People Love Your Work...

People love your work, until they have to pay for it. 

I can’t possibly imagine that this is true for every profession. Correct me if I’m wrong, but do you go to a mechanic and ask him to fix your car for, “the great exposure”?

People are constantly trying to beat me down in price. Here’s an example, I make custom buttons, each button can have a totally different design, personalized names, graphics; the works, and they are usually a big hit, everyone loves them, but they can’t spend the $12 or $2US for a button.

A generic “birthday girl” button is $24 or $4US, but you fuss to spend half that, to have one saying “Birthday Girl Amber” with a custom picture. I don’t get it.

                     

Maybe they don’t understand what goes into creating art. I would never understand why people would spend hundreds of dollars on a print of a picture to hang on their wall, but not an original painting for the same price?

Originality, uniqueness and one-of-a-kinds have lost their value. No one values art anymore. They would rather buy a print of Van Gogh’s starry night, for $40US on amazon, than to buy an original piece of art from a local artist. Most of the time people want something they have seen before, they want something that someone else has, they want what’s popular, trending or well-known, over what’s original and undiscovered. People want it all and want it all for nothing, this is why prints (the sell-out of the artists world) are so popular.

A colleague of mine recommended me to a woman who was trying to start her own business. A virtual assistant business, basically she does what Siri does, hopefully better. She needed a logo in a few days, so I quoted a price to her.. She responded with an email asking to see some of my previous work. Sure that’s fair, cause I bet you would ask your mechanic for samples of work he has completed to. 

10 Days went by, she never responded to my emails, or calls.

When she finally responded, this is what she wrote,

"After painful screening, I have decided to hire you to design the logo for my business. Your portfolio is most impressive and you seem to be an out of the box thinker - which I appreciate. I did not expect it but many graphic designers (who I spoke with) are not very imaginative. It’s painful I tell you." 

Hmmm…

This was my response,

What I wrote: Great to hear from you,
What I actually meant: (Who are you again?),

What I wrote: I was unavailable this weekend, please pardon my late response.
What I actually meant: (I’m the kinda girl that if you don’t update me in 10 days for a matter that you said you needed in 3 days, you are dead to me.)

What I wrote: Sorry to hear about your troubles with finding a designer to effectively create a logo that represents your company.
What I actually meant: (Duh! Cuz I’m better than most, I could have told you that ten days ago and saved us both the hassle…)

What I wrote: In terms of payment, you can mail or direct deposit the payment, the information will be on the invoice, which I will send shortly, I may also be able to collect payment, which we can organize.
What I actually meant: (I haven’t heard from you in ten days, you best believe I’m asking for the whole thing upfront) 

…

I haven’t heard from her since. Thank God. Nothing like asking for all of it upfront to scare away a client, amiright?

It’s funny how much potential clients compliment your work, until they have to pay for it, and trust me, it never ends. I went to an interview, for a Graphic Design position a couple months ago, a nice job, products, short commute. But, their offer was so low, it was offensive, and it wasn’t a small company either. What a huge disappointment that was. It takes a lot of patience to be an artist, and a lot of the time, you feel like you’re gonna run out of it at any second.

I haven’t figured out any tricks to dealing with people who want diamonds for the price of silver, and I can’t say you get used to it, because every time you have to negotiate with a client, it’s always ugly. But, after a little while of doing it, you can kind of tell the clients who are going to be shitty. 

Here are some rules to live by…

Rule # 1 – Don’t bad talk annoying clients, they might turn out to be your boyfriends ex-girlfriend, which makes her doubly annoying and you’re going to stab him in the neck when he picks up for her… save everyone the headache and just zip it.

Rule #2 – Worried your client isn’t going to pay? Ask for payment upfront, or half at least. If they have a problem paying in the pre-design phase, they probably won’t pay in the post-design phase.

Rule #3 – Whether it be a WhatsApp chat or an email, have evidence that your client agreed to pay you, even though you probably won’t take someone to court for a flyer, it’s good to have evidence to threaten them with. (like a crazy ex with explicit photos, you have the power).

I know you must be thinking, how do I even have clients when I’m such a jerk. Truthfully, I myself don’t really know, but what I do know is that it isn’t because I’m more creative, or more skilled, or I know more. What it is, is that I’m confident about my work, I’m available to my clients, I meet deadlines, and I am fair with my pricing.

Wasted Time

I waste the most time when I try not to waste any time.

