn't fit. You needa trim or add pages.

That said, seeing the layouts would be needed if you wanted actual formatting tips.
 
I didn't got into the design bachelor programme in my country. It was 60 people out of 520 people that got selected and I wasn't one of them.

I know design is what I wanna do but I want to get better. Layout, understanding typography and color. Contrasts and just yeah.. just be awesome and be able to do this for a living. That's really what makes me happy. Photoshop is just the most fun to work with! I love it. I like setting up layouts and such. I can't really draw in RL but I feel like I can still be artistic in photoshop.



One thing I keep hearing about is Swizz Style. And Rand Paul. He has several books about design. Should I take the bullet on one of them?
 
Such bullshit, don't support spec work please. If you want work worthy of a portfolio, create real world examples and register your own site.

Explain this please someone.

on designcrowd things like logos and package designs, seem really real world to me.

I can understand the downside to spec work, but its use as a practice tool seems very clear to me.



and please tell me what you mean by register your own site.
 

cbox

Member
Explain this please someone.

on designcrowd things like logos and package designs, seem really real world to me.

I can understand the downside to spec work, but its use as a practice tool seems very clear to me.



and please tell me what you mean by register your own site.

What I meant for real world examples was to say, pick a product you use every day and reimagine the brand, set up a portfolio site and show the world. I'd rather hire someone who did that, then someone who blast designed something for a client on 99designs.com

Spec work devalues hard work, experience, and the art of design. If you enjoy working for free, then by all means, compete with a bunch of other "designers". But for the rest of us, I'd rather sit down with a client and squeeze out every last bit of information before I start crafting a brand, logo or website.

It's just plain stupid to work for free with the off chance you'll be paid. Stupid.
 
What I meant for real world examples was to say, pick a product you use every day and reimagine the brand, set up a portfolio site and show the world. I'd rather hire someone who did that, then someone who blast designed something for a client on 99designs.com

Spec work devalues hard work, experience, and the art of design. If you enjoy working for free, then by all means, compete with a bunch of other "designers". But for the rest of us, I'd rather sit down with a client and squeeze out every last bit of information before I start crafting a brand, logo or website.

It's just plain stupid to work for free with the off chance you'll be paid. Stupid.

what are the benefits to registering a domain and setting up hosting?


and the design crowd work is meant to be practice, to learn the ways of the craft. and maybe come up with some things that can be modified and put apart of a portfolio.
how would it be different than to come up with imaginary products and design for a person that doesn't exist? seeing as the people on designcrowd submit feedback and have certain requests and requirements, which is the real challenge in graphic design that I have seen: meeting someone elses demands. in small time work I have seen that even if it doesn't look as good, if the client prefers it then thats what they get.
 
I do some motion graphics work and I'm getting a new job where I'll be doing exclusively that. They asked me to give them the specs I need for my desktop. I'll be using After Effects mostly. I've been kind of out of the loop about current technology for a while so I need some help with that.

Any suggestions?
 

cbox

Member
what are the benefits to registering a domain and setting up hosting?


and the design crowd work is meant to be practice, to learn the ways of the craft. and maybe come up with some things that can be modified and put apart of a portfolio.
how would it be different than to come up with imaginary products and design for a person that doesn't exist? seeing as the people on designcrowd submit feedback and have certain requests and requirements, which is the real challenge in graphic design that I have seen: meeting someone elses demands. in small time work I have seen that even if it doesn't look as good, if the client prefers it then thats what they get.

Setting up a domain for your portfolio. Every person in a creative field needs a portfolio, and setting up your own domain is the first step in creating one. That or creating a behance or other site portfolio if you aren't a web designer, for example.

And as far as spec work, imagine working at a creative agency and going into work everyday and having to compete with your coworkers to see who gets paid for their work. Unless you're a massive media agency bidding on a project with a 6 figure budget, spec work is not a sustainable way to gain experience and cash.


I do some motion graphics work and I'm getting a new job where I'll be doing exclusively that. They asked me to give them the specs I need for my desktop. I'll be using After Effects mostly. I've been kind of out of the loop about current technology for a while so I need some help with that.

Any suggestions?

