Business of Design Thread (Saga)

There was a great forum purge back at the end of '06 and all the ancient threads were buried in a time capsule slated to be reopened 1,000 years from now. 99.999999999% of those threads were useless and outdated, and provided additional clutter to an already taxed forum search. They will not be missed so much.

However, there was that one thread "The BUSINESS of Design" that started 3 years ago to the day (yesterday) that was missed. So while a special team of investigators attempts to dig up the time capsule ahead of schedule, I captured what I think is "most" of the content (thanks to the wayback machine):

The BUSINESS of Design Archive (1MB PDF)

Enjoy.

Includes bonus forometer indicators!!

you are my hero

Awesome! Thanks for posting that. I read all 72 pages.

Can we continue posting on this thread, as if it was still going?

Sure. The excavation team warned me that even if the thread could be revived it risks being nuked in a future purge. Most threads have a relatively short shelf life, and at the rate we create them here we quickly have more than we know what to do with.

Anyone want to distill out the best content from that old thread and transform it into an article?

Thank you, Rob, for your dedication! You rock! I know that many, many people (judging by the amount of sitemail and email I still receive about it) will be excited to have the information at their fingertips once again.

Rob, I had thought about condensing it all into an article, but I frankly don't have the time as my design business is hard enough to keep up with!

Post away people!!

Oh, the forometer...that's hilarious!


Nice work finding and posting the thread!

Thank you so much!!

wooooooooooo hoooooooooooooooooo huge thanks superrock&rollrob aka mr sylvan

Nice I'm gonna print that out and see what good info I can soak up =) I work my printer like a beast, I always have a pile of articles next to my desk!

nice

Thank you!! 

im interested as well for some reason - i have downloaded it and will read it later

Agree with all of the above...great read, that old thread.


With that fresh on my mind, I'll do my part to try and get this thread kicked off...


I've been working for myself for the past year.  I have 10 years of design experience from employment with a newspaper for 5 years, and then a local marketing agency for 5 years as well.


My biggest surprise in going into business for myself has been the request for web design.  I'm a graphic designer first, and a self-taught web designer second.  However, I've been learning more & more this past year just to meet the growing needs of my clients.


I was curious how many other folks find themselves in that same situation...approaching web design from a Graphic Designers standpoint?  I know that my skill level in web design is lacking, but what I offer is essentially "collateral material online".  I keep away from databases, sites that require security/login info, and online stores.


Am I unique in this aspect, or do other designers find themselves in my same shoes?


 


-Zim

I'm in exactly the same boat...or is it a sinking ship considering a "web designer" is expected to know more and more?


I've done one online store and I maintain a website that has a database. The online store was done through Yahoo Small Business, so the backend was taken care of that way and I did not set up the database for the other site, and don't even have the first idea how that was done. I muddle my way through most of the updates.


So, like you, my websites are basically online brochures for my customers. It's a bit frustrating, though, because I would like to offer MORE, but learning the stuff myself is just to daunting a task. I'd love to partner up with a good coder, but I feel like I don't do enough of those kinds of websites right now to interest someone else. I couldn't offer them a steady stream of work.

Some of us are talking about that over here...


What is the best way to learn web design?

Wow! I remember reading parts of it and learned a lot from it, but over the time I started to go back with my old habit, thanks for bringing it back. It's time to refresh my mind and my cave back to normal.

I read a bit of it, great post!


I need to get more organized myself. My business is getting bigger and I have more clients now, so organization is key.


As far as web design, I hear ya Zim. I am a graphic designer first. Then a photographer, then a web designer, and then a marketing specialist. I try to be skilled in all areas, but it is hard to be great at everything. I hate how employers and clients expect us to be adept at everything under the sun! A web designer and a web developer are two completey different things! I recently partnered up with my high school best friend for more complex web jobs. He is the coder, I am the art director and designer along with some basic web duties. I did build my own site, but had a little jump start help from him.

CS Grafix

Skraw

(Edited on 2009-10-05 09:18:33 by skraw)

I chose not to continue my education in web design but focus on print, however, over the years, the demand for "being all things" has increased skills from just design, to print (actual press), signs, bulk mailings and small business marketing consulting. I could make a million dollars if I were a web designer just from demand and that demand is growing every day.


I hired someone years ago to do my coding work - I designed - he made it happen and I thought I had it all! However, he soon learned that he could make more freelancing and double-backed by charging me four or five times the amount for the same work. I began to use other freelancers who would fit my budget, and on the first job they were killer, however the second job never seemed to get done and no one understood the word "deadline".


Even asked my IT guys for referrals and no one wanted to refer anyone for the same problems I had already had. So here I am learning as much as I can every day - from templates or anyone who will show me. (never did have a high reading comprehension level).


So I will take all of your advice - as well, because now is the time to learn.


 

Good to know I'm not the only one facing these challenges.


I've recently begun working with JOOMLA, and have nothing but great things to say about it. It's a terrific way for me to offer my clients much more out of their site, while at the same time, expanding my knowledge in many different areas. The largest hurdle with JOOMLA is learning to build a page with CSS, but I'm actually enjoying learning it.


I was recently hired to build a non-profit organization's website, which contained quite a bit of data that would benefit greatly from a database, secure areas of the site, etc. We had to scale back a bit on what they wanted, as I couldn't offer all these features.


In the process of building this site however, I discovered JOOMLA,and realized it would be perfect for this organization...but I didn't know how to use it. So what I did was offered to complete their current site, per our original agreement, and then to re-build the same site in JOOMLA, at no additional cost. Since they are non-profit, I can write off some of their work, and in return, I'm using their information to learn how to effectively use JOOMLA, and implement it for a client. We both win this way.


I'd recommend JOOMLA to anyone, but be warned that unless you want to use pre-made templates, you do need to be ready to learn some coding skills. I know many will find no joy in that, but you might be surprised!

(Edited on 2009-09-10 13:04:32 by ZimCreative)