We try to pick music that inspires us to design. Whether we’re designing web sites, branding, or illustrating, we like to listen to fun music that gets us pumped up.
Meg picked some electronic, psych rock, post punk, and 60s pop – enjoy!
We love Karen Mabon’s new shop entitled Red Brick North where she peddles her beautifully illustrated and totally bizarre silk scarves. Tuesday already owns the “Swimmers” scarf and has her eye on the brand spankin’ design called “Robbery in a Sweet Shop.” Brilliant!
We try to pick music that makes us dance in our seats or is otherwise moving; it keeps us energized between coffee breaks and our happiness translates to excellent client work!
Tuesday picked some rap, new wave, hip hop, shoe gaze, and rock—enjoy!
Warning, this one’s NSFW.
Dutch artist/designer duo Daniera and Christoph work together with textiles, photography and design to create some stunning compositions under the name Raw Color. Their use of human form and color blocking was truly made for my brain.
Take a look through their studio in The Netherlands.
So far in our pricing discussion, we’ve talked about estimating your income and hourly vs fixed fee pricing. Today, we’re going to put these topics to good use. You know, real-world-practical-stuff.
One of the hardest things to do is put a price on creative work. Seriously. In the beginning, it feels like more of a guessing game than most would be comfortable with … but that’s life. You need to dip your toes in the water and go for it! Over time, I promise that you’ll become 100 times more comfortable with your services and what you charge. For instance, one of the first freelancing gigs I ever had was a logo + website combo … for only $300. At the time, I was so excited to take on new work and get my name out there! I quickly realized that spending that much time on a project for a low price just wasn’t worth it! You simply wouldn’t survive on that kind of rate unless you worked at the speed of light. Fast forward a couple years and my pricing for branding and websites starts at $1,000 bare minimum. It’s taken me a bit of time - but I’m finally at a comfortable place in the whole pricing game.
So where do you start at, then? That’s the question. Tak your experience and work ethic into consideration when you’re putting together a pricing estimate for a potential client. Think about what you’d like to make and how long something will take you. Jessica Hische says it well … if you feel a little nervous about telling someone your price, you’re probably spot on. If not, you’re most likely underselling yourself! Start out with a flat fee that you’re comfortable working with and move up from there until it feels right. Go with your gut, it knows you well!
The hard part about being a creative is that not everyone understands our time and worth. In fact, some people think we can whip things together in a day, which is far from the truth! Luckily, most potential clients understand the value of good design and are willing to pay for it. Because I’ve run into both types of people, I quickly learned that it was best to be legit. Yes, legit. If you present yourself in a professional manner, you’ll be treated that way! Use well designed pricing sheets, invoices, and informational sheets. Trust me, people will appreciate and respect that you went the extra mile to present your business.
This is the last of my three part pricing series posts for Be Free, Lance - although I’m sure more will sneak in the future. Even though pricing can be overwhelming, I hope I was able to break it down just a little bit for you all.
Written by Breanna Rose.
We’re really excited to share Illustrator Scotty Reifsnyder’s studio with you!
Scotty has long been one of our favorite Illustrators; his digital, angular work looks really cared for and not sterile, like many digital illustrations. Scotty teaches at UPenn and has worked for clients such as Disney, Eminem, GQ, The New York Times, and Wired.
We’re in serious like love with Jessica’s “Hipster Coffee Shop” playlist that features our dreamy favs from Mazzy Star, XTC, and Roxy Music, among others.
Highly recommended to enhance your workday, whether you’re planted in your favorite café or studio. Tune in with an Rdio account here.
This delightfully creepy, yet elegant, ring is fully adjustable, hand sculpted by Laura Busony, and is made of a beautiful golden hued brass. Find it here.
Lovin’ up on this Leica illustration by Lauren Tamaki! Really gorgeous combination of materials, shapes, and colors—her current portfolio has lots of lovely watercolors, but I’d enjoy seeing more multi-media pieces like this.
A brief, yet stunning tour of Brooklyn based designer Ksenya Samarskaya’s loft.
Set in a former factory in an industrial section of town, Ksenya has beautiful floor to ceiling windows and a gorgeous collection of books, artifacts, gigantic plants, and dusty furniture that adorn her home.
Have a look at her equally thoughtful and interesting work here.
