Resume Writing: Guidance for Designers

Posted on by Jonathan Silberman

Writing a resume can be a daunting task for many. What template should you use? Remembering and articulating your tasks PLUS results? Do you need to customize every resume?

But do designers have different rules than other professions? When I have partnered with Creative and Design directors to identify design talent, they have all requested that the designers have a portfolio or samples of work to supplement the resume. In fact, many have prioritized the portfolio over a resume.

This article offers two distinct perspectives on crafting powerful resumes for design roles. First, I’ll share my comprehensive resume guidance applicable to all professionals.

Next, to go beyond assumptions, I interviewed 11 design leaders in the DC and Baltimore area. They offer their unique insights on what truly catches their eye when evaluating design talent.

Clarity before Writing

Before you decide upon the formatting of your resume, spend time to self-assess and reflect on your career journey up until this point. What projects have you enjoyed contributing to? What type of work environment do you work best in? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are your longer-term career goals, and what stepping stones do you need to take to get there?

By identifying where you have been and the experiences you have had, you can create a unique value proposition to market to employers. What factors could make you different?

  • The projects you have worked on
  • The industries you have helped
  • Hard skills, training, and methodologies
  • Aesthetic/style (shown in the portfolio)

Have you analyzed the job descriptions you are applying for to make sure your resume speaks to the job requirements? If the job supports government clients, a requirement may include knowledge of Section 508 compliance or the need for an active security clearance. Other requirements could include design software exposure, industry experience, or project type.

Will the ATS kick me out?

The short answer is no. First, an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is the centralized software system that businesses deploy to manage the recruitment process. Typically, if you are applying to a job online there is a software system where you upload your resume and fill out open fields with your personal information. I wrote an article about the Myths of the ATS system with insights from a dozen recruiters who are the end users.

Many people believe that if your resume isn’t formatted correctly or has the right keywords, the system will boot you out and reject you for the job. Some recruiters and companies may set a job opening to screen with a knockout question, such as “are you authorized to work in the US” or “do you have X years of experience.” If the answer doesn’t align to the requirements, an automated rejection may trigger.

Otherwise, up until today, I do not know any recruiters who are fully relying on keyword match or ranking tools to move applicants on to interviews.

The one thing to be mindful of is how the content of your resume parses into the fields of the ATS system. Text boxes, columns, and images can alter the data extraction of the parsing. With the systems I have worked with, I can view PDF and Word docs as they were submitted.

General Resume Advice

Formatting:

  • Choose a chronological format, prioritizing your most recent experience.
  • Enhance readability by incorporating a fair balance of white space rather than cramming content into the document.
  • Use readable fonts and adopt a font size larger than 10. I shouldn’t have to zoom in to read your resume.
  • Avoid unnecessary visual elements, like a headshot or subjective skill graphics. While I’ve seen a huge uptick in including a headshot over the last five years, you may want to take precautions due to concerns about discrimination based on appearance.
  • Consider offering both PDF and Word document formats, although PDF documents will maintain formatting consistency.

Content:

  • Contact Information: Include relevant details like email, phone, city/state, and LinkedIn/portfolio URLs. A street address is not necessary and maintains your privacy.
  • Summary: Ditch “Objective” and use a targeted statement showcasing your value proposition. This field is a simple space where you can customize your resume to the target job.
    • Consider removing generic sentences inflated with soft skills. For example: Passionate and results-driven web designer with X years of experience crafting user-friendly and visually stunning websites
    • For more impact, you could transform it into a unique statement aligned to the job: Web designer with 5 years of experience creating high-performing websites for SaaS companies. Passionate about leveraging design to empower users and streamline financial processes in the fintech space.
  • Experience: The majority of your content should be dedicated to this field. For readability, format the sentences in a bullet-point list. Include the tasks + results, and quantify your results when you can. Examples:
    • Example: Increased website conversion rate by 15% by redesigning checkout flow using user-centered design principles and A/B testing.
    • Designed a captivating logo for tech startup, resulting in 42% increase in brand recognition within first 6 months.
  • Skills: List relevant software, technical, and language skills, possibly categorized for clarity.
  • Achievements: Consider a separate section for awards, scholarships, certifications, or honors (limit to 2-5).
  • Education: List recent degree, institution, and relevant awards/honors. Include coursework details only if you have no work experience.
  • References: Remove any mention of Reference, as this information can be provided once you convert to an interview. Plus, do you want anyone reaching out to your references without your knowledge?

