The Secret To Freelancing – FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!
A young digital Illustrator e-mailed me after seeing a post of mine on a business networking site. He asked, “After reading your profile, I would love to hear anything else you have to offer regarding the inside of the industry!”
Credit: Mykl Roventine on Flickr
I wrote back, “Yikes! That would take ten minutes, at least. Not much I can say without breaking non-disclosures with my clients. What did you have in mind?”
He replied back, “Well, being on the other side of the table as an Art Director, what did you look for in freelance creatives? Anything you can impart would be appreciated. Thanks!”
I thought about the answer. What really got me interested in using new talent?
“Mostly talent and a certain style I can see applied to product,” I wrote. “There are many great artists I just couldn’t use because their work didn’t lend itself to the design direction or demographics.
As for dealing with creatives, there were those I found and approached, those who approached me and those who did everything they could to annoy and insult me.
The key, if I had to draw a conclusion, is to have great promotional pieces, stay in contact with those who buy art, have patience and persistence and, most of all, don’t screw up a project. I can’t tell you how many people screwed themselves out of the chance to break into the place I was working because they went nuts. Don’t get overexcited, don’t smell of desperation and don’t take a rejection personally and act as if it IS personal.
Don’t Miss Opportunities
Then there were the people who got their chance and blew it by not following directions and made my job harder. It’s difficult to tell someone they won’t be used again when they are so excited by a regular client and future income. Not easy for them to hear and not easy to tell them.
Just be VERY professional (even when your clients are not) and roll with the punches. Sometimes the guy at the bottom gets the blame when no one else will accept it. Just keep moving forward. Treasure the great clients, court the occasional client and forget the bad clients.”
I suppose I could end this article with just that but experience has taught me that readers love a good horror story of creatives acting like inhuman maniacs.
Four Stories of Epic Failure
Most of my stories revolve around people who either missed deadlines or failed to follow instructions and provided art or designs at the wrong size. Personally, I get paranoid about my ratio math and always triple-check, twice, to make sure an image or design is the correct size. If you use the instructions as a checklist, it’s not that hard.
Lesson One: Deadlines Matter
One regular freelancer, who worked for a publication before I took the position as art director was habitually late with her assignments. I sat her down and explained why it was important she made the set deadline. She went home and posted on the internet about how I was “busting (her) chops” about deadlines. She also had some choice words and suggestions about the matting habits I should practice with my family members. Naturally, she was a bit upset when I stopped giving her assignments.
My favorite horror stories deal with people who just couldn’t follow a line in the dirt without getting lost.
Lesson Two: Know Your Tools
There was the temp designer who smelled so bad I had to put him in an empty office, as the art staff couldn’t stand him. Checking in after a full day, he hadn’t accomplished a thing. Although he was hired to do InDesign work and acknowledged he was “expert,” he admitted later he couldn’t handle the InDesign work and proudly proclaimed, “Photoshop is my tool!”
He and his tool were dismissed before the end of the day and the small office in which he sat was closed, locked and treated as if it was radioactive.
Lesson Three: Don’t be a Tool
A new hire decided he had to comment aloud on the female coworker’s… physical attributes. He lasted three hours!
A new designer showed up three hours late on her first day and claimed the subways weren’t running. She came from the same neighborhood as I did. There were no delays on the trains. She lasted two days. Her second day revealed the discovery that she didn’t know how to make a clipping path. It took a day of her creating the wrong clipping path on two hundred images to help the decision to not use her any further.
Lesson Four: Pay Your Dues
A new designer was given an all day project that needed to be done immediately for the magazine I was art directing. Grunt work, but he was new and needed to build his clout with the staff. He was shown what needed to be done. I then stepped into all day meetings.
Coming back to the art department at the end of the day, after hours of corporate weirdness, and I asked if he was done.
“Check this out!” he said, holding up a highly rendered pencil sketch on a good piece of the magazine’s drawing paper.
