Let’s talk about self promotion for graphic designers. How important is it for designers and what kind of promotion is most effective? I’ve worked as an independent graphic designer for 6 years — these are my personal experiences;

Creating great projects for clients is always a good start and generates the best promotion as a designer. Being able to present your added value as a designer and showcase a range of good portfolio work makes you trustworthy for future clients. When you are just starting as a designer with no work experience or portfolio, try to be creative — for example: make an infographic about a nice subject, create an illustration for a local company or design a new font. There is lots of ways to show yourself as a designer, invest in yourself.

The way you present your work should always be in tune with the project itself. Try showcasing your work on location — you might have created a magazine, show it in a store shelf. I know this kind of portfolio-presentation is time-consuming, but it’s definitely worth it. You might even want to invest in a professional photographer to create the best images of your work or a copyrighter to type the best accompanying text. Do not only show the end-result of a project, try for example visualizing the concept, the question from the client, inspiration, typography or color pick. Show how you got to the end-result and — if relevant — what the actual outcome of the project was.

Define your own identity — do you work as an individual designer or do you present yourself as a company? Know who you want to work for and what kind of projects you want to do. Set goals for yourself and your brand. Focus on these goals when you promote yourself as a designer. Showcase work you want to do more often rather than work you didn’t like as much. Make sure future clients know what to expect when they will choose to work with you. Try to draw the attention of people you would like to work for; write them a letter with a (sample) selection of your finest work, add them to your mailinglist or suggest a new idea that would suit them.

Treat your own brand the same way you treat those of your clients — it would be inconsistent if you couldn’t handle your own brand but claim to be able to do so for clients!

If you promote yourself do it in a way that seems natural for the way you are. The majority of designers are too modest when it comes to talking about themselves and their work; get some confidence, but don’t over do it — no one wants to work with designers that seem completely full of themselves. Use social media to connect with fellow creative minds, clients and future clients. Get into conversations with these people about work related subjects. Ask your clients to promote you, by recommending you to their colleagues and friends or by mentioning you on social media — the opinions and experiences of the people we trust is worth a lot when it comes to hiring someone to do a job.

There are many ways to promote yourself — these are the basics and the most important before you start shouting out your name — please feel free to give any feedback or creative ideas about this subject!

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Graphic Designer for grfk.nl