Additional Tips:

  • Proofread meticulously to avoid grammatical errors or typos. If you aren’t using software tools like Grammarly, hand it off to a trusted colleague or friend to proofread.
  • Have a few copies of your resume if you are targeting different job titles. For example, if the job is for a “Content Designer” then include any project details around content design principles or methodologies. In the summary, swap out the copy “Summary” for “Content Designer.” Do you have an achievement you can highlight here that matches a job requirement?
  • Adding interests or hobbies is your personal choice.
  • Don’t keyword stuff. Instead of creating a laundry list of skills, weave the keywords into your experience section to demonstrate context.

Insights from Design Leaders

Resume advice can be subjective, as everyone has their preferences (and biases). I also wanted to seek out advice from people who are influencing and making the hiring decisions. Here are the recommendations of eleven design leaders from the DC metro area:

Jay Selway, Creative Director at Accenture Federal, prioritizes the portfolio over the resume. “If the resume isn’t nicely designed, that’s a red flag.” However, Jay admits he has seen not-so-impressive resumes from people with amazing portfolios. He said, “the work gets you in the door, and your personality and passion close the deal. The qualifications are the cherry on top.”

A Chief Creative and Founder of a DC-based boutique firm reviews both the resume and portfolio to assess design talent. For the portfolio, he looks for a consistency and sense of style across pieces, along with a sense of proportions and typography. For the resume, design is as important as the content. Seen as a self-marketing opportunity, he looks for creativity and personable branding. Specifically, “how they handle their names? Do they give themselves a logomark? Are there widows and orphans in the type?” Even the decision to use a Word document doesn’t demonstrate the full potential of a creative.

A VP of Design from a real estate tech firm says that a resume that is easy to read and is well-organized, paired with relevant experience is the ideal recipe for an effective resume. What else catches their eye? If the applicant showcases skills needed for the job requirements, like flows, wires, research, and design systems. If you are entry-level, the coursework outweighs the academic performance (like GPA). If the resume is poorly designed with excessive fancy formatting, it negatively impacts the readability.

A VP of Creative & Design, with experience in both a corporate and global agency setting, says that the “portfolio will always be king.”, but be sure to demonstrate your process. Include your sketches, inspiration, and round builds to demonstrate your thinking and unique contribution to the project. For the resume, keep it simple, well-organized, and thoughtfully crafted. Choose a clean typeface that allows the content to be the hero.

Billy Candela, SVP Creative Director at Vox Global, believes that the resume design matters. A well-designed resume (preferably in PDF) showcases a designer’s attention to detail and reflects their overall design skills. The portfolio is a confirmation of the capabilities on the resume. Both the resume and portfolio are a first impression and an extension of your self-marketing, so make them easy to navigate and highlight your relevant experience.

A resume is the sneak peak of your design style before getting into the cool stuff in your portfolio, an AVP, Creative of an agency stated. A clean, readable layout with a bit of creative spark will stand, but it’s about how the design and information work together.

A marketing executive at a SaaS technology company believes less is more with resume writing, but keep it relevant. Crafting an impressive resume is all about telling a concise and captivating story that sets you apart. Focus on clear, tailored writing for your target job level, skip the fancy designs, and cut out the excess. Utilize solid facts and stats to prove your expertise, ditch the flowery language. Research keywords for those resume-scanning bots. Keep it to one page-ish, sync it with your LinkedIn, and add a professional pic and background. Personalize those opening letters, 100% avoid any typos(triple check), and keep it snappy. If you share a portfolio, make it straightforward and showcase your value with meaningful metrics. Your resume should tell a compelling tale of your intentions and your desired company fit. Stay flexible and realistic, avoiding both self-doubt and overconfidence.

