Tips for Student Designers and the Small Businesses Who Love Them: OrangeSlyce Life

By Lizzy Rice

As students, we sometimes agonize over what we want our major to be.  Do you ever think things like, “well I like history, but can I actually get a job with that degree?”  Well don’t worry; you’re not alone.  We all question what we are studying at some point in our academic careers but one of the most foolproof ways to maintain a balanced degree (and by balanced I mean studying something that interests you but still learning marketable skills) is to add a minor.   Here are just a few good ideas that Arizona State University offers that are bound to add some depth to any major.

Business: This is probably the mother of all minors.  A minor in business gives you a great base for any given career path.  As a business minor, you will take courses in economics, accounting, management and other skills that can easily be transferred from one industry to another.

Communication: Some people may disagree with this selection, but I think a communication minor can add a lot to a degree.  As any book, teacher, or professional will tell you, the number one highly sought after skill for potential new employees is strong communication skills.  Therefore, I say, add this as a minor and you have a seriously marketable skill listed directly on your resume.

English: You know in a group project how someone always has to be the writer?  Well the work world is no different and most people cringe at the thought of writing a report or composing a memo.  Do you enjoy writing?  Then why not add English as a minor, so that your employer can breathe a sigh of relief at potentially hiring somebody who isn’t afraid to write.

Psychology: The ability to understand different types of people is an invaluable skill for any potential employee.   Adding a minor to your degree like psychology gives you this added value plus it also is a great way to discuss in a cover letter how being a psychology minor helps you relate to clients and/or customers; always a definite plus.

Spanish: If you plan to continue living in Arizona, you might want to think seriously about minoring and becoming fluent in Spanish.  To list this minor on a resume automatically gives you a leg up in any industry.  So if you love Spanish or foreign languages in general, you should consider making this your minor.

Agree or Disagree?  Leave me a comment 

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Our eye was caught today by an excellent post over at logoblog on the warning signs that a client isn’t going to pay for a logo.  While the piece is obviously useful to designers, there’s a lesson in there for business owners, too: don’t do these things.

1) Don’t take days to return phone-calls

You know this already, but in case you don’t: it’s unprofessional to leave anyone hanging for days at a time. We know that running a business is hectic: you’re wearing a lot of hats and (if you’re doing it right) you’re spreading yourself thin sometimes.  That said, your logo design is important (so is your reputation as a legitimate business, for that matter).  Find enough time to make sure the designer you’re working with knows that you’re still alive and ready to work with them.

2) Don’t continuously mock the designer’s work

Criticism is good–it’s how you help the designer make something you want.  But you should never just outright mock the designers’ work.  Mocking:

• Makes you look like a jerk.  You never know who else that designer knows, and establishing a reputation as a jerk won’t help you get your business off the ground.
• Dampens the designers’ enthusiasm for your project and reduces your chance of getting a good design.  Yes, you pay them to be professional even if you’re mean to them.  No, they’re not robots.  Making fun of your designer is a great way to offend them and make them hate doing work for you.
• Accomplishes absolutely nothing positive for your business.  Your singular focus as a small business needs to be making your business succeed.  It can’t be about you, your ego, your feelings or anything else (if it is, you will fail). It doesn’t matter if you’re frustrated by the designers’ output.  Mocking doesn’t solve that problem, so hold it in (and don’t do it to get laughs either–those laughs won’t add one penny to your bottom line).

Instead of mocking, stick to constructive criticism.  If that doesn’t work, move on. Be professional and tell your designer outright that things aren’t working out.  Don’t waste her time (and yours!) by passive-aggressively mocking work that you’re not satisfied with.

3) Don’t Try to Stiff Your Designer

As a small business, you live and die by your reputation.  We doubt that we need to tell this to anyone reading our site, but just for the sake of completion: don’t try to weasel out of paying somebody whom you agreed to pay.  There are obviously situations that complicate this rule (and how you handle those “shades of gray” is another matter for another day).  But the basic principle is sound: don’t try to worm out of paying your designer for work that you agreed to pay for.

Don’t be that business that takes a designers’ work, “alters” it slightly, and then refuses to pay the designer because you “went in a different direction.”  It might seem like a clever way to save a couple hundred bucks, but the risk you take greatly outweighs the reward.  We’re not talking about your conscience (although we hope that would be enough to keep you from stealing) we’re talking about your businesses’ reputation.