The worst is when you HAVE to be creative, so you try and force yourself, and your all like, yeah let's get this done... Let's do this brain, you can do this, and nothing happens apso-freakin-lutely nothing.

But you're sitting in morning traffic last week and you come up with this brilliant idea and your like yeah, I'm gonna storyboard that shit, and you think to yourself, "don't forget that shit".

A week later and you have no freakin' clue what that idea was so you're sitting there like, I think it was about a cat... But was it really about a cat? You can't remember, so you're like, I can come up with a way better idea than that.... Nothing, you wasted an entire weekend.... Again...

Employing technology to help you remember.
Siri make a note not to forget!

This is what Siri Wrote...

WTF!

I have no clue what I was getting at or what Siri heard me say. Basically, useless. I might as well have not even tried to make a note. What's even worst is when I use my phone as a journal and I write down things that happen, that I think are historical moments in my life.


Like this...

I have no clue what was so tough about June 2nd 2012. My guess is it was a Tuesday, because Tuesdays are  proven to be the shittiest day of the week... (googles June 2nd 2012)
Well, it was a Saturday, and still, no clue what happened that day.

So, when an idea suddenly enters your brain, WRITE IT DOWN! and write it down properly, so it makes sense months later! Don't depend on technology, I've tried to fire Siri a bizzillion times and she just keeps coming back *ping* *ping* 'how can I help you" - shut up Siri, you are of no help.

And if you earn a living from your creativity and ideas, I strongly suggest, no matter what it is your doing, to stop, take a minute, make PROPER notes, then continue, it can save the world of time in the long run.

URGENT! I need this right away!

U.R.G.E.N.T.

Something about the way these letters sit next to each other, in all CAPS like that, sends instant panic though me.

URGENT, is usually accompanied by something serious:

•  URGENT Surgery Required!
•  Fire – URGENT Evacuation!
•  Robbery in Progress – URGENT Response Required!

Your banner design is NOT URGENT.

“Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is "timing". It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.”― Fulton J. Sheen

I couldn’t possibly count the number of times this word has unnecessarily plagued my inbox. I have tried unsuccessfully to explain the frustration, headache and unpaid overtime that has followed the use of this word. URGENCY opens the gate for error and unprofessionalism. It causes stress and panic. Working under these conditions are in no way effective.

URGENT = the one word guaranteed to reduce productivity.

When used too often, for matters falsely labelled “URGENT”, it becomes the boy who cried wolf. The impact dilutes, and the word loses value. You, the user of the word, loses creditability.

“This is the industry in which we work in” they say…

I beg to differ. It’s the boy’s incompetence. It is a lack of respect for what a designer does; lack of attention to detail. It is the comfort of having a dependable designer. It is laziness.

I searched my my inbox for the word "URGENT" and this is what I found...

I am very much aware that, sometimes, you get a great idea at 5am in the morning for a project that's due at 6am. But a great idea with poor planning and execution, is nothing. It might as well have never been. It is a waste of an idea.

People unfamiliar with good ideas, think that they’re all good. They see themselves as revolutionary thinkers and innovators. What they fail to realize is what makes an idea revolutionary and innovative, is not just the idea, but the planning, the organization, the execution.

Throughout history, it is proven that ideas are nothing impressive, without proper action. I use the word 'Proper', because I am a firm believer, in that, a well-executed, bad idea, is more effective than a rushed good idea.

I tell my clients, you can get two kinds of work, rushed work, or good work. I'm no stranger to deadlines, but, more often that not, I receive requests with unrealistic deadlines.

"Must be completed and approved by the end of the day." Received one (1) hour before the close of business.

Or clients that need work done URGENTLY, but no clue what they want, so you end up doing the back and forth, for three days, and then they blame you for taking long to complete graphics. What I have a hard time getting clients to understand is, I don't mind receiving change request from clients, but it must be within reason.

EXAMPLE: You cannot send me a calendar, saying you want something like this, THEN, completely change your mind without notifying me. Only to send a complete layout change two hours later, when your calendar design was almost complete. That is inconsiderate.

Sample Image -
This was received from the client,
as an example of what they wanted.

Rough draft of calendar layout for the client.

After a week of back and fourths and changes after changes,
 this was the final product.
(Which looks NOTHING like the original file requested)

The point to the seemingly meandering rant is that if you are having second thoughts about the work you are requesting, don't title an email, "URGENT! Needed Immediately." When everything is URGENT, nothing is.

An Artist in Reality

The truth about being an artist is that you work more for free or pleasure, than you do for money. Most of your time is spent trying to convince people why they should pay for your art, than actually creating the art. Establishing yourself is a very slow upward crawl, and you never, ever, stop working.

