The Value of Good Design

Especially when dealing with smaller or less sophisticated clients, a freelance graphic designer will probably need to do some work to sell the client on the idea that professional training, high-end software, and experienced visual sense are worth reasonable fees.

One experienced designer offers this idea: Create a full-color brochure for a fictional company. At each stage of the process — logo design, color correction, copywriting, final document design — take screen shots. Then incorporate these into a PDF selling tool that makes the case for skill and knowledge as essential ingredients in effective design at every phase of the process, from concept to prepress.

Label a CD-ROM with your logo and load the PDF onto it. If a client seems to need this level of education, invite him or her to go through the process with you and see the final result.

Tools like this give you a chance to shine at marketing yourself — and thus impress clients with the idea that you can market them as well.

Tags: creative freelancers, freelancers

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 10:24 am and is filed under Design Resources. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.