Putting a Value On it

Not so long ago, when I had slightly less hair and a much slimmer waistline, I decided to wander blindly into the dark and mysterious world of freelancing. Was I prepared for what I’d find? Not really. Have I learned anything since then? Yes, one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn is how to price my services.

Now I know that I’m unlikely to ever command the sort of rates that some of the masters of this trade might charge, but I’m also becoming more and more conscious of how much what I do is actually worth. One of the pitfalls I stumbled into when I started out was thinking ”Oh, that’s easy I can do that in a couple of hours.” I do work quickly and there are times when I can throw something together in no time, but the problem with this hypothesis is that things aren’t usually that simple.

There are times when that supposedly jaw-droppingly brilliant concept I had in my head just doesn’t cut the mustard on screen. There are times when the goal posts move; when that flyer I was designing to advertise three new products suddenly has to find room for the another offering. There are other times when the client simply doesn’t like whatever I’ve come up with. All of these scenarios mean one thing… back to the drawing board Antony.

Suddenly that “simple, two hour job” has become a nightmare that is taking twice as long as I’d thought. It soon became clear that I needed to wise up.

What did I do? I learned that all of my time has a value, not just the time I spend clicking away in front of a computer screen. This allowed me to be more realistic when considering how long something was likely to take me

Secondly, depending on the size of the job, I decided to add a small amount to my original estimate. That way there is a small cushion, should something unexpected happen. Initially, I felt like I was somehow fleecing my clients, although upon reflection I realised that this wasn’t so; I always give a price before starting any work, so the client always knows what they will pay before proceeding.

The moral of the story is our time is valuable and we deserve to be paid fairly for what we do.

Word count: 400 Words

Removing the Mystique

Before joining this course, I’d always harboured a distant interest in learning how to code websites. However, I’d never really dared to venture out there and dip my toe in the water. Occasionally, I’d take a brief look at a website that dealt with the ‘basics’ of HTML, only to find myself feeling totally perplexed by this seemly mystical language and the celestial beings that were proselytising such alien doctrines.

Learning how to code, and ultimately how to build websites properly, was one of the main things I was hoping to get out of the course. Although somewhat exciting, this prospect was also tinged with an element of apprehension and self doubt. What would happen if I didn’t like it? Or worse; what if, try as I might, I simply couldn’t get my head around things?

During the first semester it was easy to put these feelings on ice, although when the day we were due to be given our first taste of code day finally came around it couldn’t have come at a worse time. I’d just experienced a short, but rather tempestuous period, when my emotions had been up in the air and I’d had to ask some tough questions of the course and myself. These feelings were compounded by the fact that the winter break seemed to have been extended by the severe weather and my mind was still in holiday mode. By the time that fateful day arrived, I was a little all over the place and struggling to motivate myself.

I was pleased to find that these feelings soon passed and the day went well. Of course we were only putting into practice some very basic elements of HTML, but it made such a difference to actually do something practical rather than just reading a book or a website.

I’m not naïve enough to believe that just because this first lesson went smoothly it means I will take to things like a duck to water, but I have to admit this introduction to HTML has certainly boosted my confidence, settled my nerves and, perhaps more importantly, whetted my appetite for what lies ahead.

Everything so far has seemed reasonably logical and, much to my surprise, I actually seem to be enjoying it much more than I expected to. I’ve found myself thinking “Maybe this HTML thing won’t be so bad after all.”

Word Count: 400

Semester One: Where Did it Go?

"I’m happy being introspective."

On the first day of term, I was relieved to discover that I wasn’t the old guy on a course full of school leavers. The group benefited from a good mix of people across a wide age range. There were certain people whose experience I hoped I’d be able to learn from and even people that might be able to benefit from some of my own knowledge and experiences.

The first assignment wasn’t what I was hoping for at all. It’s been an awful long time since I’ve had to write anything remotely academic and the thought of putting this thing together scared the living daylights out of me. On the other hand, the prospect of actually conducting the interviews wasn’t particularly daunting, but I was still eager to ensure I asked the right questions and got the information I’d need to create a good report.

I honestly thought I’d done alright on this one. That is, until the grades came back. It seems I’d been quite wide of the mark and I’d created something that, as Steve Smith said, was ‘More akin to a newspaper report’. So, while I still managed to pass the assignment, the low grade was a disappointment as I’d tried really hard to make the report read well and engage the reader. Of course, I know now that isn’t what I’d been asked to do, so perhaps if I’d asked more questions and probed a little deeper I might have done better.