Remember: a major corporation can afford to launch a PR blitz when they get caught doing something slimy; your business can’t.  So be the good guy–it’s the better long-term investment.

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Nothing says you mean business like Helvetica on a three and a half by two inch, 100 lb. card stock.  Unless of course your business card was drawn with junk home printer software, MS Paint or crayon.  You’ll no doubt be able to find a local printer to professionally create your design, but they need your help before sending them final copy.  Using the right application to make your card and saving it in the right size and format will save you the embarrassment of having a lousy print job.

Vectors Are Your Friend

You’re going to want to get access to decent vector image editing software.  You can go all out and get Adobe Illustrator, or use a free solution like Aviary’s Raven.  The key is that it’s a vector editor and not a raster editor.  Wikipedia has a great article on vector graphics.  Check out the difference between raster and vector images below.



See the difference?  You’re going to want to send files that, when resized, keep their shape and don’t pixelate.

Let It Bleed

You’re going to want to make your design a little bigger than an actual business card.  This extra space is called bleed.  Most printers require this so that when they cut the card to size, there are no distracting white borders.  As an example, here are the guidelines that optimalprint.com uses:

For those not metrically inclined, you’re going to want about 1/8 of an inch around all sides for a 3.5 x 2 inch card.

Saving Your Design

Check with your printer to see which file formats they prefer.  Nearly all professionals will accept PDF files.  PDF files are great because they will save the vector graphics of your design in case any resizing needs to be done.  If your printer won’t accept PDF, reconsider using them – they are likely not seasoned professionals and might botch the job.

Once you’ve got your final design in place, send it off to the printer.  You’ll soon be basking in custom, professionally made, business card glory.

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As I approach my last semester of college (just filed for graduation two days ago) I find myself super excited but also thinking “There are so many things that I want to do before I graduate!”  Here are my recommendations.  Sadly, some of the things on the list I didn’t get a chance to do, but hopefully you’ll learn from my regrets and complete this whole list.

1.)   Study abroad: Ah, my biggest regret.  Sadly I never got to do this but I seriously recommend it!  The chance to live and go to school abroad may never come up again, so take advantage of a student visa and pack your bags!

2.)   Get an internship: This is Orange Slyce, of course I recommend that!  But seriously, if only one is required for your major do another one.  They can only help you in the future.

3.)   Buy computer software: This one’s a little bit random but for the design student, essential!  Take advantage of your student discount and buy all of your favorite design and other computer products.

4.)   Get a mentor: Is there a professor that you really enjoyed learning from?  Talk to him or her.  This is a great way to network and also learn more about your field.

5.)   Take a random class: Do you secretly love theater?  Or maybe you want to learn the basics of criminal justice?  Whatever your guilty pleasure, take a class on it.

6.)  Use the gym: Being a student comes with lots of benefits but one of the best is the great fitness center.  Start working out now while its free with your tuition.

7.)   Craft a Killer Resume: Go to the career center and have one of their experts help you out.  It’s totally free and you walk away with a great resume ready to send out into the job market.

8.)   Go to a Career Fair: This is a great way to find potential employers and also build your networking skills in a familiar and unpretentious environment.

What do you think?  Is anything missing?  Leave me a comment!

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Changing Industries:  Advertising and PR

Most people would agree that social media is a good thing, right?  I mean, come on, we all get excited when we see that someone has commented on one of our facebook photos or when someone has started following us on twitter;  it’s easy to get sucked in.  What I’m wondering though, is if this new idea of advertising online is changing the old ideas about advertising and PR.

This year, McDonalds hired one of the first ever Chief of Social Media.  How crazy is that?  I thought I was just wasting my time creating silly facebook pages and updating my tweets but now I see that I can make an entire career out of it!  Every company has a twitter and facebook page now, and let’s face it, if they don’t, they aren’t being competitive.   What I’m curious about however, is this:  does this new social media obsession put traditional careers in PR and marketing in jeopardy?  According to David Meerman Scott, who wrote “The New Rules of Marketing and PR” (a great read by the way; I highly suggest it) thinks that social media and the world of the internet will in fact challenge the old job functions of marketing and PR professionals.

Scott says “Prior to the web, organizations had only two significant choices to attract attention:  Buy expensive advertising or get third-party ink from the media.”  He continues to write “Organizations that understand the New Rules of Marketing and PR develop relationships directly with consumers…”

So, I ask this again:  If the traditional role of advertising (buying expensive ad space) and PR (getting mentions from the media) are seemingly obsolete due to the new concept of reaching customers directly through social media efforts, then couldn’t several traditional advertising and public relations agencies go out of business?

