Burn your portfolio read online. Michael Jada "Burn Your Portfolio"
You will learn that brainstorming often does more harm than good; that any employee from a design studio is replaceable, even if he is an art director; that “designers are from Mars, and customers are from Venus”; what do you have...
This book will provide much more for a successful career in design than a specialized design education or an impressive portfolio. You will become familiar with the realities of the design business, existing practices and unwritten rules of business that most designers, photographers and representatives of other creative professions learn about only after plunging into real work.
The book's author, Michael Janda, owner of his own design studio, shares in a sophisticated, humorous manner hundreds of tips he has learned over the 10 years he spent in the design business. Surprisingly funny, yet extremely useful, the book contains invaluable information about working in a team, building relationships with customers and colleagues, interacting with clients, and much more.
You will learn that brainstorming often does more harm than good; that any employee from a design studio is replaceable, even if he is an art director; that “designers are from Mars, and customers are from Venus”; that you only have 65 seconds to get a job or order. The book presents 111 unique author's tips, without understanding which starting work in the design business will seem like hell to you.
Burn your portfolio! What they don't teach in design schools Michael Janda
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Title: Burn your portfolio! What they don't teach in design schools
Author: Michael Janda
Year: 2013
Genre: Industry publications, Foreign business literature, Fine arts, photography
About the book “Burn Your Portfolio! What they don't teach in design schools" Michael Janda
This book will provide much more for a successful career in design than a specialized design education or an impressive portfolio. You will become familiar with the realities of the design business, existing practices and unwritten rules of business that most designers, photographers and representatives of other creative professions learn about only after plunging into real work.
The book's author, Michael Janda, owner of his own design studio, shares in a sophisticated, humorous manner hundreds of tips he has learned over the 10 years he spent in the design business. Surprisingly funny, yet extremely useful, the book contains invaluable information about working in a team, building relationships with customers and colleagues, interacting with clients, and much more.
You will learn that brainstorming often does more harm than good; that any employee in a design studio is replaceable, even if it is an art director; that “designers are from Mars, and customers are from Venus”; that you only have 65 seconds to get a job or order. The book presents 111 unique author's tips, without understanding which starting work in the design business will seem like hell to you.
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Quotes from the book “Burn Your Portfolio! What they don't teach in design schools" Michael Janda
Awareness of responsibility. All the stress that is associated with any project is directly proportional to the scale of the project: the larger the order, the more stress it requires. (Interestingly, the size of the parts of a project after it is divided is inversely proportional to the size of the project as a whole, that is, the larger the order, the smaller the individual tasks should be.)
Get yourself a timer. I don't mind meetings going quickly and tasks being completed strictly on schedule. It's amazing how quickly we work, knowing that we must meet the given time.
Take regular breaks from work. Get up and take a break. For example, the longer I sit at work, the more disordered my thoughts become. If you get up and take a short break, your thoughts will come into order and your work will be more productive.
Always try to be one step ahead in your work and exceed customer expectations at every opportunity.
When our agency was just getting on its feet, we decided to figure out where to find opportunities for further growth. To do this, we analyzed the key components of what we believed to be the key to the successful development of a design company. These include profitability, customer service and quality of work.
The more precisely you divide the project into digestible chunks, the easier it will be for your assistants to navigate what kind of help you need.
We broke the project into small tasks and thereby divided the burden of completing the project among seven reliable employees. In addition, we got seven people who volunteered to help us.
A lot of books have been written on the topic of time management and productivity. If you really want to organize your workday properly, go to a bookstore and buy something from this series. One of my favorites is the very popular book Getting Things Done by David Allen.
This book will provide much more for a successful career in design than a specialized design education or an impressive portfolio. You will become familiar with the realities of the design business, existing practices and unwritten rules of business that most designers, photographers and representatives of other creative professions learn about only after plunging into real work.
The book's author, Michael Janda, owner of his own design studio, shares in a sophisticated, humorous manner hundreds of tips he has learned over the 10 years he spent in the design business. Surprisingly funny, yet extremely useful, the book contains invaluable information about working in a team, building relationships with customers and colleagues, interacting with clients, and much more.