I felt far more comfortable with the introduction of the PPD assignments. I’d never really done anything like this before, but I’m happy being  introspective and expressing what I see. At the same time, I’m only human so there are natural barriers that I sometimes have to step beyond, but on the whole I feel reasonably confident about this aspect of the course.

I feel that the way in which we’ve been introduced to WordPress has allowed me the time I need to find my feet rather than simply being plunged straight in at the deep-end.  However, with hind-sight I know that I should have spent more time playing around with some of the features to gain a broader understanding of how things work rather than just concentrating on the bare minimum I’d need to get through the assignments.

Probably the biggest project we had to work on last semester was the Interface Design module. The nature of the task seemed straight-forward enough and once again I felt that it was well within my comfort zone.

As strange as it sounds, this may have actually been to my detriment because I felt so at ease with the task I didn’t feel a need to do a huge amount of ideas generation work. That might not have been so bad if such a large percentage of the mark didn’t ride on this. I know I’d have done better if I’d spent more time creating a wider ranging and deeper scope of ideas, but this is something I really struggle with. Within my professional capacity there is no way I would ever have the time to do this so it’s something I’m really going to have to work hard to overcome.

This leads me on to the Typography module; this was, without a doubt, my favourite of the semester. I thoroughly enjoyed the tasks we were given and I also appreciated learning about some of the typographic theory. Despite the fact that I’ve been doing some of these things unconsciously for several years now, I’ve never had any kind of training so it was good to learn about some of the terminology I might have heard before but never properly understood.

Like most people, the exam was the part of the module that appealed to me least. I was at school the last time I was faced with anything of this nature and my memories of these occasions are far from fond. I think the key here was preparation and, for someone who hates planning and preparation, I was pretty pleased with myself as I really tried to prepare as much as I could. Consequently, I think the exam went really well, but the grades may paint a different story so I’ll have to wait and see.

Overall, I have to say I’m generally happy with my progress on the course so far, but there are sure to be many ups and downs and much more hard work ahead!

Word Count: 750

Where I am going

In my last post, I touched upon the fact that I have a distinct loathing for anything that involves any kind of planning, forward thinking or organisation. Although, I guess the simple fact that I am writing this post and setting some goals means that this something I’m going to have to deal with.

My choice is simple; either carry on living day to day without any concrete idea of what I need to achieve and how to do it, or tighten up and adopt a more structured way of working.

To be honest, I’m not going to be able to implement fundamental changes over-night, so, what am I going to do? I think the first thing I need to think about is how I might be able to use my time better. Leaving everything until the last minute might have got me by up until now, but maybe I could do things to a better standard if I used more of the time available to me.

As much as it sounds straight-forward enough in theory, I know I’m going to struggle with this as it is something that is so deeply ingrained within my character. However, on the positive side, just imagine how much stress and hassle I could remove from deadline situations – wow, I think I might actually be selling this to myself!

This leads me on to the next element I’d like to improve upon which is ideas generation. I’ve already made a little progress within this area as I’ve now found myself in situations where I’ve had to plan what I’m going to do for some of the typography tasks.

Ideally, I’d like to get to a stage where I’m more comfortable with doing sketch-book work, because even though I have been embracing the idea of ideas generation, I do rely quite a lot on the trusty old computer. There is something about the level of precision and order that you can achieve with a computer and it just seems to feel safer than all of those messy, random lines you get with a pen and paper.

Professionally, I think I’d like to continue working freelance. When I joined the course I had a brief period when I thought that, once I finish college, I might like to work within a small company. To be honest that was probably a slightly deluded notion. The more I think about it, the more I realise that I have become pretty much unemployable. I just don’t think I could go back to working for someone else.

This leaves me with the opportunity to use this time at college to gain experience and contacts that will ultimately help me develop my freelance business. Who knows, one day I may even think about expanding and taking on further employees.

In summary, these are my main educational and professional targets:

• Manage time better.
• Develop ideas generation techniques.
• Develop experience and contacts for the future.
• Expand my business.

 

Word Count: 500

Where I am now

I just can’t help acting on impulse. Unfortunately, this often means that preparation and planning end up being filed away in the section marked “Dinosaurs and Dodos”. I can’t even argue that I’m capable of making good solid plans and sticking to them if I want to, because if the truth be known, I’m totally useless at it; it’s something I’ve never really done as I find it wholly uninspiring and mind numbingly boring.

Why spend hours thinking about what you are going to do when you can steam on in there and actually do it, right? Well, sometimes I suppose this may be true, although despite my obvious lack of enthusiasm for planning and organisation I can see they have their place. However, if we’re being really honest I kind of like the excitement of leaving things until the last minute and putting myself under a little bit of pressure. It’s the buzz of a deadline that brings what I do to life and helps me get the best from myself – well, usually anyway.

