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

So you’ve started your business and have all that you need to get it going…that is until you realize you need a logo, and a website designed, and a background for twitter and facebook.  Sure you could Google designers in AZ and find someone that has an awesome portfolio and really impressive clients but that can get real expensive real fast.  Now what? Hire a student designer!  Here’s why:

1.) They are affordable:  That’s definitely the best part!  Most student designers are in need of experience and samples for their portfolio and are willing to work for a fraction of the cost of a boutique design studio.

2.) They are talented:  Did you know that the ASU graphic design program is one of the most prestigious at ASU and due to this only the best are accepted?  Students are expected to deliver amazing work under tight deadlines using only the best that technology can provide so keep this in mind if you still aren’t convinced that a mere student can do your logo justice.

3.) They have fresh ideas:  In the design world youth is definitely a bonus simply because with youth comes with a fresh perspective.  Since a student is relatively new to the field, they bring new ideas and don’t simply repeat old ones with different colors and typography.

4.) They do what you ask:  Because they are happy to get any paying work, customer service will be attentive and prompt.  You don’t have to worry about being forgotten due to other clients and best of all, a student won’t try to sell you any additional services.

5.) They are temps:  Once you get the services that you need, both parties are free to go their own separate ways.  No commitment, no awkward conversations just great work for you and great experience for the student.

Still think a design firm is the way to go?  Of course not!  Make an Orange Slyce account today and find your perfect student designer.

Have some feedback?  Leave me a comment

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Part of being a successful business owner is knowing who your customers even are. Before deciding that you need a logo designed or copy to be written, take some time to figure out who you plan on providing your product or service to. Today, Lifehacker featured MyBestSegments, and showed how you can use this tool from Nielson to see how you are marketed to. This is mildly interesting if you’re a consumer, but a powerful tool as a business.

You Are Where You Live
By entering the zip codes in the area you are hoping to target, You Are Where You Live will show you the major demographics according to Nielsen’s lifestyle segmentation systems. Let’s take beautiful Tempe, Arizona for example.

Tempe ranks high segments like Bohemian Mix and Young Influentials. By clicking on the descriptions of the segments, you get explainations detailing traits like income and age ranges, ethnic diversity and education levels as well as housing arrangements. The site explains “Bohemian Mixers are the early adopters who are quick to check out the latest movie, nightclub, laptop, and microbrew.”

Targeted Design
Knowing the kinds of people living in your area should now help you in your design process. Living in an area with finicky consumers with tastes for new and fresh ideas would warrant having a modern logo design and a marketing campaign showing your new products. Having customers with more conservative wants would guide you to choosing a more classic look with familiar tones and conventional advertising.

Just because you are different than everyone else doesn’t guarantee you business success. Finding where you fall in the location you plan on doing business in will make you more successful than just trying to stand out. Guide your design and marketing programs accordingly and you’ll become a part of the community.

• MyBestSegments – You Are Where You Live

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In any project work–whether you’re a designer or a small business owner–you should absolutely commit what you expect out of the project to paper.  Writing contracts is difficult, and we’d advise seeking the help of an attorney.  Of course, we’re also realists: lawyers are expensive, and it’s highly feasible that you can’t afford one for every project you do.  Even still,  you should still be agreeing to some key terms with the other party.  Today we’re going to talk about one of those key terms: Who keeps the copyright?

In cases of things like logo design, it’s pretty critical for a business to own the copyright as a means of protecting its identity and its brand.  Designers, of course, also have reasons to want to retain a copyright–such as the ability to use prior works as a template.

There are two basic solutions to this question.

1) The designer assigns the copyright to the business

Essentially, this means that the designer sells the rights to the work to the business.  The business, in effect, becomes the copyright holder.

For this to happen, the assignment agreement (including any limitations) must be committed to writing.

2) The designer grants a license to the business

In essence, this grants the business permission to use the design, but no copyright.  After that, things get a bit more complicated; and if you go this route, there are a lot of questions to be answered (eg: is the license exclusive or non-exclusive, is the license revocable or irrevocable, is the license limited or perpetual, etc).  While certain types of licenses can effectively exist without any written agreement, it’s probably wise for both parties to put their agreement in writing*.

*Understand that we say this as people versed in the freelance business, not the law.  We’re giving business advice, not legal advice: if you really want legal advice, your best bet, as always, is to talk to a lawyer.

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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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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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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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