“The creativity should not overshadow or overpower the message,” says a Creative and Marketing leader, about the criteria of a strong resume. A one-page resume is preferred, without a personal photo, and it must have clean visual design language and a hierarchy of information. They also seek a business-minded creative, so showing metrics and KPIs shows they understand the value ifor delivering results. As a leader of people, they do give weight to skills and behaviors–not just what they can do but how they do it. A portfolio is also a must-have!

The owner of a Baltimore creative agency prioritizes a strong portfolio and a compelling narrative of the thought process and context behind the work. Real-world experience trumps formal education. As for a resume? It’s not a necessity, especially if the designer has a robust LinkedIn presence.

A Sr. Creative Director from a global PR agency prioritizes 3 main sources when evaluating a design candidate: LinkedIn, a portfolio, and a resume. A LinkedIn profile provides a history of experience and education, and the portfolio showcases the designer’s skills and style. A resume is still important, as it hones in on the designer’s attention to detail. This includes typography, choices of visual hierarchy, and formatting like sentence breaks. Designers who make resumes too “designy” or branded like infographics risk being offputting and overselling their authenticity.

The design leader of a digital solution firm emphasizes the importance of targeted, clear, and visually appealing application materials to demonstrate an understanding of the job and how you can add value. With a resume, focus on clarity and relevance–help the hiring manager understand how you could apply those skills and learnings to the new role. For formatting, make it succinct and scannable. The portfolio connects the dots of the skills and experience stated in the resume. Content design matters! Treat your portfolio design with the same care you’d give client work. And if you consider a cover letter? First, ditch the generic template. Secondly, don’t focus just on your experience. Bridge the gap by showing how that experience will meet the business challenge at hand.

Wrapping up

While I’ve shared my approach to resume writing paired with the valuable insights from design leaders who are calling the shots on hiring, remember that hiring is nuanced. If anything, the perspective from the 11 is a clear example of this.

Ultimately, each interviewer brings their own unique perspective and priorities. Don’t be afraid to tailor your resume and highlight experiences that resonate with specific companies and roles. Experiment, seek feedback, and trust your instincts to craft a resume that authentically reflects your talent and aligns with your target job.

About the writer

Kelli Hrivnak

LinkedIn | Website

Kelli Hrivnak is a leader with over 15 years of experience in staffing and recruitment services. Recognizing the limitations of quantity-driven staffing models, Kelli embarked on a mission to create a forward-thinking alternative. She is founder of Knak Digital, a recruiting agency prioritizing strategy and quality over high-volume recruitment. Throughout her career, Kelli has partnered with various companies, from Fortune 500 corporations to start-ups. Her extensive background in the technology and marketing industry has provided her with valuable insights and a deep understanding of client needs.

The Power of an Optimized LinkedIn Profile

Posted on by Drew Bonsu

When I joined LinkedIn 14 years ago, the platform was known as the place where you transferred your resume and work history into an online version. LinkedIn has evolved far beyond a platform for just placeholding your digital resume, as your profile is the first impression you will make to people in and outside your network.

But a LinkedIn profile isn’t your resume–it is static, searchable, and offers more features to showcase your expertise beyond just the history of your job experience.   I’m going to touch on the impact of an optimized LinkedIn profile for designers, exploring how it can attract job opportunities, foster connections, and enhance your reputation (aka personal brand). Let’s embark on a journey to unravel the secrets of LinkedIn success in the design arena.

Where to Start?

LinkedIn provides a variety of sections for you to input information.  As a recruiter who proactively uses LinkedIn to source and identify potential prospects for job opportunities, I’ll emphasize the areas and content I seek out when scanning a profile to assess the alignment for a role.

