Professionalism Talk

In the session today John spoke about professionalism, as creatives we should be acting in the correct way to come across well to any potential clients.

• Amateur - An amateur doesn’t get paid for the work in which they produce, they tend to produce work purely for personal reasons.
• Semi-Professional- A semi professional gets paid but doesn’t solely rely on this money in terms of an income.
• Professional - The stage that I want to be working at upon the completion of this degree, a professional produces work that requires a specific amount of specialist training into the chosen subject area, and a professional generally engages in a specified activity as their main paid occupation.

What are we as designers?

We are creative for money, providing a service/skill that has been worked on - in terms of many years of practice and specific training. Our work is often called 'commercial art' and is used to sell, promote, explain, narrate and inform the viewer of the specific subject manner. Graphic Design, the name itself for the trade came into fruition in the early 1920s.

Working with clients:

• creativity is a subjective matter
• colour is often a massive factor in terms of disagreement
• important to rationalise any work produced

There are downsides to client work/ freelance:

• not getting any work
• poor quality clients
• clients who don't listen
• lapse in communication with the client
• poor and negotiated outcomes
• not getting paid