Branding is one of those super important, long term tasks that every freelancer needs to pay attention to. How you present yourself and how you are perceived can make a lot of difference to both how much work you get and how you charge for that [...]]]> Please read through this introduction on branding yourself…

Branding is one of those super important, long term tasks that every freelancer needs to pay attention to. How you present yourself and how you are perceived can make a lot of difference to both how much work you get and how you charge for that work.

One of the first things you will need to do as a freelancer is decide on a brand for yourself. It might be your name ‘Joe Smith Design’ or something more exclusive ‘Lunar Programming Services’. Whatever it is you will need a business identity to work under and for clients to know you as.

Along with your new name you will naturally need a logo, business cards and a website. Remember that you are now a business and all your materials need to be polished and professional. It’s nice to be personal, but don’t let your hobbies, rants or photos into the picture, particularly on your website.

If you’re not a designer yourself, invest the money in someone who knows what they are doing as the difference is immeasurable and the impact of looking professional can make the crucial difference when your potential client hasn’t yet had the chance to know you by your quality of work.

When it comes to your website, make sure you get a domain name that is:

1. Easy to remember. Really long domains can be confusing, as can ones with odd acronyms or letters in them
2. Easy to spell. If you have to say your web or email address over the phone it’s always better if you don’t have to say it letter by letter with things like dashes or underscores mixed in.
3. Appropriately descriptive. A name that says something or ties in with your name or business name is best. Its easy to remember and immediately identifies you

Having a website and particularly a domain name is essential. Freelancing off a hotmail account just does not come across as professional or serious and lasting impressions are what keep business coming back.

When it comes to building your website, there are a few key pieces of information that must be on there, they are:

1. An introduction – usually just a statement is best
2. Your services – how will anyone know what you do?
3. Examples – of your previous work
4. Contact details – Phone number, address and email

You may wish to make more of your site, work on search engine optimization or make it part of your workflow process, but for the bare minimum those four items will suffice.

Hope you enjoyed reading, and goodluck! Please leave any questions of comments in the field below.

R Design Creative, We’re good at what we do.

Can we hear a w00t w00t for friday?

What an explosive day of brainstorming here at R Design Creative.

It’s so great to end the work week on a positive note and to be pumped for the new week ahead.

We hope everyone enjoys their weekend! Cheers!

1. Don’t Advertise Like a Big Business 
Big businesses advertise to create name recognition and future sales. A small business can’t afford to do that. Instead, design your advertising to produce sales… now. One way to accomplish this is to always include an offer in your advertising - and an [...]]]> by Bob Leduc

1. Don’t Advertise Like a Big Business 
Big businesses advertise to create name recognition and future sales. A small business can’t afford to do that. Instead, design your advertising to produce sales… now. One way to accomplish this is to always include an offer in your advertising - and an easy way for prospective customers to respond to it.

2. Offer a Cheaper Version 
Some prospective customers are not willing to pay the asking price for your product or service. Others are more interested in paying a low price than in getting the best quality. You can avoid losing sales to many of these customers by offering a smaller or stripped down version of your product or service at a lower price.

3. Offer a Premium Version 
Not all customers are looking for a cheap price. Many are willing to pay a higher price to get a premium product or service. You can boost your average size sale and your total revenue by offering a more comprehensive product or service …or by combining several products or services in a special premium package offer for a higher price.

4. Try Some Unusual Marketing Methods 
Look for some unconventional marketing methods your competitors are overlooking. You may discover some highly profitable ways to generate sales and avoid competition. For example, print your best small ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. A small ad on a postcard can drive a high volume of traffic to your website or generate a flood of sales leads for a very small cost.

5. Trim Your Ads 
Reduce the size of your ads so you can run more ads for the same cost. You may even be surprised to find that some of your short ads generate a better response than their longer versions.

6. Set up Joint Promotions with Other Small Businesses 
Contact some non-competing small businesses serving customers in your market. Offer to publicize their products or services to your customers in exchange for their publicizing your services to their customers. This usually produces a large number of sales for a very low cost.

7. Take Advantage of Your Customers 
Your customers already know and trust you. It’s easier to get more business from them than to get any business from somebody who never bought from you. Take advantage of this by creating some special deals just for yourexisting customers… and announce new products and services to them before you announce them to the general market.

Also, convert your customers into publicity agents for your business. Develop an incentive for them to tell associates and friends about the value of your products or services. An endorsement from them is more effective than any amount of advertising – and it is much cheaper.

Each of these 7 marketing tips provides a simple, low-cost way for any small business to find customers and generate sales quickly.

Find the whole story, originally posted, here.

But from time to time, our creativity is sure to hit a dry spell. In those periods of imaginative downtime, we seek out areas of inspiration. Do you have a go-to place when you need [...]]]> As artists and designers, our daily job is to create. Create new ideas, sketch out new concepts, generate innovative imagery…

But from time to time, our creativity is sure to hit a dry spell. In those periods of imaginative downtime, we seek out areas of inspiration. Do you have a go-to place when you need inspiration? We have a lot of design annuals here at the office… and from time to time, we dust them off to browse through. But we often need to go deeper. Not comparing our ideas to others, but to the source – the artwork – the artists. By observing artworks of individual artists, you can learn new techniques, and compare your work in order to improve your designs.

