21 Oct Ask a Pro! YOUR Q&A with a Graphic Designer and an Illustrator Webinar and Resource List
In this 2+ hour webinar, illustrator Ed Shems and design director Rebecca Blake answered questions from students the real-world side of being a creative professional. The archived webinar is for anyone to watch.
Ed and Rebecca collected a list of resources both mentioned during the webinar, and culled afterwards in response to the students’ questions.
About the Presenters:
Rebecca is Design Director at Optimum Design & Consulting, a full service design firm in NYC, and as a Guild board member, has conducted numerous webinars and seminars on pricing and estimating. She also heads a workgroup with ico-D, the International Council of Design.
Ed (edfredned.com) is a RISD graduate with 25 years’ experience in digital illustration for children’s books, chapter books, magazines, and other projects too numerous to write about in one small paragraph. Ed is the co-founder of Creative Relay and is the special guest coordinator for MICE (the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo).
Resource List for Illustrators & Designers
Copyright Basics:
- An Intro to Copyright Law: by attorney Paul C. Rapp
- Complete copyright FAQs: A comprehensive list of copyright FAQs on the Copyright Office website
Registering Your Copyrights:
- Registering your copyrights FAQs: on the Copyright Office website
- Online tutorial for a standard copyright registration: Copyright Office tutorial for the eCO online copyright registration system
- Online tutorial for a single application copyright registration: Copyright Office tutorial for the eCO online copyright registration system
- Online tutorial on uploading electronic copies of your work for copyright registration: Copyright Office tutorial for the eCO onine copyright registrations system (be sure your work qualifies for an electronic upload!)
Working with Copyrights:
- To Sell or to Rent: The Difference Between Copyright License and Transfer: Jean S. Perwin’s article on the difference between selling the rights to your work and licensng them
- Logo Design Copyright: How Do I Copyright A Logo Design And Transfer Ownership: thelogosmith covers how to copyright a logo and transfer the rights to your client
- Who Owns the Rights to your Design Work: Sheila Patterson of Apex Creative addresses whether clients can claim ownership of your original files
- Avoiding Copyright Infringement: When an Artist has Infringed: How to avoid infringing the copyright of other creators
- Filing a DMCA notice: A DMCA takedown notice – Digital Millenium Copyright Act –is a notification to a company, usually a web host or a search engine, that they are either hosting or linking to copyright-infringing material. It provides them notice to remove the copyrighted works.)
- CMI and the DMCA: attorney Leslie Burns on why you should use a © notice on your online images
- Your © Notice is More than CMI: Leslie Burns expands on the importance of the © notice
Startup Resources:
- Starting your Own Communication Design Business: Free downloadable white paper on setting up your creative business, by Lara Kisielewska.
- Start-Run-Grow Your Design Business: Archived 3-part webinar series (free for Guild members). Lara Kisielewska expanded her popular course and white paper into a 3-part webinar series. Each section is 1-hour long, with a Q&A section.
- Shopify Business Encyclopedia
- Small Business Starter Kit::
Domain name registration:
- Shopify’s Business and Domain Name Generator: Enter in your desired business name, find out if other businesses are using it, and see available domain names.
- hover
- GoDaddy
Portfolio Websites:
Other ways to get noticed and make money (register your copyrights before uploading your designs and illustrations!):
Licensing Your Art
All Art Licensing offers mini courses, coaching, and consulting, and a great blog on licensing. (Guild members get a discount on all courses and coaching/consulting services.)
General Resources:
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines: The print version of the industry bible on running a creative business, including business essentials, professional and legal issues, and pricing guidelines.
The Primer Series– the Handbook as a three-part eBook series: Purchase the entire Handbook or only the sections which most matter to you as an iBook or Android from Vital Source or iBook, Mac, or iOS from iTunes.
- Business Practice Essentials for Graphic Artists: purchase as iBook or Android from Vital Source or iBook, Mac, or iOS from iTunes
- Professional Issues & Legal Rights for Graphic Artists: purchase as iBook or Android from Vital Sourceor iBook, Mac, or iOS from iTunes
- Trade Customs & Pricing Guidelines: purchase as iBook or Android from Vital Source or iBook, Mac, or iOS from iTunes
Resources from Creative Relay partners Ed Shems and Justin Perricone:
- Rock the Interview: Ed Shems’ article on Creative Relay on treating the elevator pitch as an interview
- An EIN: A Simple Way to Protect Yourself: Justin Perricone’s Creative Relay article makes the case for getting an EIN rather than using your Social Security number
- Creatives: Unite to Diversify: Ed Shems’ article on Jo Anne’s Art Advice on working as a freelance illustrator
Pricing your Work:
- 5 Ways to Strategically Price Your Freelance Rates: Genevieve DeGuzman on Tutsplus covers hourly versus flat rate pricing.
- Trade Customs & Pricing Guidelines: Extracted from our Handbook, the eBook includes trade practices and pricing tables based on surveys of designers, illustrators, and visual artists. Purchase as iBook or Android from Vital Source or iBook, Mac, or iOS from iTunes
- Guild webinars on pricing and estimating: Webinars on how to price your work, negotiating with clients, and creating a proposal
- How Much Does a Logo Design Cost: In his video, designer Roberto Blake covers how to talk to clients about logo design pricing.
Paperwork:
- The Letter of Agreement: The basics of the abbreviated contract you can use to establish the outline of a project with your clients
- Contract Glossary: A glossary of common terms that appear in contracts and agreements
- Write your Own Contract Checklist: Illustrator Mark Monlux compiled a checklist of factors you should cover
- Demystifying Noncompetition Agreements: Attorney Phillip I. Frankel covers the noncompetiton agreements freelance and staff artists may be asked to sign.
Productivity Resources:
oozled: A curated feed of business and productivity tools and resources for designers, web developers, and visual artists.
Productivity software:
- Harvest: Time and expense tracking
Image tracking (find where your images are being used online):
- Digimarc: tracks your images by embedded metadata
- Tineye: free reverse image search plus paid apps for tracking images
- Google reverse image search: free catch-all via Google search
Website Building Resources:
Estimating and Invoicing Tools:
Estimating and Invoicing Software:
- Blinkbid software: generates estimates and invoices (Guild members get a discount)
Accounting Software:
- Wave apps: free apps plus low subscription for additional services
- GoDaddy Online Bookkeeping: (formerly Outright) online bookkeeping and accounting
- FreshBooks: online accounting system
- Invoice Home is an ultra simple and intuitive invoice generator created with small businesses, startups and freelancers in mind.
Service Providers:
Printers:
- Overnight Prints
- Growl
- 48 Hour Print
- Moo
- 4Over4
- 4Over: different company than 4over4 despite the similar name; provides services to the trade only (low prices for designers and visual artists to mark up)
Web Hosting:
- WP Engine: Managed hosting for WordPress
Inspiration:
- Creative Mornings: Inspirational and educational lectures for creatives\
- Dorm Room Tycoon: podcasts with design, technology & business leaders
Job boards:
- Guild Coroflot job board
- AIGA Job board: available to AIGA members
Resume Building Tools:
Novoresume offers a web-based resume building tool that combines functionality with aesthetics. This allows you to create a well designed and effective resume, increasing the probability of you converting your job application into an interview.
Online Courses:
Online Courses Review: A guide to top online graphic design courses, accredited degrees & certifications, self guided and open college courses.