Characteristics of the book
Date written: 2013
Volume: 350 pages, 63 illustrations
ISBN: 978-5-496-01059-7
Translator: S. Silinsky
Copyright holder: Peter
Preface to the book “Burn Your Portfolio”
After receiving my university degree, I stuffed my thick portfolio into a leatherette folder and went looking for work. I was sure that fate would lead me to some super agency, where I would become a design megastar, amazing clients with incredible projects that I would develop for the world's largest companies.
A month passed of fruitless searches, visits to agencies, interviews, and finally I took my first position - a prepress operator at a local printing center AlphaGraphics. For nine dollars an hour, I truly became a design star: no one could center the text on a business card and send it to print better than I could.
It took me four years to get used to the Midwestern culture and the "Work Obsession is the Normal" slogan. I've come a long way from my wonderful printing center to the position of chief creative director of the studio Fox. There I mastered the skills of website design, development and editing Fox Kids And Fox Family.
Liquidation of our departments in the studio Fox led to me going on a free voyage for four years, and individual entrepreneurship provided me with an income that I had not hoped for when finishing my studies. I could afford everything I wanted and everything I needed. When I could no longer cope with the work alone, my wife convinced me that it was time to look for help. And now, a decade later, I have seventeen employees on my staff, and among the clients of my famous agency Riser- companies Google, Warner Bros., Disney, NBC And National Geographic.
Over the years, I have dealt with hundreds of designers and programmers; I talked to them, I hired them, I managed them. One thing I know for sure: a graphic design portfolio is what will help you connect with potential employers and clients. Design schools know this and spend ninety percent of their time trying to teach students during their studies how to create impressive portfolios of their work.
However, I also know that while design schools spend ninety percent of their time making sure graduates have top-notch portfolios, when you get hired, ninety percent of your portfolio is unnecessary for a successful creative career. Your portfolios are not even close to what can truly bring you success.
Teamwork, communication skills, including with clients, productivity and business savvy all play a huge role and will bring you success in graphic design, regardless of whether you are self-employed, work for an agency, or own your own firm. This book is designed to teach you everything that design schools don't teach.
Burn your portfolio? I agree, it is said strongly. But the lessons I've learned and described in this book are just as important as your genius design skills. Take these lessons to heart. Use them. These skills, plus your top-notch portfolio, will take you to the next level in the challenging business of graphic design.
A big secret
Talk to anyone I've worked with over the years and they'll probably say the same thing: "Michael Janda is, without a doubt, one of the most talented creators of run-of-the-mill graphic design in the world." I completely agree with this.
When it comes to design, everything is fine here. I'm definitely somewhere above average, but I know many designers who are orders of magnitude better than me (luckily, some of them work at my firm). However, few people have been as successful as I have been. Why do some amazingly talented people fail to realize grandiose plans, while mediocrity becomes famous? Lacking hard work? Or the ability to be in the right place on time? Or just luck?
The fact is that in graphic design (in almost all its fields), creative and professional skills are not particularly important either for the client or for your bosses. At the same time, there is no doubt that communication skills bring success. One of my favorite books of all time is Dale Carnegie's masterpiece How to Win Friends and Influence People, written back in 1936. I am sincerely convinced that absolutely everyone should read this book. Many have already done this; I myself have bought it, read it and given it away countless times.
According to Carnegie, only fifteen percent of success in finance is due to specialized knowledge, while eighty-five percent is due to personal qualities and leadership ability. A person who wants to earn more must not only have special knowledge, but also be able to express his thoughts, lead people and instill enthusiasm in them.
Carnegie quotes Rockefeller's famous words that the ability to communicate with people is a commodity like sugar or coffee, and he himself is willing to pay more for it than others. This is what Carnegie thinks students should be taught. But alas, he had not heard of such a course being taught at any university.
I have already admitted that I do not consider myself a brilliant designer. And I have enough modesty to say that I am not God knows what kind of leader (and many of my colleagues will agree with this). And I'm willing to say that my success in graphic design is due more to my ability to get along with people - bosses, subordinates, colleagues - than to my professional and design skills.
This is confirmed by the success of the team assembled in my agency - it consists of carefully selected professionals. And given Carnegie's book, it is not surprising that it is not the designer, the programmer, or even the project manager who gets the most. Oddly enough, the highest paid person is my right-hand man - the “president” of the company. Perhaps it would be more correct to call him “the main balabol.”
