I have been asked this question on several occasions: “Where is the best place to work: at an ad agency or an in-house design department?” So, I though it might be helpful to give a breakdown of what are generally considered benefits and drawbacks of both. For the sake of a broad comparison, I include design studios along with “Agency” because they have many similarities. (more…)

HOW magazine’s In-HOWse Design Awards issue arrived last month and I was excited to see what’s been happening in other corporate design departments. The award competitions initiated by publications such as HOW and GDUSA that specifically showcase in-house work are evidence that there is a growing interest in what this segment of the design community is creating. These awards honor some great design talent that has been traditionally overlooked and even dismissed. They also address the challenges in-house designers face, some of which I would like to examine further.

As a creative director for a national real estate company, I have a responsibility to uphold corporate design standards and consistent branding messaging for consumers throughout the New England region. The national headquarters and its ad agency dictate our brand’s image, but we still have a little room to customize pieces for our regional markets. To some degree, I need to “police” printed materials created by marketing coordinators in several local offices to make sure they conform to the brand…not an easy task. But, just the idea having to conform illustrates my challenge. How do I keep my design staff inspired when we need to primarily stay “in the box”? How do I personally stay in the game?

I keep reminding my staff and myself that we only have one client and the very nature of our job is to support that client and its associates (the company that pays our salary). We have some creative flexibility with a few choice projects like corporate event invitations, logo designs and new development brochures, but our primary responsibilities are to pump out large volumes of pre-designed or template-based marketing materials. Hey, at least we get to design the templates! When we do get a custom design assignment, we usually provide three comps for client approval. I’ll say to the designers “let’s give them two ideas that stick with the formula and one that is just ‘out there’…whatever you want to do”. I try to inspire them to create something crazy that will at least get the client’s attention and maybe help them consider choosing a design that takes some chances. This allows the designers to stretch a little and also helps the client see that the company’s own design staff is capable of much more than just average work. It seems that our best designs are the ones that never get approved, but on several occasions we are able to persuade the client to take a risk and a really cool design actually gets printed. That’s enough to keep us all going.

Another challenge is to convince our “non-designer” colleagues that the department is not just an “arts and crafts” shop where all the fun people hang out. Our design staff was recognized three years in a row by winning in several categories of the GDUSA American Inhouse Awards. These accomplishments did not go unnoticed by our top management, who honored us with national press releases and local recognition. I am very thankful that these types of competitions are growing in popularity because they give in-house designers a chance to compete in their own arena. (more…)

If you’ve been paying attention to the current US presidential campaigns, you’ve probably aware that “47 million Americans are living without health insurance.” If you’re a freelance designer, you may very well be one of those people.

I know lots of freelancers who take their chances and go without health insurance. One of them now owes $30,000 in hospital bills due to some unexpected surgery. Now in all likelihood, that won’t happen to you, but perhaps you’re feeling some pain in your wrist, or maybe you’re just don’t want to get too close to that friend with strep throat.

Many freelance designers forgo health insurance because most individual plans are incredibly expensive. It’s a valid decision, especially if you’ve been waiting months for a client to pay for that big logo job.

Still, you may be surprised at how many health insurance options, including discount plans, are available to the self-employed. If you’re thinking about getting some coverage, these are the places where you’ll find the best deals.

Your local chamber of commerce. If you provide design services to local businesses, you should already be a member of the chamber of commerce. It’s a great networking opportunity, and members of most chambers are eligible for group health insurance that comes at steep discounts.

Professional groups. If you belong to any professional associations for small business owners, designers, or freelancers, you should ask about group health insurance. Many of these organizations have direct access to discounted plans or partnerships with other entities that do. For example, the Graphic Artists Guild offers group rates in 28 states.

Your accountant. If your accountant works mostly with freelancers, he or she may have some recommendations. (more…)

“Another recession could be just around the corner, but at least for now, malls and restaurants are full again, traffic is terrible and everything is back to normal.”

That’s what I wrote back in August, 2007. Since then, time-bomb mortgages have been blowing up all over the country, foreclosures have become a national crisis, major U.S. financial institutions are recoiling from billions of dollars in losses and just last week stock markets around the entire world plummeted. What a difference six months can make.

Now there is talk of a recession, jobs are being lost and Uncle Sam wants to give everybody more money, so we can spend ourselves out of the abyss once again. What is the current outlook? What does it mean for designers? Are we going to lose our jobs? Well, if the past is any guide, maybe there is still some good news out there, either way.

I have been a graphic designer and illustrator since 1979 and have worked through three recessions during that time. What I have noticed is that if you manage to keep your job, you are kept quite busy doing your own work and the work of your buddies that were just laid off. At one job, I was told to “keep my head low and look busy.” But if you do get laid-off, and can’t find full-time work, I think you will find that there are greater opportunities to find design work as a freelancer during tough times.

I was always a risk taker and toward the end of the 1980-83 recession, I actually quit my agency job to start freelancing. My business immediately boomed. There was so much work in South Florida at the time that I thought everyone should just quit their jobs. (I was young…irrational exuberance.) (more…)

So the end of year is here. Hopefully, you had a great year, or you were at least able to get what I call another sandbox pass. That means you made enough to stay in business and play in the sandbox another day. What to do now? I recommend taking a few minutes to reflect and clean off your sand toys before digging into another year.

