Can I design for startups?
I am a graphics designer but I have no formal education or any kind of real work experience. I also happen to live halfway around the world from everyone else and can only contact clients through email or IM. I have seen many other "professional" designers online, and I am proud to say that I can design better websites and user interfaces than most of them (both in terms of aesthetics and usability).
I am however in financial trouble and urgently need a steady source of income. I know that a lot of startups are on tight budgets and I was wondering if any might need a good designer who designs for a lot less than regular designers.
So my question for HN is if I might be able to get some decent regular design work from startups. If so, how should I go about contacting them? If not, what do I need to do to get there?
33 comments
[ 5.2 ms ] story [ 79.0 ms ] threadThese are less important than a solid portfolio. Whether you're trying to reach startups or businesses in general, being able to direct them to a handful of sites you designed is a big help.
My email is in my profile. Can't promise you anything, but if your work is good and well priced I'll certainly keep you in mind.
I used a freelance site and all the screenshots were from sites that didn't exist. I'd be weary.
"can only contact clients through email or IM"
I would never contact this person.
"I am proud to say that I can design better websites and user interfaces than most of them (both in terms of aesthetics and usability)."
"urgently need a steady source of income"
Why are you in financial trouble?
Halfway round the world?
flagged.
it is:
- anonymous
- contains details that are none of our business, and which seem to be put there in order to sway a potential taker to hire you out of pity
- makes a bunch of claims but does not back those up
- asks for work but does not have any contact information
- put up a couple of links with stuff that you have done on a page somewhere (the start of a portfolio), if you have not done it for customers then show your own work. After all, if you say you can do it better show you can do it better.
- state who you are and where you can be reached. You're looking at entering in to a business relationship, that works best if everybody knows who they are dealing with.
- find small jobs. If you're really that hard up you have no interest in finding major redesigns simply because the turnaround time (and hence the time when you can send a bill) is long, smaller work is also easier to estimate, which is part art and part science, you need experience first to be able to estimate larger jobs.
- don't advertise that you are hard up, if you do you hollow out your own negotiation position, you are basically asking to be exploited (it also makes you seem weak and unprofessional), I take your word for it, please take mine that this is not the best way to present yourself.
- get yourself - with your portfolio - listed on all the designer job sites out there and make a competitive offer whenever someone approaches you
- spend time that you don't have work - yet - on honing your skills
I hope this helps you to get a foot on the ground somehow.
edit: a while ago somebody here posted a link to a bunch of job boards for freelancers and designers:
http://acrisdesign.com/2009/08/hello-world/
Which you have provided, implicitly. And your advice is pretty good. Though I think it could be phrased differently: The original submitter seems to be looking for a jolt of confidence, rather than a critique. So let me rephrase it in my Happy Voice [TM]:
- Yes, you can find work as a designer for startups!
- You should probably avoid sounding like a charity case!
- You should link to a portfolio!
- You should provide a name and contact information!
- It is possible that HN is not really the best place on which to do this directly! We do not enjoy being spammed with resumes! Consider (e.g.) putting all this stuff on your website and then writing a nice blog post or two and submitting those to HN! Or talk directly to a few of the companies that are always being mentioned here!
Good luck.
The second most important point in my opinion is reliability.
Once you get your first client, make sure to touch base regularly, keep them informed of the process and delays, ask questions and request feedback. If you do this (which really, is nothing but being professional) then you'll have an edge over most freelance graphic designers (in my own limited, but sad experience :)
If you're suffering from the chicken/egg problem (no contracts == no past work to show) then just do what the guy did with the zappos redesign: Pick a site that you think could look better, apply your magic, and publish that in the form of a blog post or just add it as a "proof of concept" to your portfolio.
You can also approach the site that you chose directly with your new design - if it's good then they might just buy it.
However if you have a portfolio and are not anonymous, feel free to email me at: contact at eiso-kant dot com.
Well, it sure would be easier if your profile wasn't anon. At least put a generic web mail address in your profile.
Working with a designer is alot of work from our side as well and I don't want to waste my time if I can't at least see some of your work.
design a portfolio for yourself. Sorry I can't pay you anything, but I want it done by next week.
"Hi everyone, my name is Real Name and I'm a graphic designer looking for new clients. I'm currently based in X country but am able to coordinate your project via IM/email and telephone if needed.
See my work here http://someurl.com My resume is here http://someurl.com
Thank you and have a nice day.
- My Real Name
---
All I heard from your post is "I'm some kid with no experience who's broke and thinks he better than everyone else, hire me"
Prove this (by building something and providing a url to your creation) and you will have no problems getting clients.
Just a simple text link at the bottom that reads 'pages designed by yourname'. That should go a long way to making sure that people can verify your claims.
In return, from your portfolio you will link to their site, a small screenshot for each customer that you've served will do. Seeing the backlink on those pages is the proof that you are really the designer of those pages.
btw, if anyone actually needs proof that i did in fact design it, just contact him through his site. I'll let him know that I posted on HN as anonymous512
Still, you will need to make a page that lists your accomplishments, in this particular case you won't be able to put up a link, but if you've been doing this for a while you should be able to go through your harddisk to find a couple of examples of what it is that you can do.
I understand that you are in Bangladesh, that should give you an excellent position from a competitive point of view, people from the 'third world' can undercut people from the west in ways that there simply is no competing with.
At the same time, there is a - healthy - amount of skepticism with respect to the originality of designs from people that there is no face to face contact with, it is all too easy to misdirect potential customers by showing them the work of somebody else.
In fact, if such a posting came by on HN I would probably forward it to a couple of people on the off-chance that they would be in the need of such a person and I would bookmark the posting.
Unjustified confidence might be, however. Frequently here we have a bunch of programmers who make the mistake of thinking that their code is 90% of their business, rather than 10%. You appear to be making the mistake thinking that your ability to design websites is 90% of what makes you a designer. You are overestimating that and underestimating, e.g., the amount of work you'll have to put into cultivating clients, acting in a professional manner, etc.
That is assuming that your self-analysis of your design skill ("better than most professionals") is accurate. 90% of the programmers I know of think they're above average, too.
I am however in financial trouble and urgently need a steady source of income.
Pro-tip: Never, ever tell a client this. It compromises your negotiating position, because it means that your best alternative to taking their terrible lowball offer is "starvation". Your position with regards to clients should always be that you are enthusiastic about working with them if a mutually satisfactory deal can be arranged. (This dynamic also works for standard employment and dating, I hear.)
Another tip: If you're as good as you think you are, underpricing to get clients is just going to result in you getting a lot of pathological bottom-feeders who a) do not appreciate what you bring to the table and b) will break you because you have not the foggiest idea of how to deal with clients yet. (See: the 90% of freelance designing which is not actually design.)
The best way to get a job doing X is to do X. If you want to make a cutting-edge Web 2.0 site and don't have a client, pick a recognizable name or just make one up -- Acme Widget Company, there, go to town. You can use that as the first of many things in your portfolio. Then start pressing the virtual flesh to meet people, for example via a blog (another opportunity to show off design chops).
(I am not affiliated with 99designs.com and this is not an ad.)
Someone that's trying to get started like this could wander through some of the cheaper jobs on there (where the payment has been "guaranteed"), do those, make a little money, keep going.
If you're actually any good, it would be a viable option.
Same in the photography world, unless you have a portfolio, everything else is BS.
But I still think it's spam.
Thanks for all the advice.
Post your portfolio to both those sites. Begin bidding on projects. Bid low first just to get some reviews / get your foot in the door. If you are good you will have people chasing you down soon.