He is like a tightrope walker walking on a thin rope stretched between us and our clients. We can’t do without it, our clients love it, and our employees respect it. He doesn't own any shares in the company, but I share a fair share of the proceeds with him. And although he is not able to draw a road from his garage to his house, he is the life of the party. He is responsible for contacts with clients, which gives incredible results.
Carnegie's work shows that interpersonal skills are important not only to my own success as an agency owner, but also to my employees.
This book is not a platform with which I will share the secrets of management and communication. There are people much more qualified than me and they can provide a wealth of information on this topic. And the format of this book allows you to convey the idea that excellent skills in graphic design are only fifteen percent of success in the profession, but not ninety, as they convince you in design schools. To achieve real success, start working on your people skills now.
If you're going for a career as a graphic designer, you need to put effort and time into developing your communication skills. The easier it is for you to find common language with clients and colleagues, the better for you. People will be delighted with the excellent service you provided them, and you will begin to reap the rewards of a lot of hard work and a job well done.
Rated the book
If you are a graphic designer, then this must-read book is for you! However, if you are not a graphic designer, it will also be interesting for you, since everything that the author talks about can be adapted to any field of activity.
This book must be included in the list of required literature for creative... no, for all specialties! Its content goes beyond one profession; it tells about the winding paths in the world of unspoken rules and how different types of personalities manifest themselves at work.
Jane Bang,
production designer and consultant
studio Sony Pictures Entertainment.In fact, this is an amazing book! It talks about seemingly elementary things, but many people do not know about them. For example, how to behave in a work team, how to behave with your superiors, in some places even how to start your own business, how to behave with your subordinates. Oooh, it will be extremely useful for most bosses.
Michael Janda touched on almost everything that any company faces on a daily basis, and gave advice for each case. And this is not just a dry, boring, useless theory, but on the contrary, very lively, practical advice on: interaction with customers, partners, staff, financial management. There are many examples of how to communicate with customers via email. Just copy and send to your customers!
Despite the fact that the book describes things that seem boring at first glance about the internal environment and organization, they actually are not so. The book is very easy and quick to read, because it is incredibly interesting, filled with living examples of a real person and his company.
To succeed in this industry, talent and skinny jeans are not enough. Finally, there is a book for creatives with real and practice-tested tips on how to become a successful designer. I have been working in this field for thirteen years, but after reading the book, I felt like a baby. I recommend it to all designers and developers.
Josh Child
director of creative department at Riser.
Rated the book
Just finished reading this book.
In general, when I ordered it, I didn’t really pay attention to the annotation, I thought that there would be mini-courses on how to draw beautifully. It turned out to be a kind of biography of the author, in which he tells what kind of troubles he got into with clients, with orders, with subordinates, how to plan a working day and, in the end, how much you cost.
In fact, graphic design is mentioned there only in connection with the author’s field of work, and everything that is written in this book can be applied both when studying business in any other field, and for ordinary workers who want to broaden their horizons and look at the world through the eyes of the employer.
The chapters are small. The book is written easily, is interesting to read, and does not make you sleepy.
The only omission is that it is not suitable for the Russian market. Everything here seems to be the same, only the people are completely different.
I recommend it to everyone who is interested in topics of business, entrepreneurship, and graphic design!
Rated the book
Just a few weeks ago I finished reading this wonderful book. Why did I like her so much?
1. The first thing that catches your eye is the pleasant, competent design of both the text and illustrations, fonts, page layout, and so on. The material is structured and well presented. Important quotes are listed on a separate page. So you can either read the text in its entirety or quickly skim through the main ideas. You immediately understand that you have in your hands a book about design and for design.
2. Universal book. In fact, Michael’s advice can be used not only by graphic designers, but also by students, freelance artists, entrepreneurs, managers and many other people whose professions are not related to design, since most of the advice is related to the eternal issues of organizing both their own and collective work, culture of working with clients, about all sorts of pitfalls that are found in any project, and ways to solve long-term and short-term problems. Of course, the situation in the American arena is being considered here, but you can also adjust and transform the material according to circumstances.
3. Not abstract mantras, but reality. Michael Janda is a real person and he shares his rich life experiences without any hint of a moral lecture or a seminar from a popular coach. Almost all of his advice is supported by interesting life stories. You feel an invisible hand patting you on the shoulder and saying: “Dude, pay attention to this! Don’t step on my rake and it will be much easier for you in the future.”
