Steve Gordon, Jr., is the new author blogger for RegardingDesign! Steve has been a professional graphic designer for almost a decade. He’s run the full range of the career path with experience from in-house design at internationally recognized Fortune 1000 companies, agency and studio work, to now working as an independent designer and creative consultant. He is also the author of the upcoming Rockport Publishers book 100 Habits of Successful Freelance Designers. Below is Steve's first post.
Current Climate Could be Very Good for Indie Creatives
While we’re not exactly rolling in piles of movie money on a bed at a 4-star hotel suite, but I'll tell you this… The market is ripe for work for indepenent creaitives. The silver-lining of a horrible economic climate is that for the skilled “indies” who bring a solid mix of studio-type experience and an eye for corporate marketing, there is a lot of work out there. Times have shifted a bit and while larger companies still tend to wrongfully cut the marketing staff and budgets first, they are better at noticing that they need creative work done. So they tend to outsource faster and more.
The spots that seem to need the most help right away are corporate types, with or without in-house, and ad agencies who has staffed down. Cutting staff frees up dollars but leaves a void in the machine needing to stay connected and focused on marketing and creative efforts. Most are surprised when I say “agency”, but agencies are most often not design studios. Ad agencies often do a lot more media-related, so they don't staff up heavily with designers. Search there and you can land some really creative work. There’s also tons of production work if you have a knack for it and no ego about doing that. There is always a lot of production work because "designery" designers tend to turn a bit snooty towards it. We designers can be just as status-driven at times.
The added bonus of this is that when the economy turns back up, if you have proven worth and value in your service offerings, you may be able to retain a link to the agency and corporate clients and make even more money when they have the money to spend.