He had spent the day drawing what he thought should be the next cover of the magazine. I stood dumbstruck. Who in their right mind would do something so outrageous?
The editor came in to check on the status of the project and saw I was pale from the loss of blood in the upper half of my body. The designer showed the editor his drawing and the editor looked over at me. He turned back to the designer and softly said, “one does not start their career doing covers for this magazine – one ends their career,” and he smiled, turned and walked away.
I turned back to the designer and asked how much he had accomplished on the project. Now he went pale. He hadn’t gotten to it. I had to walk him out. He was crying. So was I at three in the morning while I finished the work he didn’t do.
Instructions are There for a Reason
Please don’t think me cruel for firing these people. I felt very bad about doing it. They were so excited and high from their chance to work for top, iconic brands. They probably told all their friends and family about their new job/client and now had to explain that they lasted one day, or less in a couple of cases. All they needed to do was follow instructions, and simple ones at that.
To this day, whether it’s a client who, and I swear this is true, types the wrong company name on all the copy and it has to be fixed at press time, or a creative who delivers work at the wrong size ratio for a print piece or adds glitter unicorns to a site because “it’s a fun idea,” instructions were written for people to follow, and my father to ignore with a new DVD player.
There was a poignant cartoon on following directions that ran in the now defunct Art Direction Magazine in the October 1990 issue. Entitled, “Artist/Rep,” by Everett Peck, it showed the illustrator’s representative explaining an assignment.
Credit: ©1990 Everett Peck
I have seen very talented people who could never follow instructions… and some who never do it on purpose. I choose to deal with neither. You can find talent AND competent service. I have noticed talented but “free-spirited” friends getting less and less work. The day of the diva is over!
Professionalism in the Freelance Market
There are many articles out there that point to the strengths a freelancer needs to survive. Most don’t mention talent as the top consideration. I hate to admit it, but it seems to no longer be the number one…or any number. Some factors that have always been mentioned in the past were;
- Innovation
- Competence
- Diligence
- Following instructions
- Delivering on time
- Creating a superior product
If I updated the list, I would change it to include;
- Cheap
- Really cheap
- Cheapest
Even with those new “standards,” one needs to deliver. Personally, when I deal with clients, the first request is for a cheap quote. I have to turn them down and the client boasts they can get a $2,000 job for $200. They can. Many times, however, I get called back because the cheap person didn’t deliver the correct thing or missed the deadline. That’s when the client sees that quality costs money. They aren’t happy about it, but you do get what you pay for. When I’m the client, I’m always happy with a vendor who gives me top notch service for a reasonable fee.
Many creatives complain about crowdsourcing and wannabes encroaching upon the field and lowering rates. They have, but in most cases, clients then need good professionals to clean up the mess. Just remember, when they call you and ask for overnight work or call on a Friday for Monday delivery, your rate should reflect the rush work. They will make promises of “rewarding you later” if you take a low rate. You know it’s not true. If you can follow directions and deliver on time, you are golden in the industry. Charge accordingly and get a check upon delivery!
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by Mykl Roventine.
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In my more than 20 years of hiring freelancers, I would definitely go with the adage that ‘you get what you pay for…’ and this is why no matter how tempting it is to hire the cheapest of them all, one should hit on the brakes and think twice – for it can cost you more in the end, with all those revisions and not to mention, hiring another freelancer(s) to finish the work, plus the headaches.. There’s a reason why quality freelancers charge higher rates and it’s for your peace of mind. Just my two cents here.
Nice reading. If I had to list one more strenght a freelancer needs it would be patience.
I agree with Shaleen. You clearly do not have the budget to hire people who will do a good job.
So it goes…
-dp
I’m sorry, David, but are you saying I didn’t have the budget to hire quality freelancers or it’s a standard understanding that you get what you pay for?
I’m afraid that I did have the budget and the people I had to fire were charging top dollar (with the exception of some young people starting out, who just didn’t care enough). The problem arose when these “professionals” didn’t follow simple directions, either verbal or written.
