Design Job Description: "JACK OF ALL TRADES... NOT WANTED"

I meet designers who are involved in so many areas of design it's insane.  I mean I understand how common this is, after all creativity expands.  It is normal for a designer to know and have an interest in many things creative.   I say,  continue to immerse  yourself in the creative culture.  It's a great way to add to your inspiration and design perspective.  BUT....  You should choose what area of design you want your clients to see when promoting and marketing your design business.

The social media and the advent of the global design community have made the design industry a fruitful declaration of art and creativity.  We are seeing the most talented people  ever, showcasing incredible works of  art from graphic design to fashion design to animation design and so on.  

We no longer need to find someone that can do it all.  We are looking for someone that can do it right.... Which translates to someone that eats and sleeps a certain area of design.  So If you are a fashion designer  with major illustration capabilities.  Decide which one you want to be, a designer or illustrator - at least to your clients. 

Please do not misunderstand me.  I'm not saying to stop illustrating.  What I'm simply saying is to market and promote the fact that you are a fashion designer that does beautiful illustrations of  your clothing as oppose to being a Fashion designer and an Illustrator.

Use your other assets (in this case your illustration abilities) as the supporting cast for your number one priority (Fashion Design)  This will then add value to your services rather than dilute your expertise.

We are now in the time of experts and no longer need a jack of all trades, when a specialist is a click away.

"Thanks for listening"  Just a thought I had as I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine about branding strategies for design companies  and wanted to share with my you.

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We've been working hard, very hard these past few months on some major projects I believe will assist my designer colleagues who are looking to create some success in 2009 and beyond.

We are now in beta for our new website: www.styleapple.com which has been going very well, Thanks to all our beta testers for taking part in our bug hunting process. BTW, We are still accepting beta testers as we continue to develop the site. [Become A Beta Tester]

Branded Designers - The Agency,  Camille Wilkinson - Fashion Designer From New York City

We have also started Branded Designers - The Agency. I've always had a desire to help young designers grow their businesses. The Agency will do just that. Branded Designers - The Agency is a talent agency focused in the creative industry. We will represent a selected group of designers, providing the personalized service designers need when starting a new venture or simply finding new freelance projects.

We are currently accepting applications until we have reached our capacity. The Agency will only represent a few selected designers in order for us to effectively serve the designers we represent. All remaining applications will be placed on our waiting list.

To apply simply submit your profile on www.styleapple.com and send us an email title: Branded Designers Application, please include your name, title and location in the email.
I looking forward to working with you.

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We have been working on Styleapple.com - The Branded Designers Social Network  [A place  for designers to create or submit their portfolios website URL, Promote their work, find new creative jobs, build their fan base and become fans of other designers]  for the past few months and we are now ready to show our readers the (Private) beta version. 

We are not ready to go into full beta until we've ironed out all the kinks.  You guys get the first stab at it.  I've included the email below that we sent to close friends and investors(family) which includes the username and password to enter the site, you guys made the list for the first rollout.  Please give us your feedback on the site.  Thanks.

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. WOO-HOO, Styleapple.com Private Beta Is Here! Dear Creative Pros You have been selected or have expressed interest in the past to be a part of our private beta testing.  We are still very actively in development but wanted to give our designers a chance to start testing the site.  Since this is private beta, we expect more than normal hiccups and bugs in the software.  Please be candid and give us all your feedback... Go ahead we promise not to take it personally.   To login visit www.styleapple.com, Username: beta   Password: tester    Once you've scaled our beta wall. You can create or submit your design portfolio to be viewed and envied by your peers while positioning yourself to be seen by future employers or freelance and project work opportunities.  Our goal is to find creative ways to help promote and grow your design business. Thank you for being a part of our private beta test squad. Sincerely Calvin --  Calvin Cox Director of Talent Resource calvin@styleapple.com Styleapple, Inc www.styleapple.com Build & Promote Your Own Design Portfolio Website In Minutes. | Our goal is simple; to provide an invaluable resource for clients looking to discover and hire the brightest talent in the design industry. | *|LIST:DESCRIPTION|* Unsubscribe *|EMAIL|* from this list | Forward to a friend | Update your profile Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|* Copyright (C) 2008 *|LIST:COMPANY|* All rights reserved.

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Designer From The Ukraine Profile on Odesk.com

I talk about the global economy a lot. And the reason I do is because I'm fascinated by the business reach and earning potential of this new economy, BUT... I recently did a survey, which I will reveal the results once I've analyzed the data, but from that survey I'm under the impression that there are mainly four (4) services employers use to find designers and to fill open positions.

1) Job boards - like Style Careers, Coroflot , Monster, etc
2) Referrals - Getting referred by a friend or colleague
3) Temp agencies - like 24 Seven, Project Solvers and the likes
4) Freelance Projects Auction Sites - like Elance and Odesk.

Now 3 out of 4 of these options, the designer has somewhat of a local control more or less over the competition with which he or she can bid for the design project. But freelance auction sites like elance.com and odesk.com tend to be truly a global effort. Where you are competing with designers all over the world for a local project. Conventional thinking says that the broader your business reach the better, but is that always the case? With websites like Elance and Odesk one would suggest that an obvious flaw or lopsidedness of this type of system is perhaps the dynamic relationship between the project price and designer location.

Same Designer from the Ukraine Hourly Rate $12.22/Hr

What do I mean by this? Well let's say a company in New York decides to use odesk.com for a design project. Using current rates for local designers in New York, this project can be easily quoted at $70/hr and up. Whereas on Odesk.com that same project can be bid down to $15-$20 an hour. Therein lies the million dollar question.

Even though we are now working in a global economy, designers still live in their respective local economies with local bills to pay. How does a designer from New York, Austria or the UK compete with designers living in Africa or India?  This is obviously not a new question I'm proposing., but I would really like to get your feedback on whether or not designers find this kind of service useful when looking for new design work?

Are You Looking To Hire A Designer? 

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