I bought this book because, even before entering university, I wanted to take a look behind the scenes of the world of design and, perhaps, receive useful recommendations for the future. Now this is my reference book, another guiding star in the sky.
Even now, when I start working on small commissions for art or illustrations, I use the book as a guide. I will definitely continue to do this in the future.
© 2013 by Mychael C. Janda
© Translation into Russian LLC Publishing House "Piter", 2015
© Edition in Russian, designed by Peter Publishing House LLC, 2015
* * *
How I wish I could smack every designer I've worked with over the head with this book, and it's a heavy book... Then I'd tell them to read it cover to cover, because Michael Janda will teach them how to avoid the mistakes they make in design almost everything.
– Dave Crenshawauthor of The Myth of Multitasking and The Focused Business
“Burn Your Portfolio” is a unique guide for designers and programmers who envision bright prospects for themselves in this business. Every designer should read it. Michael draws the reader into this process through examples rather than argument. And he managed to make the book come alive by telling incidents from his experience. And although he speaks primarily to designers, his talk about honing communication skills will be incredibly useful in any field. This is what makes me, the client, read this book again and again.
– Cheryl Saban, Ph.D.author of the book “What Is Your Self-Worth? A Woman’s Guide to Validation" and founder Self Worth Foundation
I studied to be a designer and then went to Mike Gianda to teach me the design business. He's an incredible person. I have yet to meet anyone who understands all the problems I faced after my studies. Being a sole proprietor, negotiating contracts, making the best decisions and working with a wide variety of clients – Janda explains it all. Time flies in his classes, his explanations are clear to any listener and are so useful that you will use his advice every day.
– Lorilee Rager director Thrive Creative Group
Do you want your design career to become torture? You do not want? Then throw down your tablet and pick up Michael Janda's book. He gives clear, understandable and practical advice that will enable you to succeed in the design business. Your clients will be happy, and your assistants will work more efficiently. Even if you are an individual entrepreneur and your own boss, the conclusions, truisms and humor of this book will significantly complement your design arsenal.
– Mark Seeryvice president Media Products, NBC Universal
“Burn Your Portfolio” is awesome! This is the most entertaining, useful and fun guide for people in creative professions, written by a person working in this field. Janda is a genius when it comes to how to manage client expectations, how to navigate the creative process, and how to run a successful design business. Janda and I worked in a company Fox, and my career is so successful because of him and his cool ways of working.
– Allison Ellisdirector Hopscotch Consulting
Michael Janda is the man to listen to if you want to succeed in the creative field! No one I know has such talent, experience and ability to survive. In this book, the reader will find brilliant professional advice and advice of the highest quality.
– Jeff Jollythe president Riser
The expression "poor artist" is no longer relevant because Burn Your Portfolio gives artists and designers the key to success in such a competitive market where those who relied solely on their talent often failed. Artists! READ THIS BOOK!
– Mark Longfounder RetouchUp / Hollywood FotoFix
Incredible! Michael Janda gives us invaluable advice on how to become a star in the creative industry. He gives examples from real practice and shares his experience, that is, what you don’t always learn on websites or in art schools. Full of memorable details and written in lively language, this book will serve as a constant source of inspiration.
– Linda Hodgefreelance artist and graphic designer
Mike Janda knows that you can't make a career out of talent alone. To gain a foothold in business, you need certain skills. In this book, he shares the essence of his experience, and does it briefly, with humor, in a way that is memorable.
– Lawrence Terenzi
director of development department Crackle
To succeed in this industry, talent and skinny jeans are not enough. Finally, a book for creatives with real, tried-and-true advice on how to become a successful designer. I have been working in this field for thirteen years, but after reading the book, I felt like a baby. I recommend it to all designers and developers.
– Josh Childdirector of creative department Riser
As a professional designer with sixteen years of experience, I can speak with confidence about the importance and wisdom of the principles outlined in the book. They help not only designers starting to work in this field, but also those who have been working for many years.
Talent is not enough to master creative skills. This book will help you really evaluate your abilities and find those niches in which you need to improve yourself. By putting Michael's advice into practice, you'll notice your creativity grow as you find new ways to solve problems, not necessarily related to design, but also in areas such as customer communication, business strategy, and business ethics. It's all connected. I learned a lot about myself when I began to follow the recommendations in practice, and was able to develop my own action plan, which helped me establish contacts with clients and company employees.