In a recent article on another blog (forgive me Freelance Switch), there were comments from people who clearly didn’t read the article in it’s entirety or just scanned the content and made up their own mind as to what the article said. Some got very nasty about it!
I answered each negative comment gently and pointed out the passages they missed or misquoted. Only in one case did the commenter admit to not actually reading the whole article. The others never responded.
I’ve hired interns who put professionals to shame and well-known professionals who couldn’t, as I wrote, follow a line in the dirt. High fees do not guarantee high levels of works, unfortunately.
Great article, and one that I think all Freelancers should read. Simple but sage advice. Thanks for sharing!
LOVED your article on 10 Phrases Designers Hate Hearing! Come to think of it… I commented once or twice.
Fantastic article. I work in a TV station as a graphic designer and we had an intern a few semesters ago that showed up the first two days, but then started calling off almost every other day. Her excuses were allergic reaction to her boyfriend’s cat, finals were coming, she couldn’t find her keys and the list goes on. At the end of the internship she wasn’t given school credit, and to this day still doesn’t understand why.
And, we also have some professionals that never show up on time, edit videos late causing us to miss promo times on air, and others that just surf facebook all day.
Graphic design is the bottom of the food chain at this particular TV station, but at least I know I get my work (and sometimes theirs) done on time.
Then there’s the client who gives very clear instructions and when a designer, like myself, follows those instructions to a tee, they’re underwhelmed, demonstrating how weak the initial idea was. The client may or may not acknowledge their role in the results, but there is often a desire, often unspoken, by the client to lean on the designer’s expertise. Hard to offer an alternative when the instructions, however inappropriate for the project, are so explicit. In the end, it’s best to have a full dialog beforehand to make sure client and designer are on the same page before beginning any project.
I’d be interested to know what you consider top dollar.
I’m one of those rare art/creative directors who, because of my days as a freelancer, sided with freelancers (at least I hope I’m not that rare). I’ve had bosses and clients who tried to save as much of their budget as possible so they could go back to corporate and return budget surplus at the end of the fiscal year. I spent my budget. That’s why it was given to me.
For on-site freelancers, I would find out what placement agencies were going to charge me (as they then give half to sixty-percent to the freelancer) and I gave it all to the freelancer. For off-site freelance, I would ask what the freelancer charged per hour and hired them without negotiation (choosing the right freelancer was the trick — I had several I would always use because they were worth their weight in gold). After all, it wasn’t my money and if sales increased because the product looked great, that was enough to impress the corporate suits.
It was a sweet deal, especially for interns. That’s why it was such a shame when someone just didn’t have the sense to not play games and cherish a caring client but there’s some odd personalities out there.
BTW… I see you know my old teacher, Peter Kleinman. I knew him from his days at Lampoon. Great guy!
Excellent article! All designers, freelance and not, should read this and refer back to it.
The reason I ask is because those freelancers sound like such complete amateurs. I’m shocked at the level of incompetence.
Well, sometimes someone’s book looks good but their actual work doesn’t match their portfolio (plus, you don’t know what it took them to get to that point) and sometimes referrals aren’t reliable.
Although I mentioned some horror stories, I’ve worked with some great freelancers who made my job job easier but what good would an article be if I spoke about all the wonderful freelancers out there?
I’m still a student (an older student) and am just beginning to lay the blueprint for my portfolio and future freelance job hunting. I REALLY appreciated your article! I don’t fall into the category of any of the one’s you had to fire, but I enjoyed reading from a pro about other positive traits a designer should possess.
Thanks, Sally! I just saw a quote that sums up part of the problem David and I were discussing: “Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story.”
You might enjoy a series of mine on professional practices that run on instantshift.com. It’s meant for students but I’m told working professionals appreciate the information, too.
My articles on smashingmagazine.com get down and dirty with the industry and there are also several of the same on noupe.com.
You’ll get a kick out of them!
Wonderful article! I’ve recommended it to my husband, a web design instructor, to pass to his students.