Headliner

Your headliner is the copy that is located right below your name on the LinkedIn profile and it will be the first thing people see (along with your name).  Not only does it show on your profile page, but also when you comment, send invitations, “Who Viewed your Profile“, and in the intro section of your profile. You have a 220-character limit. A shortened version of your headliner will be visible when commenting (75 characters), sent invitation (80 characters), and in search results (82 characters).

The words in the headliner do affect the search results.  Keeping this in mind, I advise to be clear about your expertise and use keywords that a recruiter may look for when sourcing.  This may include job title, skill sets, certifications, and companies.  A Unique Value Prop (USP) is a popular choice for a headliner, like “turning ideas into visual symphony,” but I urge people that it’s not the best (SEO) option if you are in an active search.  A USP can be ambiguous and a recruiter isn’t using those keywords when searching.

A simple format I suggest is:

Job title + Company + (skill sets, results/achievements, awards) + (fun add about personality or USP).

If your current job title is vague or you are making a career pivot, the headliner is an alternative field to sub in your target job title.  Example:  Your job title is “creative specialist” which doesn’t encompass your expertise in design.  Use “Graphic designer” in your headliner instead.

Photo

Is there a greater chance of receiving outreach when you include a photo on your profile? Discrimination is real, unfortunately, and I’ve talked to people who strategically omit or strengthen their privacy settings by design to hide their headshots on their profiles. Make decisions based on your comfort level.

If you opt for a photo, a DIY iphone session can quickly produce a credible headshot Here is an article with some helpful tips!

 

Location

If a company is looking to hire a local candidate within commuting distance,  they could be using a radius search by location.  Users can search by by Region or Postal Code. The latter option enables a nuanced radius search, allowing users to filter results within 5, 10, 25, 35, 50, 75, and 100 miles.

To enhance your discoverability, consider selecting a broader metro area rather than specifying your exact city. For instance, instead of “Baltimore,” use “Washington DC-Baltimore” to increase your inclusion in wider-radius searches.   If you are in the midst or open to relocation, set the targeted location as your geography so your visibility will be amplified in those geographical searches.

Industry

Companies could be prioritizing their search by industry experience.  While you can include vertical exposure in your About and Experience section, you can choose an industry sector in your account settings.  LinkedIn expanded their industry codes from 24 core functions to sub categories, likely expanding to over 400+ soon.  Pick one most important to you, and again–you can mention others in other areas.

Keywords

Before I cover the About and Experience section, I encourage everyone to conduct keyword research to identify what skills and keywords are associated with your current job and target.  Wordtracker and Google Keyword Planner are excellent tools, but what works on Google won’t be a replica on LinkedIn.   ChatGPT can generate a list of associated words too.

 

Review the words and think about how you can integrate these words into the content of your profile. For example, instead of listing out a bullet-pointed list of keywords like “Storyboarding,” “campaign development,” and “advertising,”  try weaving them into the story of your experience and about section.

 

Consider the keywords you prefer not to be associated with on your LinkedIn profile. While retaining your work history is advisable, it’s beneficial to eliminate skills or keywords that hold no relevance to your future career aspirations.  Unfortunately, some recruiters are lazy and will mass message anyone who possesses a keyword they are searching for–regardless of context.  Proactively removing skills or titles misaligned with your target job can potentially curtail unwarranted outreach.

 

Scope out your competition.  Run a keyword search on job titles (like “Art Director” or “Sr. Graphic Designer) and pay particular attention to the initial pages of search results.  How does the algorithm prioritize profiles related to content?

 

About Section

This is your canvas to craft a narrative of your career journey and an opportunity to reveal more information beyond the facts of your experience.  Did you make a career pivot or your path has been non-linear?  Has design been your passion since you were a child? How did this path become your “why”?

