Some of what we have learned
along the way!
Working in a design studio is rewarding and exciting, on the flip side somedays and some projects can really test the best of us. We have asked our seasoned staff to share their best bits of advice on working in a studio and how to avoid the daily grind.
Building relationships
Build meaningful relationships with customers, suppliers and other people in your industry. Referral and word of mouth can positively impact your business in a big way.
The road not taken
Taking the road less trodden can be exciting and very rewarding for you and your client. Don’t be afraid to show work that is a little leftfield.
Ask lots of
questions
Even if you think they are ridiculous never be afraid to ask questions. Opening up a dialogue helps build relationships and establish the clients needs and expectations. Don’t let fear of failure hold you back.
Have heroes and mentors
Having a mentor can have a grounding effect. Their influence and their creative process and knowledge will help you navigate some tricky waters in your own career. Mentors can give very defined guidance and heroes gives you something to aim for in your own career.
Step away from the computer
Have you ever been in the middle of a project when you realise that you have been staring at the screen for so long and getting absolutely nowhere. Get up, go for a walk and dust off your pencil and get sketching. You’ll be surprised with the results.
Backup
Oh the spine tingling horror when the spinning wheel of death appears and you know the only option is it quit the program. All those lost psd layers gone forever, I hear you cry.
Stop! save your work.
The politics of the office tea round
There’s always one person who doesn’t pull their weight in this area. There’s also the person who ‘rinses’ the cups and doesn’t ‘wash’ them. The person who thinks its ok to leave the used tea bags in the sink. Or three empty cups on their desk when they are heading off for two weeks’ annual leave. Our advice is, rather than get annoyed by it, boil the kettle, pour a brew and move on.
Apostrophe King (or Queen)
Make sure that at least one person in the office/studio has a rock solid grasp of when, or when not, to use an apostrophe – the most common form of punctuation error.
Refreshing your cache
Whilst performing CTR F5 on a PC will refresh your cache – a very useful function in the digital era – on a Mac this will disable the screen reader which is less useful. When advising clients how to refresh their cache make sure you know which side of the fence they are on!
Timesheet isn’t a dirty word
Because whilst productivity cannot be measured by the hour, an accurate timesheet goes a long way to helping ensure the business remains profitable.