Artists: The misunderstoods of society.

Can we call it a career? Because too often we think of artists and we think it’s a lifestyle. When a stranger ask me, “what you do for a living”, and I respond, ‘I’m an Artist’, I feel so judged. I can almost hear the disappointment in their, “oh that’s interesting” response. But when I say “Graphic Designer” it’s almost like a light bulb goes off in their head, with responses like “that’s a wonderful profession.”

What’s the difference? I’m not just a graphic designer and I hate being labeled by my job. Graphic Design sounds like a luxurious job, and the reality is it’s not. Designers work all the time, are unappreciated and never make as much as they are worth.

The more I’ve worked in the field, the more cynical I’ve become about my job. I would never suggest it to anyone, and if you do decide that this is something you enjoy doing, do it as a hobby and never a profession. I’ve had many, many jobs and the most overwhelmingly common thing in all of them, is that the pay is shit. You can learn to deal with people, to correct errors, to perfect your technique, all this time making you a more valuable Graphic Designer, but at the end of the day, that expensive degree from an international university means nothing. You’re still going to make as much as that accounts clerk with high school qualifications.

So skip the fancy art school, and just be the accounts clerk, you get to go home at the end of the day and binge watch episodes of Archer, you get time to go to the gym, you get so much free time you’re gonna have to find a hobby, like designing.

I met a doctor, who was a doctor 9 to 5 and a photographer the rest of the time. He could afford this hobby with his well-paying job, he had a fancy camera, lights and the space for a studio. He was a smart man. Why didn’t I study hard to have a job that would pay me plenty more? Doctor, Lawyer, Scientist – something that paid highly, so I could afford to help my uncle out with a flyer for his school’s bazaar.

Instead, I make shit, then I work for free, especially when you have those people that say “design a tattoo for me” or “design a logo for me”, anyone that ask for a tattoo design, isn’t serious, that’s a fact. And it’s a 50/50 chance that that part-time DJ that asked you for a logo is actually going to pay you. Those are the same assholes that go to the drive thru, order, then change their minds and leave before they get to the pay/pick up window.

Recently, no one wants to hear me rant about how much I hate working. Because I can go on, and on, and on. Which is how this blog came to be. But truthfully, I like being an artist, and I couldn’t possibly be anything else. Sometimes you get good clients and sometimes you get bad clients, sometimes you get paid and sometimes you don’t. But at the end of the day you get to be creative all day, you get paid, though it won’t be much, you get paid to be a creative, and that in itself is rewarding. You will have bad days, even weeks, but when you see that bus drive-by with your design plastered all over it, you forget what an asshole that client was and how worth it it all seems.

The beanstalk revolution

What's this beanstalk thing about?

ilikebeanstalks started as my response to the question, "Why are you always drawing beanstalks?". It has now evolved into my personal brand. I'm a Trinidad based artist, currently working full-time as a Graphic Designer, freelancing part-time under the beanstalks brand.

Being an art school graduate with a specialization in Graphic Design and a background in Fine Art, I am skilled in anything crafty, artistic or creative. I spend almost all of my time honing my skills, though I think some of them are already well-honed.

I've been practicing Fine Art for the past 11 years, I've worked in many different fields as a Graphic Designer for the past 8 years, and about 3 years ago I starting diving into photography and videography. Additionally I picked up different skills, like henna, nail art, button making, custom made decorations, and face-painting. I also recently starting exploring the world of teaching by offering Private Photoshop mentoring.

Right now, I'm attempting to start my own business; my own design company / agency / consultancy. Sounds simple, but I keep running into road blocks and set backs. But I'm determined to do it, and I'm setting deadlines. (Which will be another blog post)

So, you're probably wondering, "Why the beanstalk blog?" Well, the first reason, is that my friends and family are sick of hearing be bitch and complain, so I figure, there's a whole internet of people who haven't got the chance to hear me rant. And, Secondly, I already randomly write my rants down, why not share them? I'm sure all creatives go though similar battles and can relate. Not only rants, but I want to share my experiences, and creativity, and hopefully inspire some as well. Thirdly, it's part of the process of building my brand, if not for anything else, this blog can be my journal of everything I went though in the process.

So, welcome to the ilikebeanstalks blog, feel free to look around, I'm pretty sure there's a link to my website and Facebook page somewhere around here. Oh, and subscribe, so you don't miss anything.

See ya later!

Priya