What’s your opening hook?  Keep the mobile user in mind, as they’ll likely encounter the initial 90 to 150 characters of this section before having to click down. Desktop viewers may extend to around 300 characters.

As you share your story, consider incorporating a call to action (CTA) to encourage recruiters to engage further. This could involve providing a link to your portfolio, sharing your email address, or including a phone number (consider using Google Voice for added privacy). Embrace the first-person perspective to infuse authenticity into your narrative (a third-person narrative may be more suitable for fields like legal or finance.)

Reinforce your expertise.  Don’t forget to enhance your visibility by strategically integrating those relevant keywords and skills into the narrative.  You also have the option to add your top 5 skills that will be promoted in this section.

 

Experience Section

I’ll argue that this section is the most significant in your profile. While other sections can represent your branding, the experience section unveils the application of your keyword skills and the outcomes achieved. It provides the crucial context to assess your qualification for a role.

In each job experience, include details on project work, tasks, results, industry exposure, management roles, certifications, specific software proficiency, training, and promotions. Adopting a format with bulleted points or well-structured sentences enhances readability.

Utilize LinkedIn’s feature to add skills to each experience entry, showcasing your expertise aligned with each job title and company.  If you used Adobe XD in your current job but only Indesign at your prior, you can distinguish how recent you were exposed to tools here.  In addition to hard skills, consider adding other tasks like project management, motion design, business development, etc

 

Featured Section:

Designers, do not overlook this section!  This space is your place to add content, from articles, videos, URLS, podcasts, photos, and presentations.  Most importantly, if you have an online portfolio, include the link.  This is the visual “highlight real” of your achievements.

Contact Information

Ensure your email is up to date to efficiently receive timely notifications. If anyone is using Inmails, messages, or general invitations, your notifications will go to this email. If you using your work email domain, keep this in mind (especially if you fear that your employer is monitoring your emails). This article will show you how to adjust the visibility of your email. Consider a pseudo email strictly for LinkedIn outreach and messaging.

Along with the Featured section, you can include your portfolio link here. If you were assigned a generic URL, you can explore custom options.  If there is a custom domain that is available and aligned with your personal branding, snatch it up.

What else should you consider?

A background photo, which is the large image behind your profile picture, is customizable.  I usually recommend Canva as a tool to create a unique banner that highlights your brand or expertise, however I recognize an audience of designers will have the skills and other tools to execute this task at a higher level.  The dimensions are 1584 x 396 pixels and accepts PNG, JPG, and GIF files.

Should you use the Open to Work Banner?  My opinion is mine alone, but I do not hold a bias against anyone who is actively in a job search and chooses the visual cue of the banner.  My objective, as a recruiter, is to identify a candidate who is motivated and qualified to make a job move.  Some others may discriminate against people unemployed, so you need to make the best choice for yourself.  If your job search is confidential, I would encourage you to use the Recruiters Only option.  The Recruiters Only option is limited to users who subscribe to the Premium Recruiter seat, so that isn’t limited to recruiters only but to those who pay for that level of service.

A LinkedIn Allstar Status increases your visibility. While the meter is no longer on display in your profile, reference this link on how to access your level. Hint: Look for the “Suggested for you” prompt.

What qualifies as an Allstar Status?  Complete all of the following sections.

  • Industry/Location
  • 3 positions (including current). If you don’t have 3 job experiences, consider volunteering, freelance, or gap options.
  • Education
  • Skills (3 minimum)
  • Profile Photo
  • 50 Connections

In today’s competitive job market, having a well-optimized LinkedIn profile is more important than ever. This is a passive, one-stop effort that can generate inbound leads and increase your chances of being discovered by recruiters and potential employers.