The way in which I make instant, split second decisions is another part of my professional personality that is a little bit of a double edged sword. In one respect it’s great to be able to think on your feet without too much deliberation or procrastination, on the other it’s easy to rush in to things without giving them adequate thought. I found out about this course only a couple of weeks before it started and a fortnight later I was walking into the classroom -quick thinking, or rash decision? Only time will tell!

Certain parts of the course require an element of ideas generation and I find this kind of thing incredibly difficult. As I said above, I’m not one for planning and I’ve never really been through this kind of process before. My biggest issue is that I find the whole notation kind of pointless. Sorry, that isn’t strictly true; I can see the value it has for those who are new to design, although personally, I would usually head straight for a computer and start playing around with designs on screen. This means that ideas generation is totally alien, and somewhat daunting for me.

We all know that design is about communication, on multiple levels so I think that my ability to communicate is definitely one of my stronger aspects. I’ve been blessed by having the opportunity to work in quite a lot of varied jobs, some good and some not so good. As a result of this I’ve come in to contact with a whole spectrum of different people and I think this has helped me develop fairly decent communication skills.

Having said this, I’m aware that public speaking and presenting are areas where I fall well short of the mark. I don’t know why this is, because as I’ve said above I usually thrive under pressure, but when it comes to public speaking my throat goes dry, my palms get sweaty and I have a tendency to crumble on the spot. Who would have thought that standing up in front of a few of your classmates and simply talking for a minute or two would be enough to turn a grown man into a gibbering, inarticulate wreck desperate to run off screaming for his mummy?

When it comes to design, I reckon I’ve got a reasonable eye for it. That’s not to say I believe I am the best designer in the world – far from it. I’m just lucky enough to have had a level of experience that has allowed me to pick up some basic bits and pieces along the way. I’m still willing to learn and I always go in to the design lectures with an open mind, because what is the point in being there if I try and kid myself that I already know it all?

Code, on the other hand, is a different story. This is uncharted territory for me. I’m a totally blank canvas when it comes to the more technical aspects of web design and this is one of the main things I’d like to get from the course. It may be tough for me as languages aren’t a strong point of mine. All so often when I look at the source code of a page I see nothing but bewildering scrawls of what I can only describe as Double Dutch. Wish me luck!

Word Count: 749

Where I have come from

You could say I have always had an interest in things creative and design orientated. From a young age, I would sit for hours drawing, scribbling and colouring.

In my teens, I was fortunate enough to gain a work experience placement with David Lyons and Associates, a local architecture firm. I was working with the team responsible for transforming the, rather dull and lifeless, architectural drawings into colourful and vibrant images that showed how the buildings might look once constructed. This thoroughly enjoyable experience was where I got my first taste of Photoshop and I had the bug!

After managing to get myself an early copy of Photoshop, I proceeded to create various ‘masterpieces’ in which I would aim to incorporate as many hideous effects and filters as I possibly could. At the time I felt that what I was doing was amazing; how things change.

As a young father with a fledging family, I missed out on Further Education and headed straight in to a succession of mundane jobs. Whilst these were mostly un-stimulating and unfulfilling roles I did gain vital life experience that I now find myself feeling really grateful for.

Eventually, I found myself selling advertising for the Wakefield Express. The job was fun and challenging and I began to learn about publishing. However, the standard of the advertisements created by the in house ‘design’ team were often so shocking I found myself feeling embarrassed about presenting them to clients. I decided that it was time for me to dig out that old copy of Photoshop and started to play around with design again.

Looking back, I can clearly see that the standard of the adverts I was designing weren’t especially high, although in many cases they were better than the studio team were putting together. Consequently, I was given a more creative role at the Wakefield Express where I learnt more about creating artwork for print production.

It wasn’t long before I began to outgrow the role I held at the newspaper, so I resolved to start a magazine of my own. Despite the fact I was bursting with enthusiasm, I was still very young and inexperienced. Ultimately, publishing my own monthly magazine and making it profitable turned out to be much tougher than I’d ever anticipated.

I began to realise that I was getting much more from actually designing the magazine than I was from the other aspects of running it. I concluded that Solo magazine would be no more and decided to make the leap and become a freelance designer.

This was two years ago and I haven’t looked back since. However, because I’m self taught I’ve always felt as though I’m not a ‘proper designer’ and I’m hoping that this course will provide an opportunity for me to learn how to do things properly as well as giving me some validation. I’ve often regretted not pursuing my education, so I’m hoping this is my chance to correct that.

Word Count: 500