I have always had the utmost respect for Michael Janda as an experienced, creative person and successful businessman. Reading this book and hearing him talk about what he learned along the way gave me even more respect for him. I recommend this book to all creative people, regardless of level of training or experience.
– John Thomaschief and creative director Blue Tractor Design
This is more than a book. This is an emergency kit for those engaged in creative work. On its pages you will find information on how to create and manage a business at the same time. Each section is filled with practical advice from first-hand sources. Anyone who wants to make their business even more successful can use these tips.
– Chris ChristensenCEO Global Learning and Alexion Pharmaceutical
I have known Mike Gianda for over thirteen years. I watched his company grow from a small web agency to become a leading company in its industry. I still remember meeting Mike when he was our creative director and I was fresh out of college. My boss sent me to pick up some booklet from Mike. I remember our conversation: he was incredibly respectful and sincere, although no one forced him to be nice to the newcomer. And not at all because he knew who I was in the company. I believe that Mike has all the qualities that a leader should develop. He is honest, responsible and, most importantly, enjoys his work. In this fast-paced industry, it's hard to find people you can completely trust, but I always knew Mike wouldn't let me down. Being a pleasant person is not a professional secret, but a quality that you cannot buy in a computer store!
– Thuy (Twi) Tran,senior software company producer ABC Family
My acquaintance with Mike happened when I was applying for a job. He tore my portfolio to smithereens, but at the same time managed to discover grains of talent in me (tiny ones). And then he helped me formulate my business plan right away. They still hired me. From Mike I learned how to overcome my own laziness and many other necessary things and skills that I use to this day. How lucky the entire design community is that Mike was able to combine all his advice into one guide, and did it with humor and knowledge!
– Ray Woods IIDirector of User Relations NBC Universal
This book is dedicated to my family - Jodie, Max, Mason and Miles. Thank you for your amazing support and for allowing me to achieve my dreams.
I love you more than my jeep and team Chicago Bears combined.
Burn your portfolio? Indeed?
After receiving my university degree, I stuffed my thick portfolio into a leatherette folder and went looking for work. I was sure that fate would lead me to some super agency, where I would become a design megastar, amazing clients with incredible projects that I would develop for the world's largest companies.
A month passed of fruitless searches, visits to agencies, interviews, and finally I took my first position - prepress operator at a local printing center AlphaGraphics. For nine dollars an hour, I truly became a design star: no one could center the text on a business card and send it to print better than I could.
It took me four years to get used to the Midwestern culture and the "Work Obsession is the Normal" slogan. I've come a long way from my wonderful printing center to the position of chief creative director of the studio Fox. There I mastered the skills of website design, development and editing Fox Kids And Fox Family.
Liquidation of our departments in the studio Fox led to me going on a free voyage for four years, and individual entrepreneurship provided me with an income that I had not hoped for when finishing my studies. I could afford everything I wanted and everything I needed. When I could no longer cope with the work alone, my wife convinced me that it was time to look for help. And now, a decade later, I have seventeen employees on my staff, and among the clients of my famous agency Riser– companies Google, Warner Bros., Disney, NBC And National Geographic.
Over the years, I have dealt with hundreds of designers and programmers; I talked to them, I hired them, I managed them. One thing I know for sure: a graphic design portfolio is what will help you connect with potential employers and clients. Design schools know this and spend ninety percent of their time trying to teach students during their studies how to create impressive portfolios of their work.
However, I also know that while design schools spend ninety percent of their time making sure graduates have top-notch portfolios, when you get hired, ninety percent of your portfolio is unnecessary for a successful creative career. Your portfolios are not even close to what can truly bring you success.
Teamwork, communication skills, including with clients, productivity and business savvy all play a huge role and will bring you success in graphic design, regardless of whether you are self-employed, work for an agency, or own your own firm. This book is designed to teach you everything that design schools don't teach.
Burn your portfolio? I agree, it is said strongly. But the lessons I've learned and described in this book are just as important as your genius design skills. Take these lessons to heart. Use them. These skills, plus your top-notch portfolio, will take you to the next level in the challenging business of graphic design.
Acknowledgments
When I remember what prompted me to write this book, I see the faces of those whom I was lucky enough to meet in life. It is impossible not to mention some of them here.
First of all, this is my wife Jodi. I appreciate that you have always supported all my aspirations. In those rare moments when I did not turn to you for advice, you managed to run the household and provided me with the freedom so necessary for success. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am. Saying “thank you” is not enough. I love you.