Ram, ram and more ram and a good nvidia video card with cuda support and a beefy Intel processor. Head over to the gaming side PC thread and ask there, you can get more specific items.
 
And as far as spec work, imagine working at a creative agency and going into work everyday and having to compete with your coworkers to see who gets paid for their work. Unless you're a massive media agency bidding on a project with a 6 figure budget, spec work is not a sustainable way to gain experience and cash.

But she isnt trying to become apart of a design firm. are other positions in graphic design just not worth it?
 

Futureman

Member
anyone in here use a Cintiq 13HD? I think I'm going to spring for one.

I'd be interested in hearing impressions from someone who previously used an Intuos.
 
After I'm done with general studies in community college I'm going to study graphic design elsewhere. What should I expect? How much luck do you guys have getting jobs?
 

cbox

Member
But she isnt trying to become apart of a design firm. are other positions in graphic design just not worth it?

Graphic design positions are great, when you are paid and are the only one doing the work. Spec work is not the answer to getting experience, and I always advise against it.
 

Neo Child

Banned
Blargh, been trying to work on stuff for my portfolio so hopefully I'll be able to get into University next year.

Have decided to make a few retro-inspired posters for old computer games I used to play, heres the two I have been working on.


Happy enough with the commander keen one, im trying to work on light and shadows on the gun on the jazz jackrabbit one but im just no good. bahh. the shadow/reflected gun thing is just a test but i dont think ill keep it in.

Crit very much welcome, design GAF has always helped me out before.
 
How does one build a comprehensive portfolio for a potential employer, when they haven't done a lot of contract in the past?

Do work for family and friends and treat it/them like an actual client in regards to overall polish and approach. (As in don't give them a logo you made in 3 minutes while reading GAF. Go the entire mile, speak with them to learn what they want, submit sketches or whatever your prelim process is, refinement, final product).
 
I'm thinking about getting into graphics design. I went to college for web design but i realized i am more interested in graphic design.I already got the degree for web design. My question is if i should go back to college for a more specific degree in graphic design or will my current degree be good? And should i just work on my own or search for internships?
 
I'm thinking about getting into graphics design. I went to college for web design but i realized i am more interested in graphic design.I already got the degree for web design. My question is if i should go back to college for a more specific degree in graphic design or will my current degree be good? And should i just work on my own or search for internships?

You can teach yourself to be a "graphic designer" it really depends on how much you really want to be a designer and how much criticism you can take. As for work, most internships are going to ask you for a portfolio. So I suggesting beefing one up by doing work for family/friends and doing personal projects (a thorough well thought out personal project goes a long way). Graphic design is a wide field and there are many things to specialize in, you really gotta figure out what it is within the field you want to learn more about; I would throw web design under GD (since it was part of my curriculum for my Graphic Design degree).
 
You can teach yourself to be a "graphic designer" it really depends on how much you really want to be a designer and how much criticism you can take. As for work, most internships are going to ask you for a portfolio. So I suggesting beefing one up by doing work for family/friends and doing personal projects (a thorough well thought out personal project goes a long way). Graphic design is a wide field and there are many things to specialize in, you really gotta figure out what it is within the field you want to learn more about; I would throw web design under GD (since it was part of my curriculum for my Graphic Design degree).

For the portfolio should i create one from scratch with coding or can i use portfolio sites that are out there for free? In terms of specialization, i am interested in making logos,business cards,magazines,posters,etc. Also will that be project based for clients or can i find a stable job in it?
 
For the portfolio should i create one from scratch with coding or can i use portfolio sites that are out there for free? In terms of specialization, i am interested in making logos,business cards,magazines,posters,etc. Also will that be project based for clients or can i find a stable job in it?

What you use is completely up to you. Just stay away from anything deviantart related.

I don't quite understand your last question.
 

MrGerbils

Member
I'm thinking about getting into graphics design. I went to college for web design but i realized i am more interested in graphic design.I already got the degree for web design. My question is if i should go back to college for a more specific degree in graphic design or will my current degree be good? And should i just work on my own or search for internships?

Web design is a specific focus of graphic design. You'll need to be more clear with what you studied, and what you're hoping to do instead.

A post of your portfolio, the schools you're considering, places you'd like to work... might be a good start to have us better understand what you're looking for.
 
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