In 2003, the bottom fell out for us. We lost a bunch of work due to budget cuts. So when 2004 started, I was concerned about what the future held. I wanted to make a change, or at least, do all I could to rally the troops and get them to enjoy the year as much as possible. Based on the advice of a couple trusted friends, I did a few things that literally changed the way I now do business. I recommend incorporating the following ideas into your plan for the new year:

Take a full day (and a couple nights) to reflect on the year, look at your books, and think about your employees, office, and clients. Even if the company is just you, take the time.

- Make a Keynote presentation of the projects you are most proud of, and show it to the team. Talk about each project for a few minutes, reminisce about clients, tell funny stories, and share some things you learned. Also, make sure to choose at least one project per designer or team member to complement.

- Talk constructively about the mistakes you made, what you learned from them, and how to ensure they won’t happen again. Present new systems and/or checks and balances.

- Give each team member a chance to talk about their favorite moments. In fact, this year I distributed a pre-meeting questionnaire and asked everyone to write down their favorite moments, things they (more…)

I received HOW’s Business Annual a few days ago. It’s loaded with great material, including the results of a poll that asks, “…do you hope to start a business someday?” The poll made me think about starting my own business again (my wife always cringes when I mention this), but I think I have a good argument for both starting a design business and staying put at your current job. It really comes down to where you are in life and how you balance risks vs. rewards.

I am a completely different person now than I was when I started my own business almost twenty years ago. Back then, I was single and simply couldn’t stomach a nine to five job, especially a corporate one. I spent several years working in ad agencies and design shops, but I never lingered longer than 3 years. I was passionate about working for myself and labored full-time only to gain experience and contacts. When I finally decided to leave my agency job and set out on my own, I was taking a great risk. I had no clients, only a few contacts, and was borrowing money to get started. However, I simply had to do it because I was not happy working a nine to five job.

I would not recommend this approach to others, but it worked well for me. My first client was a large New England bank, and I paid off my loan in three months. I then acquired a few book publishing accounts and actually turned a profit in my first year. The rewards far outweighed the risks at that time in my life. (more…)

I’ll pick up where the Queen of Soul left off. What is it going to take for those of us in the design field to get some? From clients who think they are designers. From marketing directors who believe brown doesn’t sell. From employers who think we do nothing but arts and crafts all day. I think I’ve seen it all, yet I’m still in this business. What am I, a glutton for punishment? No, I think I’ve just learned how to get what little respect I need to keep me going.

I was once hired as a Designer by a small book publisher. My predecessor was an administrative employee, who occasionally did some design work on an old Mac Quadra system. Her setup included a 15” Radius monitor. Does anyone remember those? They swiveled from portrait to landscape view. Beautiful. Anyway, the equipment was pathetic. I needed more, but my employers did not understand why. “It worked for her,” they said.

During my first week on the job, I had to schedule a meeting with my new boss and the finance department so that I might make my case for the purchasing of a new design workstation. It was a Christian book publisher, so I decided to compare my plight to that of the Israelite slaves, who while constructing the ancient Egyptian cities, suffered greatly at the hands of the oppressive pharoahs. Much like the slaves, I too was being told to make “bricks without straw”. (more…)

In 2006, 450 Radio Shack employees opened their email one day and found a message that stated: “The workforce reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.”

Looking at this ill-advised approach from the outside, it’s easy to see that email was a poor communication method for the circumstances. From within our own client universes, though, it’s sometimes a bit more difficult to determine when email could be a similar liability. Consider these research tidbits:

• In one study, (more…)

Several years ago, we hired a pet-sitting company to give our dogs a walk on occasional days when our work schedules meant too long a stretch for canine comfort. At first, things seemed to go well enough. But after a few weeks, the company failed to show up on several agreed-upon days and our poor dogs bore the brunt of the no-show.

Initially, I thought it was a scheduling snafu or a miscommunication. I tried to be more clear, and requested call-backs to confirm. It didn’t work. When I called one of the owners directly to address my concerns, her response hit me right between the eyes: “You’ve got no right to question us when you never even pay your bill on time!” she said angrily. (more…)

Imagine that it’s a Saturday night and you’re headed to the movies with friends. There’s a new blockbuster movie and people whose taste you trust have told you it’s a must-see. Picture yourself buying your ticket and joking around with friends while standing in the concession line. Imagine the taste of the popcorn as you share a bucket with the friends sitting next to you. Imagine the trailers for upcoming flicks.

Now the blockbuster you’ve come to see begins. Let’s say, for the sake of our imagination, that it’s The Simpsons Movie.

Do you stand up and shout to the audience, “This is ridiculous! You’ve wasted your time and money! The Simpsons don’t really exist! It’s not believable! I beg you to stop listening to this!”

Of course you don’t. Hopefully. If you do, I don’t imagine your friends invite you to the movies very often. (more…)