To my parents, Denis and Nancy, thank you for teaching me to be principled, instilling the desire to succeed, and supporting my desire to make a living doing what I love.
My father-in-law and mother-in-law, Gary and Connie Ellen, you taught me life lessons that are reflected in this book. Thank you for supporting me like your own son.
Alan Rogers, you became an example and mentor for me when I was in my early twenties, teaching me how to be a leader, teacher and manager. Much of my success comes from the foundation you helped me lay.
Sarah Robins, my college professor. You made art such an interesting subject that I chose it as my profession.
A few colleagues (former and current), family members and friends who definitely need to be mentioned. Jeff Jolly, Rachel Ellen, Chris Christensen, Mark Siri, Ray Woods, Thuy Tran, Grandpa Zwick, Eric Lee, Darel Gough, Derek Ellis, John Thomas, Josh Child and Mark Long - you have inspired me and led me to new heights.
And all company employees Janda Design, Jandaco, Riser Media, Riser- past, present and future - thank you for going through difficult times with me when we were just about to solve the problems facing a start-up company. Forgive me, but I always acted with the best intentions.
Nick Jarvis, thank you for the amazing illustrations and your help in making this book possible. You are a rare talent.
Jenna Mitchell, thanks for the edit. You directed the work on the book in the right direction.
Jen Seymour, editor of this book, you are amazing. You are the embodiment of the principle “Obsession with work is the norm.”
And finally, to all employees of the company Peachpit Press and personally, Nicky Macdonald, thank you for believing in me and for convincing me to give up the title “How to make candy out of shit” :-)
Part I
Engineers of human souls
Behavior, work ethic and social skills are as important to success as your Photoshop skills, which you will remember even if you are woken up in the middle of the night.
A big secret
Talk to anyone I've worked with over the years and they'll probably say the same thing: "Michael Janda is, without a doubt, one of the most talented creators of run-of-the-mill graphic design in the world." I completely agree with this.
When it comes to design, everything is fine here. I'm definitely somewhere above average, but I know many designers who are orders of magnitude better than me (luckily, some of them work at my firm). However, few people have been as successful as I have been. Why do some amazingly talented people fail to realize grandiose plans, while mediocrity becomes famous? Lacking hard work? Or the ability to be in the right place on time? Or just luck?
The fact is that in graphic design (in almost all its fields), creative and professional skills are not particularly important either for the client or for your bosses. At the same time, there is no doubt that communication skills bring success. One of my favorite books of all time is Dale Carnegie's masterpiece How to Win Friends and Influence People, written back in 1936. I am sincerely convinced that absolutely everyone should read this book. Many have already done this; I myself have bought it, read it and given it away countless times.
According to Carnegie, only fifteen percent of success in finance is due to specialized knowledge, while eighty-five percent is due to personal qualities and leadership ability. A person who wants to earn more must not only have special knowledge, but also be able to express his thoughts, lead people and instill enthusiasm in them.
Carnegie cites Rockefeller's famous words that the ability to communicate with people is a commodity like sugar or coffee, and he himself is willing to pay more for it than others. This is what Carnegie thinks students should be taught. But alas, he had not heard of such a course being taught at any university.
I have already admitted that I do not consider myself a brilliant designer. And I have enough modesty to say that I am not God knows what kind of leader (and many of my colleagues will agree with this). And I would argue that my success in graphic design is due more to my ability to get along with people - bosses, subordinates, colleagues - than to my professional and design skills.
This is confirmed by the success of the team assembled in my agency - it consists of carefully selected professionals. And given Carnegie's book, it is not surprising that it is not the designer, the programmer, or even the project manager who gets the most. Oddly enough, the highest paid person is my right-hand man - the “president” of the company. Perhaps it would be more correct to call him “the main balabol.”
He is like a tightrope walker walking on a thin rope stretched between us and our clients. We can’t do without it, our clients love it, and our employees respect it. He doesn't own any shares in the company, but I share a fair share of the proceeds with him. And although he is not able to draw a road from his garage to his house, he is the life of the party. He is responsible for contacts with clients, which gives incredible results.
Carnegie's work shows that interpersonal skills are important not only to my own success as an agency owner, but also to my employees.
