Zara Arshad is a British designer currently based in Beijing, China. Having also lived in the UK, Syria and Indonesia, she continually promotes internationalism as well as the potential of design to solve social, economic and political issues. Previous experience includes working with the British Council, and Don’t Panic and Icon magazines; she is also a persistent volunteer for Architecture for Humanity, which she represented at 100% Design, London. As well as practicing as a freelance, multi-disciplinary designer, Zara is now working as Greening and Environmental Support Officer for the British Embassy in Beijing. Zara is joining the Notes on Design team this month, to bring us design news from China, so we caught up with her journey to date to welcome her to the team!

Notes on Design: Where are you originally from?

Zara: Good question! My family are originally from Pakistan, but I was born and raised in London. Over the years though, I’ve also been fortunate enough to live in Jakarta, Damascus, and Beijing where I am currently living.

Notes on Design: How and why did you choose a career in Graphic Design?

Zara: This was actually an accident. I’ve always been creative; from a young age, I was constantly producing drawings. My family are fairly traditional and were not very keen for me to engage in a creative career, however, when it came to picking potential courses for university (I was schooling in Indonesia at the time), the only thing that I could think of that I really wanted to do was Design. This was set to be a basis for a career in Advertising – well, that was the plan then!
 I accepted a position on the BA (Hons) Design course at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Coming from a strong academic background, with a limited knowledge of design, the first year was quite a struggle. I had to do quite a lot of catch-up reading on things that everyone else already appeared to know from undertaking specialised design and/or foundation courses, and every project was a new learning experience.

This struggle, however, also helped me to find focus quickly. I soon realized that Advertising was not the right choice for me Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve written about using LinkedIn to find design jobs here and here, but I’ve yet to suggest ways to use Twitter or Facebook as part of a design career search.

Needless to say, it is an obligation today that during the application process for a new job you take a moment to see if the company offering a position to which you might apply maintains a Facebook page or Twitter account. If so, Fan and Follow them, read some of their social media content, and then tailor your application / cover letter based upon the insights you have gained by doing this little bit of homework on the company. I know all seems obvious, but it is still worth illustrating because each experience using social media for this purpose is different.

For example, I’ll go look at Coroflot’s Twitter feed right now and check the most recent job announcement to see if this whole application process using social media works… Read the rest of this entry »

As a follow to my post on Using LinkedIn to Find Design Jobs, here is a slightly different technique to go after the design business that you want.

If you decide that your ideal client type is a travel-oriented company because your aesthetic is a match or because you already have some experience in that space, then search for travel companies within LinkedIn. You search companies using the search feature in the upper right-hand corner of the page, pulling down the menu to change the search from “people” to “companies.” I just did a search for “travel” and got 4772 results. Now you have an idea of the volume of possible new client contacts on LinkedIn, but that’s a global and really broad search so let’s narrow it using better search techniques.

Follow this link:
http://www.linkedin.com/companies

The page at the link above also lets you browse by industries. Here I have started browsing “Philanthropies”:
http://www.linkedin.com/companyDir?results=&sik=1251911248496

…where I can then focus the results by country, zip, company size and even if they are hiring by using the search features on the right of the page. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

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.

Note: This is part 5 in an 8 part series by design instructor and NoD author Dave Holston. To view Dave’s previous entries please click here.

Strategy guru Michael Porter states that the underlying idea behind strategy is alignment, that is, getting employees to make good choices based on a common value proposition. The reinforcement of the proposition is critical, and must be expressed through every aspect of the organizations culture, in particular the design of its communications, products and services.

For designers, the client’s business strategy is an essential ingredient in making design decisions. Through business research designers answer the question, “how do we articulate the client’s strategy through design?” Design’s role in supporting strategy takes on many forms, including bringing efficiencies to the design process and Read the rest of this entry »

Sheri L Koetting speaks at Spark Boot Camp Event on issues relevant to small design studios

Spark — an Organization Offering a Support System for Independent Designers

In the spring of 2003, a handful of independent graphic designers got together for drinks to discuss our businesses. All of us had one thing in common; we were either working completely alone or aided by a small number of support staff, creating design solutions for clients. Not only did we crave the professional insight from other designers, but we also faced the new challenges of running a business. The responsibilities of an entrepreneur were far greater than the tools and skills we had previously learned as designers.

Six years later, the specific, yet important, needs of small design firms we defined in those first meetings led to the establishment and growth of a niche organization, Spark. Read the rest of this entry »

Note: This is part 4 in an 8 part series by design instructor and NoD author Dave Holston. To view Dave’s previous entries please click here.

The proverbial “seat at the table” has always been a coveted spot for designers. The price of an invitation is the ability to show accountability in design decision-making and a return on design investment. Design research is the foundation of these two areas. Without it, design decisions cannot be made, and success cannot be measured. However for most designers, research takes a back seat to the familiar and comfortable creative side of the design process.

The goal of a designer’s work is to influence a target audience’s thinking, and ultimately their behavior. We know that the craft of design has great power in determining the success or failure of these outcomes. Consider how the nuances of typography can change peoples understanding of words, or how a powerful image can touch people in meaningful ways. Yet there is little rigor for design decision-making. Most decisions are made on the designer/client level, often based on intuition, past experiences and assumptions.
Read the rest of this entry »

Inspired by fellow contributor Chris Costello’s post Paying Your Dues

My career also started humbly and I still think about those experiences every time I interview a young designer. I went to Phoenix for interviews near the end of my senior year. I had researched the top firms I hoped to meet and had sent them all hand-made promo pieces, well-written letters and a great resumé. To my surprise, I got interviews at all but two of my top 15 choices. Not too bad for a guy who didn’t go to a school exactly known for design – nope, not bad at all…or so I thought. Read the rest of this entry »