In my last post about Using LinkedIn to Get Design Jobs I introduced the idea of “Client Types” and that a designer’s natural aesthetic helps determine their ideal client, or the type most likely to hire them.

I thought I’d pursue this idea further and invite you, the NoD readers, to submit your portfolio for review. I’ll pass your portfolio by a selected group of NoD authors and they will provide feedback and recommend what industries might include your most ideal clients to target for jobs, and why. I’ll publish it all here on NoD.

So please email me [ scott (at) notesondesign.net ] a link to your portfolio and we’ll share our opinion on your ideal clients. We’ll do this first come first served since I can’t predict volume of submissions. Thanks!

UPDATE TO THIS POST: DUE TO HEAVY RESPONSE WE ARE NO LONGER TAKING PORTFOLIO SUBMISSIONS. WE’LL POST RESULTS ASAP.

What is your design aesthetic? It’s hard to be objective, but important to know. It helps determine who you are likely to land as a client. And who you are likely to land as a client are your “Client Types.”

So with your aesthetic in mind, what are your “Client Types”, and do you know any / have connections to any of them? To connect with your Client Types use your network — or start building one — and find them.

Join LinkedIn Groups comprised of those types of clients and do the soft-sell. Position yourself as a specialist. Suggest that you are doing contextual research Read the rest of this entry »

As a follow to an earlier post on Coroflot’s Design Salary Survey here is a design salary calculator published by AIGA this year. It only covers the US but is comprehensive in terms of covering fields of design as well as organization size and sector.

I will now open a can of worms.

Having run a design agency in the past I’ve been guilty of doing work on spec, or work that you do in hopes that a formal — and paying — agreement will come about. There is not only the risk that your work will be used even if you have not been paid, spec work is also usually disrespectful of your time. Often the “client” in these situations undervalues design work and, therefore, does not understand or appreciate the amount of time involved with doing quality work. Therefore, even if they don’t use your work without paying you, work on spec increases the likelihood that Read the rest of this entry »

NoD is proud to be a media partner of the 2009 Icograda World Design Congress to be held in Beijing at the beautiful Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA).

From 24-30 October 2009, some 100 speakers and thousands of delegates from around the globe will gather in a cross-disciplinary Congress, Read the rest of this entry »

Jeff Hamada is a self-described small Japanese artist working out of Vancouver, BC. He was recently selected as one of 100 artists to collaborate with Converse and Product(RED) to celebrate Converse’s 100th year anniversary.

He currently freelances as a graphic designer, and runs the hugely popular art / design site Booooooom.com. I asked Jeff a few questions about his design work, both personal and professional. How does one guy manage a hugely populate design site yet also complete very high-profile and beautiful design projects. Maybe this answers the question —

“Even if I don’t know how to do something I’ll tell people that I’m the person to get the job done because I’m just willing to spend all night learning how to do it.” — Jeff Hamada Read the rest of this entry »

They have been doing it since 2001, and Coroflot’s Design Salary Surveys continue to illustrate why design is actually a pretty practical career choice, regardless of what Mom and Dad said. Despite our recession — or the euphemistic “super recession” I’ve read it labeled as of late (That’s just a Depression, no?) — design salaries are growing, as are job opportunities. By the way, I want to know who the Interaction Designer is that is making a cool $Million. Check all of the design salary surveys here.

If you like street art then the Wooster Collective is so deep in examples of outsider art that you are sure to find work that will make you want to go on a stickering or stenciling mission in your home town. I’ve been a fan ever since I found an original Adam Neate painting on the street in SOHO way back in 2002, and had no idea it was by Adam Neate (nor who Adam was) until Marc Schiller of the Wooster Collective agreed to have a look. Then I interviewed Marc, and interviewed Adam, and have not stopped looking at the Wooster Collective website since.

Adam Neate, self-portrait

Q: When I presented Marc Schiller of the Wooster Collective with your painting he immediately knew that it was your work. After visiting your Web site it became clear you’re a prolific and talented artist. What motivates you to create art and, even more intriguing, give it away by placing it on the street for people like me lucky enough to happen by?

Adam: I paint purely for the love and enjoyment I get from the feeling of creating something, be it a doodle on a piece of cardboard or a 6ft wall. After the process of creating something I lose interest in the final end product. I no longer want to see it. The egotist thrives on completing an acceptable painting. He will stand for hours looking at his own achievment. The egotist will call himself an “artist”… I just paint on stuff. The walls of my home are bare. For me art is not for hanging, but more for experiencing oneself. Read the rest of this entry »

Allow me to be the last to tell you that these videos produced by Cool Hunting are addictive and short jolts of creative inspiration that will keep you coming back. I subscribe through iTunes so they are fed to my iPhone and when the need arises, the next thing you know I’m watching a new interview with Alberto Allessi or this feature on Philip Johnson’s Glass House. All the videos are listed here.