This book is not a platform with which I will share the secrets of management and communication. There are people much more qualified than me and they can provide a wealth of information on this topic. And the format of this book allows you to convey the idea that excellent skills in graphic design are only fifteen percent of success in the profession, but not ninety, as they convince you in design schools. To achieve real success, start working on your people skills now.
If you're going for a career as a graphic designer, you need to put effort and time into developing your communication skills. The easier it is for you to find common language with clients and colleagues, the better for you. People will be delighted with the excellent service you provided them, and you will begin to reap the rewards of a lot of hard work and a job well done.
If you want to succeed in graphic design, you need to focus your time and effort on your communication skills.
Spare no time and effort
When I first started working (and this “undertaking” took two years), I had the opportunity to experience for myself how easy it is to move up the career ladder if you do something that exceeds the expectations of your superiors. The year was 1998, and a Phoenix company that produced children's toys, games, and books invited me to design a new corporate website.
The Internet era was beginning, and our entire population was excited about the possibilities of the Internet. A similar excitement was observed only during the gold rush in California 150 years ago. The ambitious director of the company who hired me had big plans for his ship’s first Internet voyage. He imagined that a person visiting the site would be greeted by shelves of books. The user will be able to hover over the desired book, see its contents, and then buy it directly from the virtual shelf.
Luckily, I already had some experience with early Flash and 3D computer graphics. I believe that due to the newness of the technology there were few applicants for my position, but one way or another, I was certainly glad that I got it.
Spending my time and effort was normal for me because I believe I was born with the desire to help others. From the very first day I began to do more than the customer expected of me. He wanted a bookshelf - I modeled a 3D bookstore space with bookshelves. Then, using Flash, I made the 3D model interactive (at that time, the main functionality of Flash was just drop-down menus).
Once a room appeared on the screen, the user could hover over a shelf and the image would enlarge. After this, the user hovered over the spine of the book, clicked the mouse button, and... the book fell from the shelf, and some of its pages opened, allowing the contents to be seen. Additionally, my 3D store had small interactive elements added to keep the user interested. When the user clicked on an icon, a ball began to jump across the screen. When the user hovered over individual items, a tiger would jump out of the book with a tooltip telling them what to do next.
I also created a simple shopping system and loaded it into an HTML frame so that when a user clicked on a product, they could make a purchase on the site. All in all, this was all pretty primitive by today's standards, but no one had thought of it at the time.
Needless to say, the director was delighted, because he ordered a shelf and received an entire virtual store. He immediately raised my salary and suggested adding another element - a room where the user could go to get acquainted with the company's activities. I got to work. The first thing I did was build a door to the virtual store. The user pointed at the door and it opened. When he clicked on the door with the mouse, a new room was loaded in which he could get information about the company. However, I understood that I could only surprise my new boss if I managed to exceed his expectations. I made a 3D model of the street, and when a user visited the site, he saw the entrance to the store - a fancy brick facade that could clearly interest a potential buyer.
When I showed all this to the director, he was delighted again. He expected to get a room, but I made him a whole building. This time he suggested that I bring in someone else and add some new rooms to the virtual store. I found a very capable person, and our small team set to work on the entire city (even though the director was only expecting a few rooms!). When he asked us to add some buildings, we created a whole world with different climate zones (Arctic, jungle, tropics, etc.). He asked to add new climate zones, and we made a whole galaxy.
Over the next year and a half, during which I never ceased to amaze the director, I managed to put together a team of about ten people, and we worked on creating a website oKID.com. This internet site was one of the first of its kind. It contained internet games, cartoons, educational materials, information for sponsors, an online club and, of course, an online store (in fact, this is where the creation of this world began). His characters were wonderful and unusual children whose names began with the letter “O”: Owen, Olivia, Oscar, Orchid, Oddball, etc.
Every morning around half past eight the director called me and asked me to show him new attractions of the site. Our team even made it a point to give daily presentations to show how we were exceeding his expectations. The director showed our site to interested parties and received millions of dollars from investors. In less than two years, my salary doubled. I gained experience, my portfolio became more and more impressive, so I could speak quite confidently about my future.
The best graphic designers strive to exceed the client's expectations with every new project and every client. If a client expects you to send two computers, send them three. If your boss expects you to work at three o'clock in the afternoon, be prepared for two. Always try to be one step ahead in your work and exceed customer expectations at every opportunity.