I’ve noticed that many traditional advertising agencies and pr firms have started to embrace this trend by including social media services in their list of specialties.   However, one thing I have seen that interests me is how they phrase these services.  They seem to Lightly threaten potential clients by saying things like “sure social media could help your business but only if done properly.”  It’s almost like they want to stop clients from managing their social media accounts on their own.  It makes me wonder if there is a fear that organizations will lean towards doing their social media themselves rather than go to an agency and therefore the agency feels more inclined to suggest that only advertising professionals know how to social network properly.

My opinion?  I think agencies are a bit fearful, and they are definitely not wrong to be.  The concept of social media advertising is still pretty new and it is only going to get bigger.  My advice?  Get a twitter!  I know, I know, a bunch of you either groaned or dry heaved but seriously, do it!  In fact, get everything!  Start a blog, get a linkedin, take at least one picture a day and post it to flickr.  This is the new frontier!  Do you really want to be left behind?  Embrace social media;  it’s here to stay.

Comments?  I’d love to hear them

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By Elizabeth Rice

For any student that aspires to have a well-paying and fulfilling career, internships are often a highway to that goal.  Not only does an internship give you experience but also a leg up for the cut-throat job market.  However, the notion of “internship” is sometimes taken for granted and may not be much of an internship at all.   Here are a few signs that your internship might just be cheap labor for the company.

1.)   You have no set schedule: Keep in mind that this does depend on the industry, but in general, your employer should have some sort of set schedule for you.  If you find that your boss is asking you every week for your availability,  or worse isn’t contacting you at all, you may want to reevaluate your situation.

2.)   You’re working more than part time: In contrast to number one, if you find that you’re interning more than thirty hours, you might just be a free employee in their eyes.

3.)   You haven’t learned anything: No, learning how your boss likes his coffee doesn’t count.  Interning is about getting experience and learning about an industry that you potentially would like to work in.  For example, if you have been interning in the graphic design industry but have yet to work with a design program, there is a definite problem.  This doesn’t mean you should be working on logos and projects for clients, but you should at least be helping with the projects.

4.)   You are asked to do something misleading: If a company ever asks you to break a rule, law or do anything unethical, you should quit immediately.  If they ever ask you to lie that is also a major red flag.

If any of these signs apply to your internship, take the time to assess it.  Trust your instincts, if you have any indication that you are being taken advantage of, don’t hesitate to quit; just be sure to be professional and give two-week notice, burning bridges is never a good plan no matter what.

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Yesterday, we posted a tidy little piece on networking.  That piece was, of course, only scraping the surface of what we hope will eventually become a networking guide from which every member of the OrangeSlyce community can benefit.   Today, we’re talking about the aspect of networking that stops the painfully shy dead in their tracks: introducing yourself.

We called this post networking for introverts for one big reason: introducing yourself is obviously a much more daunting task for the painfully shy.  But, as we said yesterday, it’s a step that even the painfully shy can easily overcome with a little work and a lot of willpower.  If you find your palms getting clammy and your throat swelling up every time you’re at a mixer, here are a few handy tips you can follow to overcome yourself.

1) Think of other people as friends

One thing that makes it hard to break the ice is that you don’t know how well you’ll be received by the other person.  People tend to be very tribal by instinct, and it can be hard to just walk up to a person from an unfamiliar “tribe” (this, by the way, is also why you sometimes find yourself occasionally hating on groups of people you don’t even know when you’re out in public).  When it comes to approaching these people, you worry (on some level) that your encroachment won’t be well-received, that the other person will be annoyed by your presence (or worse).  If you start worrying about this, ask yourself: why?  Are you ever deeply bothered by a person introducing themselves to you?  Of course not; the other person will almost certainly enjoy the company.

Remember that networking is mutually beneficial.  Just about any person that’s worth networking with will at least spare you a smile and a business card if you introduce themselves to you–they have nothing to gain by not being friendly and everything to lose.  Because of this, the people you want to network with are, to borrow a phrase, just friends you haven’t met.  Don’t be afraid to go meet them.