As a successful freelance graphic designer, I’ve often been asked how I managed to keep my business running strong despite long absences, international travel, and this huge recession. I think you’re article sums up what I would say in response, better than I every could.
Thank you for recognizing that although great design is important, being able to follow directions is often the difference between getting hired once, and getting a call back every time.
Your husband can find a series on professional practices I write for students and young professionals at instantshift.com. Always good to help those just starting out not to make mistakes that eat away at our industry!
Nice piece. It should be required reading for all graphic design majors. I hope this post stays live for a long time. When asked about my success as a freelancer, my number one response is that “I have never missed a deadline.” Along with my normal rush fees, I have an insult fee which applies to cleaning up other people’s messes.
I have found that my best clients are always those who got screwed by someone else before coming to me.
Great article! I def. will be following your blog in the future. Thanks!
Oh, geez! What a mess!
Nice post! This one can be my freelance trainer..Useful tips for me.Thanks for sharing!
… and here’s where the saying goes ‘You can’t please everyone’ and yes, following directions is common sense when it comes to working on a project… but then again, there are some clients ( in rare cases ) where they want you to challenge their directions and offer a new set of ideas on the table. I’m saying this as it happened to me and the client was quite displeased that I won’t speak up my mind. Odd, right?
Hi there…I need some advice….
I come from a magazine design background and have recently gone freelance. I freelanced as a magazine designer in London, for a couple of years before moving to South Africa, where I worked for 3 years as Art Director on a publication. I have just finished a freelance layout job, which I quoted for, based on 12 days’ work, at a daily rate. As the job was a business directory, the info to be laid out was coming from a database, and in order to save money, my client had cut out the middle man who was responsible for converting the database into an importable format for laying out. So, both myself and the client, were not sure how long the job would take.
It is for this reason, that I quoted based on a daily rate, and stated at the bottom of the quote, that the number of days quoted for was an estimate, and that if the job were to take longer, I would be charging for the extra days.
So, instead of taking 12 days, the job took 30 days, and a lot of overtime done at night, (which I am not charging her for). I have also given her a reduced day rate (30 % less) for the 18 days extra that I worked. The job took longer mainly due to problems with converting the database, and getting the info in a format that I could work with. The time taken to format all the text was also grossly underestimated from my side and from the client’s side. But I couldn’t have completed the job any quicker, as I was relying on the client to provide the content. i.e. I was working as quickly as the supply of content would allow me to.
And the job was delayed from their side, by a month, before we even started.
Now, the client says that she won’t pay the new amount, as its double what was quoted.
I am beside myself. Not sure what to do about it. But I feel cheated. My past experience with freelancing as a magazine designer, where you go into a company’s office to work, has always been to charge a daily rate. Am I wrong here? I mean, how can anyone quote on a job, when they have no idea how long it will take?
Any advice you can give me here, would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Grace
Best is to get the full spec on the job from the client before you quote: how many hours, what is the quantity of text in words and/or quantity of images, what formnat will the data be delivered in and what format is the expected delivery to be presented … is there a budget for this job, etc. etc.
If, on receipt of the work, there is a delay or the work is more complicated than first agreed upon, stop immediately and renegiate the terms, or decline as not per spec at all.
I have only just started hiring freelancers to tackle projects for me. I thought I was crazy until I found this article. It’s like there’s a class out there in NOT taking direction that artists are required to take that I was not aware of. I HATE going behind an artist and doing clean-up, not because it’s work for me, but because it feels so dirty undoing someone’s work. But when they’ve been given multiple chances it leaves me no choice.
I’ve literally drawn things in edit stage and said “make it look like this” and they come back with all sorts of wacky-dom. “Draw me a sword,” I say. and they bring me a whip. And before the ‘maybe they can’t draw swords’ argument comes into play, trust that I did my research first.
I figure it must have to do with some sort of fear of identity loss. But it’s important to remember that I am hiring you for your “style” Just because I tell you to put five buttons on a jacket instead of three, the work is still your own. It’s about style.