The Sketchbook project is a wonderful sight. Personally, I enjoy looking through unfinished, not-perfect work. It’s full of inspiring imagery. You are able to visualize the artists’ thought processes… follow their train of knowledge… and sometimes you can’t. Unfinished work also has a great ability to capture style. Do you have a design style? Do you need to have one?

There are a lot of online pdf based magazines out there now. They offer great inspiration for designers through use of type, colour, layout, imagery, etc etc. Equally as good to read sometimes, here is a list of some popular ones you may find interest in:

1. http://www.blanketmagazine.com/
2. http://www.20projects.co.uk/publications/
3. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/
4. http://thinkvitamin.com/
5. http://www.belowthefold.org/

So, here we are… no longer on the cusp of social media – we are in it 100%. If you don’t have a facebook account, you must be living under a rock. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumbler, Foursquare and YouTube (to name a few of the more popular sites) offer exciting networking opportunities for [...]]]> Hey Everyone!

So, here we are… no longer on the cusp of social media – we are in it 100%. If you don’t have a facebook account, you must be living under a rock. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumbler, Foursquare and YouTube (to name a few of the more popular sites) offer exciting networking opportunities for big and small businesses alike.

As a small business, our entrepreneurial spirit has led us online to find new business and network with others whom we may have never met had it not been for social media tools. We now have a facebook page (where you can “like us”), a LinkedIn company page (where you can follow us), and a twitter account (where you can read current updates from us) @rdesigncreative.

Social media can be a lot to take in for someone who is new to it. Here’s a breakdown of what all these sites mean (to the average Joe):

So, join us in the social cocktail party. Drop us a line if you have any questions. We can help get you set up with all the right tools to get your business up to date.

R Design Creative, We’re Good at What We Do.

Today is an “indoors” day for sure. The snow has tacked on 40 minutes to our commutes and all we can do is work and plan for the weekend.

I’ve been browsing the web today… looking for inspiriation… looking for topics that capture my interest. I thought today, [...]]]> Hey ladies and gents,

Today is an “indoors” day for sure. The snow has tacked on 40 minutes to our commutes and all we can do is work and plan for the weekend.

I’ve been browsing the web today… looking for inspiriation… looking for topics that capture my interest. I thought today, I would share with you a little about my love for typography. We’ve been working on a logo here at R Design for the last two days, keenly fitting type with image. Typography is so important in a logo design – in any design. Don’t you just melt when you see a beautiful ligature or ampersand, so elegantly drawn out? Or have you received a real letter-pressed business card recently? Nothing can quite compare to the feel of metal type, cold pressed into thick card stock. Woo!

Anyway, back on track. I found this really cool game for type enthusiasts, called Shape Type. http://shape.method.ac/ It’s a game where you are responsible for adjusting the bezier curves on a letter to best match the original letter design. You are ranked a score and you can keep trying until you get it perfect.

I also wanted to share some great resources with you that is a part of our toolbox here at the office.

If your interested in downloading some free fonts, head over to http://losttype.com/browse/ and since the site is a pay-what-you-want-foundry, you can pay $0 if you choose. However, if you’re feeling generous, you must know that all sales from the fonts go directly to the designers.

The League of Moveable Type (http://www.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/) is a site where you’ll find only the most well-made, free & open-source, @font-face ready fonts. They aim to make progress, & we need help. If you want to be a part of this open-source type movement, you should join them & contribute. If you have any questions about The League or contributing, get in touch.

If you need a boost of inspiring design articles on Design, Graphics, Coding, UI Design, or WordPress, visit Smashing Magazine. http://www.smashingmagazine.com/.

For all things typographical, have some fun on this site: http://ilovetypography.com/. Always guaranteed to learn something here.

I hope you enjoyed this article and I would love to read your comments about some beautiful uses of typography that you have seen.

R Design Creative, We’re Good at What We Do

What a great year 2012 is shaping up to be. And have you noticed the amount of wonderfully inspiring content out on the web? It’s bursting at the seams. Recently, we found ourvelves watching the newest YouTube sensation Walk off the Earth. They covered a song called, “Somebody [...]]]> A big warm welcome back to everyone!

What a great year 2012 is shaping up to be. And have you noticed the amount of wonderfully inspiring content out on the web? It’s bursting at the seams. Recently, we found ourvelves watching the newest YouTube sensation Walk off the Earth. They covered a song called, “Somebody that I used to know” by Gotye. Gotya is an Austrailian multi-instrumental musician and singer-songwriter. We haven’t heard of him until just this week, but now we are downloading his music like crazy! And have you seen the video that Walk off the Earth produced? It’s a sheer streak of genius, in my humble opinion. Similarly, the original video by Gotye is sheer brilliance as well.

Take a minute to watch these videos (links below) if you haven’t already seen them. They are terrific and I’m sure they will inspire you.

Enjoy!

R Design Creative, We’re Good at What We Do

Somebody That I Used To Know

Gotye – Somebody that I used to know