2) Realize that a lot of the other people in the room are just as nervous as you are

This study by Lauren Bryant at Indiana University suggests that about 40% of adults feel shy.  Keep in mind the fact that surveys almost always under-report undesirable qualities (in other words: some people are too shy to admit that they’re shy) and it’s feasible that around half of the adult population is shy.  Chances are there are that a lot of the people you might network in are in the exact same boat that you are.  Wouldn’t you like it if someone kind walked up to you and took the first step?  Imagine how endearing that would be to you when you’re trying to work up the nerve to introduce yourself, and then be that person for someone else in the room.

3) Have some open-ended questions prepared in advance

Another thing people often worry about when networking is making conversation.  “What happens” you wonder “if I introoduce myself and then we have nothing to talk about?  Awwwwkwaaaaaard!”  Fortunate ly, first impressions rarely require you to hold intimate conversations.  All you’re really trying to do is show the other person that you’re interested in getting to know them better (and not just using them as a means to an end–this is an important point that deserve its own post) and taking the steps necessary to do that.  As such, it’s important that you have a few questions to ask them.  These questions should not be yes or no; you want to bring the other person out of their shell a little bit.  Don’t just ask the person what she does, ask her how she got into it, ask her what she did before that. If you ask her if she likes doing what she does, follow that question up with “what do you love (or hate) about it?”

4) Smile!

Sorry, we know it’s cheesy, but a good smile is important.  Smiling is your way of telling someone from a rival “tribe” that you’re not a threat.  It’s also very hard not to smile back when somebody smiles at you, which is good, because it will be a lot easier for you to approach someone when they’re smiling too.  Stay professional, but be friendly (and, as we said yesterday, be yourself) and you’ll be well on your way to being the networker you want to be.

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One thing that we hate to hear people say is “I just don’t have the personality to be a good networker”  Perhaps it’s because we’ve had our own bouts with shyness, but it drives us crazy to see people resign themselves to failure without even trying to overcome their shortcomings.  We love every last person who’s kind enough to follow our writings, so consider this tough love: saying you can’t be a good networker is almost always an excuse people use because they’re too afraid and too lazy to try.  Here’s another harsh truth: no matter what job you hope to get or what business you’re trying to get off the ground, you’re not in good shape if you aren’t willing to network.  Fortunately, there’s one more truth: great networking is not about being the most outgoing guy or girl in the room.

In truth, great networking has surprisingly little to do with being extroverted.  Sure, it’s a lot harder to take the first step in networking (reaching out to a person and introducing yourself) if you’re naturally shy.  But, unless you’re suffering from a legitimate psychological condition, reaching out to a person is still a hurdle that can easily be cleared.  As with most things, great networking is not about how you star; it’s about how you finish.

We recently read an excellent post on networking by Amanda Collins over at The Grammar Doctors.  While the whole piece is worth your time, there was one part in particular that stuck out to us:

The likelihood that you’ll score a client or referral partner after attending anything once is pretty low. You need to continue making an appearance, connecting with people, and being consistent. Be patient. It may take a number of weeks or months to create relationships and generate sales.

Ultimately, networking is about that creation of relationships.  The first impression is important, but relationships aren’t built on the first impression nearly as much as the second and third and fourth impressions.  Because of that, great networking is about following up on that first impression.  It’s about showing the other person how ambitious you are, and how serious you are about business.  Perhaps more importantly, it’s about letting the other person get to know you, and trust you, and like you.  You don’t have to be extroverted to do any of these things.  Ultimately, all you should really have to be is yourself (unless you’re lazy or sociopathic).  In the coming weeks, we’ll be putting up a few posts that will help you build a network by introducing people to the great person you know you are.

In the meantime, if that ending was a little too sweet for you, please feel free to cleanse the palate with this stock footage of atomic bomb testings:

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Finding a good logo designer is easier than ever in the internet age, but picking that designer out of a crowd can be tough if you don’t have a lot of expertise.  After all, if you knew a ton about logo design, you probably wouldn’t need to hire a logo designer in the first place!  As daunting as finding (and working with) the right designer might  seem, there are a few basic lessons that can help you seperate the proverbial wheat from the metaphorical chaffe.  In today’s lesson, we’re going to talk about knowing what you want in a logo in the first place.

While this lesson may seem pretty clear-cut, it’s arguably the biggest pitfall that you have to overcome.  Knowing what you want in a logo isn’t quite as simple as you might think.  Fortunately, there are some simple, easy to learn guidelines that can get you started.

