More interviews...

young and established designers talk about their favorite things and how they start their creative process

http://www.designboom.com/interviews.html

Stefan Sagmeister useful hints for young designers

http:/www.sagmeister.com/students.html

Interview Questions

What are the biggest challenges in starting or running a Graphic Design (GD) business?

Is running a GD business very much different than any other business?

How do you keep new clients coming in versus keeping regular clients?

What is the purpose of graphic design? To sell socks or change perceptions?

How do you set your company appart from other similar GD companies?

What should be avoided when starting or running a GD business?

Is being in GD now different than when you started? How?

What time do you go to sleep? (usually)

How did you fund your startup?

How has the current economic downturn effected your business?

Artist Series

Short videos about Graphic Designers.

http://www.hillmancurtis.com/index.php?

DADO's QR Code!

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users.

QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about any object that users might need information about.

Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone's browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL!

Amazing, right?

Design Salaries: 2000-2008

Median Total Cash Compensation:

http://www.designsalaries.org/calculator.asp

Successful Secrets of the Graphic Design Superstars: Michael Bierut

Success Secrets from Michael Bierut:
- Clients are most afraid that you’re going to go off and design something without really listening first.
- Just keep asking questions: the more you ask, the more you’ll understand what the client is looking for in a designer.
- Life’s too short to spend your time talking on the phone with people who make your knuckles white during the course of the conversation.

Successful Secrets of the Graphic Design Superstars: Hillman Curtis

Hillman’s thoughts on going into business:

When I was at Macromedia, I learned a lot. It was really my first real job. And it was exciting. After six or seven months, I met Neville Brody, who came in to redesign the brand and identity of the company. Neville had this confidence and a sense of purpose. You immediately sensed that design was serious and that your work, the choices you made, had to be justified. He showed me that design was not to be taken lightly, and that if your were going to do you needed to do it without compromise.

What I experienced working briefly with Neville made me think about next steps. I’d been at Macromedia three years at this point…and I felt that I’d done what I could do there.

At the same time, my wife and I decided we wanted to live in a world city. San Francisco is a beautiful city, but small, slow with a provincial mind set. So we moved from san Francisco to New York city. I stayed at Macromedia, working long distance for a few months, but that clearly wasn’t going to work so I decided I’d give my own business a go. I sold what little stock I had in Macromedia and used it to fund the start of my company.

Sometimes I question my need to keep my company very, very small. I’ve certainly had opportunities to grow bigger. And I suppose, I probably could have managed the business better and not had as much worry or stress. But I like the way a small company works and I still love the hands on designing, directing and editing. I’ve never been a natural manager.

The whole interview is very interesting, keep reading:
http://willsherwood.com/
http://www.hillmancurtis.com

Coming Up With a Successful Business Strategy

Now that we have decided to open our own graphic design firm, there are several things we will need to do.
We will need to complete the appropriate paperwork with the state in which we want to conduct business, which will include registering the name of the graphic design business and incorporating it, in this case, we will register our business in New York City. We will then need to establish a tax identification number and establish the appropriate accounts. Once we have completed the legal aspect of things, we will be able to come up with a personality for our company. As graphic design professionals, we will have the good fortune of being able to design our own logo and collateral material.

Setting up our own graphic design business will be challenging. However, experience in the industry, combined with business experience, will help us to develop strategies for generating business and establishing a solid reputation.

“If you have plans of starting your own business, you should definitely consider of coming up with a successful business strategy. You may gather as much information as possible from your friends or other people you may know who have their own successful businesses.

It is important to be able to come up with a concrete business plan from how you plan to make your business work, how to manage it properly, how to generate income, what you can do to ensure its success and everything else.

A successful business strategy should also be focused on your company's main objective as well as what you intend to achieve both in the short and long term period. It should also reflect who is in charge of what and who the main point person is when it comes to pertinent things that could make your business as a success.

You should also create a strategy that spells out competitiveness. This way, you can be assured of effective ways on how to make your business actually work to your benefit.” Guzman, 2008

The First Steps

So, Hyangmi was nice enough to keep a report of what we did on February 17, so here is a recap:

Team name: DADO NYC
Discussion:
- Our strengths as individuals
- Roles/Responsibilities of each team member

Tasks for the week:
Every member:
- Find 2 people to interview
(at least 5 people in total)
- Prepare 5 good questions
(10 best questions to be chosen)
- Calculate our own freelance rate
Daniela:
- Services and Hiring (accountant, office manager, book keeper, IT personnel, etc.)
- Project Status Report
Alenka:
- Research location for the company
- Estimated cost for opening party
Douglass:
- Create a blog for DADO NYC
- Analyzing the cost for equipments
Hyangmi:
- Bank Research (to open a new business)