About the writer

Kelli Hrivnak

LinkedIn | Website

Kelli Hrivnak is a leader with over 15 years of experience in staffing and recruitment services.  Recognizing the limitations of quantity-driven staffing models, Kelli embarked on a mission to create a forward-thinking alternative.  She is founder of Knak Digital, a recruiting agency prioritizing strategy and quality over high-volume recruitment. Throughout her career, Kelli has partnered with various companies, from Fortune 500 corporations to start-ups.  Her extensive background in the technology and marketing industry has provided her with valuable insights and a deep understanding of client needs.

Finding Your Creative Communities

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

National and Local Professional Organizations

 

AIGA The Professional Association for Design logo
AIGA: The Professional Association for Design | National
AIGA Baltimore | @aigabaltimore
AIGA advances design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force. As the largest community of design advocates, we bring together practitioners, enthusiasts, and patrons to amplify the voice of design and create the vision for a collective future. We define global standards and ethical practices, guide design education, enhance professional development, and make powerful tools and resources accessible to all.

AAFB: American Advertising Federation Baltimore logo
AAF: American Advertising Federation | National
AAF Baltimore | @aafbaltimore
The American Advertising Federation of Baltimore (AAFB) traces its roots back to 1918, originally established as the women’s auxiliary to the men’s Advertising Club. In 1920, the women formed their own organization, naming it the Women’s Advertising Club of Baltimore. It was affiliated with the Associated Advertising Clubs of the World, the predecessor to the modern-day American Advertising Federation.

AGI Alliance Graphique Internationale
AGI: Alliance Graphique Internationale | @agigraphic
Alliance Graphique Internationale [AGI] is, as its name suggests, a member-based association of professionals, united by working in the field of graphic design and drawn from across the globe.

AMA American Marketing Association logo
AMA: American Marketing Association | National
AMA Baltimore | @amabaltimore
The American Marketing Association Baltimore Chapter is Maryland’s leading provider of networking, educational programming, and resources for marketing professionals. AMA Baltimore provides extensive opportunities for marketers to expand their networks, grow professionally, and learn about current industry trends.

Creative Mornings logo
Creative Mornings | National
Creative Mornings Baltimore | @CreativeMorningsBaltimore
CreativeMornings/Baltimore is a FREE monthly breakfast lecture series based on the two core principles that everyone is creative and everyone is invited. CM/Bal is one of over 200 chapters around the world meeting each month. Every month, all chapters organize talks based on the same theme. CreativeMornings is fueled by an engine of generosity and is 100% volunteer-run, partnering with great local businesses and organizations. If you’re interested in volunteering, please complete this form.

Baltimore Creative Community

BOPA: Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts
@promoandarts
As Baltimore City’s arts council, The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts provides resources and opportunities to artists and artist organizations to continue to make Baltimore a city for the arts.

BCAN
@baltimorecreates
The Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network (BCAN) is a 10-year, city-wide initiative providing both strategic and as-needed, just-in-time entrepreneurship support for Baltimore creatives of all disciplines and backgrounds. At BCAN, we define artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs the same way: visionaries who create something new from raw and often limited resources.

Through our Programs—Founder Fellowship, Connect, Help Desk, Mobile, and Pilot (launching in 2020), we’re on a mission to foster a stronger, more equitable creative ecosystem and economy in Baltimore by empowering artists as entrepreneurs!

bfc: Baltimore Freelancers Collective
IG: @bmore_freelancers
FB: @baltimorefreelancers
Whether you own your own business, freelance on the side, work remotely for a large company, or just want to learn more about entrepreneurship—we would love for you to join us at our next event.

Elevate & Cultivate with Illiah
@elevate.cultivate
Nothing combats fear or intimidation like bravery and empathy, so reach out to your competition, ask for a chat—it could change your life! Also, pay attention to when inspiration hits you like a truck, it could be your next big thing. And finally, keep a list of competitors, not to watch, but to reach out to invite them to be your friends and join our community.

The Bmore Creatives
@thebmorecreatives
Hi, welcome to The Bmore Creatives! We are a community platform and a social media brand that celebrates the creatives, the makers, the get sh*t done-ers, the people that make Charm City charming! We promote and connect local artists, small businesses, and avid IGers throughout the city. We want to prove that everyone can be creative when they are open to being inspired by everyday life in our city.