It’s not critical to know exactly what you want in a logo–again, you’re hiring a designer for their expertise–but knowing the basics will help you work with your designer to get a great result.  Before you even start thinking about what you’re looking for, we strongly recommend reading this article by David Airey. Airey lays down the five critical guidelines that every great logo should follow. As he explains:

Iconic logos are:
1.Describable
2.Memorable
3.Effective without colour
4.Scalable i.e. work when just an inch in size
5.Relevant to the industry in question

There are two items we’d add to this list.  The first thing that we’d add–as sort of a logical conclusion to the five points–is that simplicity is your friend.  If your logo is a complicated piece, it will be difficult for your audience to describe (and, by extension, remember) it will be difficult to scale, and, in all likelihood, it will lose its effectiveness without color.

The next point we’d add is that a good logo should be something you can love.    At the end of the day, any small business is going to live and die with the decisions that its owner makes. You don’t want to be overcritical, you don’t want to be paralyzed by perfectionism, but you also don’t want to represent your business (and, by extension,  yourself) with a logo that you hate.

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Our product lives and dies by its user base.  We’ve told people this before, but what makes us love our job (and our product) is the great community of users that we get to help build.  If we’re going to be successful it will be because of the great students who signed up to get work done.  With that in mind, today we’d like to draw some attention to one of the students who makes the OrangeSlyce community great.

Our first ever Student Spotlight is shining on Elizabeth Rice, a multitalented student at Arizona State University whose interests include Design Management, Film and Media Analysis.  Elizabeth has received gushing praise from pretty much every business that she’s done work for, which made her an obvious choice for our spotlight.  Ms. Rice took some time out of her packed schedule to answer a few quick questions for us.  After we completed the formalities, here’s how our interview went:

OS:   Going to jump right in here: what got you into Design Management, Film and Media? 

ER: I’m a very visual person so naturally I ended up in ASU’s College of Design (now the Herberger Institute for the Arts and Design).   I started down the path of interior design but not having a clear idea of what I wanted to do in terms of a career lead me to taking more business classes so I ended up in Design Management, which essentially married the two. 

Film was something I explored as an extension of loving movies and having an interest in the film industry and my second minor in Media Analysis actually became an interest of mine after interning for a semester with a local magazine.

OS: Very cool.  How’d you become interested in OrangeSlyce?

ER: Twitter!  Believe it or not OrangeSlyce started following me on Twitter so I looked at your twitter profile, checked out your website, liked what I saw, and the rest is history.

OS: And that history has included a great run of freelance work.  What advice would you have for someone thinking about getting into freelancing?

ER: My advice:  go for it!  Freelance work or project work is a great change to test out a new field, make connections, build your resume and overall see what types of work is available and figure out what you enjoy doing.

OS: Excellent advice.  Let’s talk a little more about your freelancing career, though.  To this point, what’s your crowning achievement?  Why?

ER: Honestly, any professional goal that I can check off my career development list is a crowning achievement to me.  Every job/internship I’ve had has come with crowning achievement moments but the achievements that I feel have been particularly crown worthy are those when I was presented with a new and often difficult project and accomplished it with a high level of success.

OS: That’s good to hear, because our next question is “do you love what you do?”

ER: Of course!  I have to love what I do because that is ultimately what makes it more fulfilling but also what makes me more successful at my job.  If I hated what I was doing I would change gears and pursue my career goals elsewhere. 

OS: Here’s an open forum to address all of our users.  If you could pick one thing to tell our other freelancers, what would you tell them?

ER:  Can I tell them two things?

OS: For you, Elizabeth, anything

ER: Thanks!  Here’s what I’d tell them:

First, take on as many internships/freelance work as you can.  Nothing has been more rewarding to me than actually working in the industries I enjoy and am studying and nothing has given me better insight pertaining to my own career planning.  We all think we know exactly what we want but the truth is you really can’t know what you want until you explore all of your options.  That’s what’s great about OrangeSlyce it gives you a chance to see what’s out there career-wise. 

The second thing we’d tell them, is to weigh your options and narrow your scope.  This is basically an extension of the above but after completing an internship or freelance project, reflect on what you’ve learned, what you liked and didn’t like and then decide if that kind of work is something you enjoy and would like to pursue.  Also, know that it is perfectly okay if you decide that a career path isn’t right for you.

OS: We’re glad we let you have the two things.  Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions, Elizabeth!

ER: Thanks! It was a lot of fun!

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