Ladies, Wine & Design
Ladies, Wine and Design Baltimore holds monthly events which are limited to eight creative ladies. We’ll have drinks and casual conversations on a wide variety of topics relating to creativity, business, and life. If you’re a female student or creative and would like to join, please email us. It’s free and reservations are first-come, first-serve. You can follow us on Instagram and Facebook, and if you’d like to host us in your space, teach a workshop, or lead a discussion, please do get in touch.

Made With Love In Baltimore
If you want your product or organization listed, drop a “Made with ♥ in Baltimore” link on your site, and send us an email to hello@madewithloveinbaltimore.org.

Open Works
@open_works_bmore
Our mission is to make tools, technology, and the knowledge to use them accessible to all. We connect you to manufacturing equipment, space, education, and Baltimore’s largest community of maker professionals. With programs for ages eight and up, we can help you make just about anything!

Production Club of Baltimore
@ProductionClub
THE PCB PRINT, PAPER & PRODUCTION SHOW 2020 (Scheduled for October 1)
Join the Production Club of Baltimore, along with hundreds of other local creative and marketing professionals, for an evening of networking and fresh production ideas from the mid-atlantic’s very best printers, paper suppliers, image producers, and technologists. Grow your swatch book collection and samples library. Cultivate new vendor partnerships. Seed your future project timelines with new media. Dig into deeper relationships with fellow creatives by face-to-face networking. This is a time to flourish! Register now!

SoDA | Society of Design Arts
@sodabaltimore
The Society of Design Arts (SoDA) presents a monthly program in Baltimore, Maryland to further attendees’ knowledge of the history of the design arts including graphic design, illustration, architecture, book arts, and photography. Programs are free and open to anyone.

SoDA consists of a planning committee that meets quarterly to discuss future programs. Formerly known as Society for History and Graphics (SHAG), the all-volunteer group has been active since 2007 providing more than 100 programs which have explored such diverse subjects as Bauhaus methodology and practice, Patent Medicine labels, The Real Mad Men of Advertising, Science Fiction illustration, and many others.

Baltimore Cake & Whiskey
Fresh, authentic, purposeful networking events for the modern businesswoman.

Baltimore Graphic Designers
This group is for Baltimore area based graphic designers to create community, ask questions, get advice, share jobs, and plan meet-ups.

Monument Women’s Creative Alliance
@monumentwomen
Our mission is to support women creatives by cultivating a community that enables connection, inspiration, and education.

Baltimore Tech Community

Baltimore Women Techmakers
Calling all Baltimore women that use tech! Whether you are a Product Manager, Designer, Developer, or a tech hobbyist, this group welcomes you! This is the local chapter of Google’s Women Techmakers.

Baltimore Womxn in Tech
@BmoreWomenTech
Through networking, mentorship, and collaboration, we aim to empower womxn in our community. No matter your role in our ecosystem, we want you to thrive.

Baltimore UX Meetup
@BaltimoreUX
Calling all those who create excellent user experiences for sites, systems, applications, software, and hardware! From the startup to the enterprise. From user research to implementation. If you’re designing and building great experiences in the Baltimore area, please join us.

Code for Baltimore
@CodeForBaltimore
We are a community of volunteers who develop open-source projects as a Code for America Brigade by focusing on open government, open data, great design, and social good in Baltimore.

Code in the Schools
@CodeintheSchool
We empower Baltimore City youth to thrive in the 21st-century economy by expanding access to quality computer science education and building pathways from school to jobs and higher education. By focusing on youth traditionally under-represented in technology fields, we work to eliminate structural barriers and inequities in education and industry.

Hack Baltimore
@hack Baltimore
Baltimore is a unique and vibrant city, and though there are many reasons why we’re called Charm City, we tend to make the news for our flaws rather than our strengths. And hackathons are a great way to engage the broader community to explore technology as a way to help solve them.

Technical.ly Baltimore
@TechnicallyBMR
Technical.ly Baltimore is a local technology news organization dedicated to how innovation is impacting the region.

Creative Job Boards

AIGA
designjobs.aiga.org

Creative Hot List
www.creativehotlist.com

The Creative Group (TLC) | A Robert Half Company
www.roberthalf.com/employers/creativegroup

Creative Mornings
creativemornings.com/jobs

Working Not Working
workingnotworking.com/search/jobs

Behance
www.behance.net/joblist

If You Could
ifyoucouldjobs.com

Krop
www.krop.com

Talent Zoo
www.talentzoo.com

Media Bistro
www.mediabistro.com

Authentic
authenticjobs.com

Coroflot
www.coroflot.com

Smash
jobs.smashingmagazine.com/jobs

Q&A with Crayligraphy Founder, Colin Tierney

Posted on by Frances Miller

Hand lettering and calligraphy are having a major boom today, as seen from logos to magazine covers, and from mass-produced home goods to painstakingly-handwritten wedding invitations.

When looking at work by the likes of Jessica Hische, Lauren Hom, and Jon Contino (just a few of the letterers helping to spread the craft today), it can feel like there’s no way your own hand could do that. Calligraphy, in particular, is intimidating to get into. Choosing and buying tools, and getting over the hurdle of giving up when your first few tries don’t look totally Instagram-worthy.

Crayligraphy was founded in the Summer of 2015 by Colin Tierney in (guess where?) Baltimore, Maryland. Offering in-person workshops, online guides, and a community of other learners, Crayligraphy delivers helpful content for anyone interested in learning. AIGA Baltimore is excited to cohost a workshop right here in Baltimore, so join us on Saturday, May 11th, 2019! Read on to learn more about Colin’s journey in developing this group and resource.

Sign up for the Crayligraphy workshop!

So, what exactly is Crayligraphy?
Colin: It’s a concept I dubbed several years back—a neologism combining the words “crazy” and “calligraphy”—to help people learn the beautiful art of writing through the magical world of those nostalgic, childhood friendly markers. Because let’s be honest, calligraphy with markers is pretty crazy.

Essentially, Crayligraphy is a space for people to try their hand in the ancient art form in the least intimidating way as possible. No longer do you have to spend an arm and a leg on traditional supplies before determining whether or not you enjoy the process. Broad-line markers are cheap, easily accessible and most of all, fun!

Where did the name Crayligraphy come from?

Colin: Crayligraphy began as a way to experiment with calligraphy through a marker. In this particular post, a Crayola marker. Hence the original name “Crayoligraphy,” which yes, I dubbed as well, but that’s a whole other story 🤫🤐

I changed the name to “Crayligraphy” shortly after realizing I wanted to turn this idea into a learning platform. The name not only rolled off the tongue easier, but it didn’t limit people to thinking they had to use Crayola’s brand. There are so many quality broad-line markers out there–– Target’s Up&Up, Crazart, Roseart to name a few—–that it seemed silly to be exclusive to just one brand.

At the time, did you think this would grow to what it is today?

Colin: At the time, I had no idea how big this idea was going to be. I was simply responding to my audience after several years of emails and DMs, requesting that I teach hand lettering and calligraphy.

One year after coming up with the idea of Crayligraphy, I posted this same image announcing the launch. People who were interested in learning how to stylistically write with a marker, were able to sign up to our newsletter, being the first to know when my series of tutorials would begin.

After the first 24 hours, we had 2 thousand people sign up to our newsletter list 😱. Before the announcement, I didn’t know how to teach. I had to better my knowledge and skillset before proclaiming that I was proficient enough to take on that role. Basically, I had to learn to teach.

Originally, you were traveling across the country to host workshops in different cities. How did you balance this along with your family and other work?

Make no mistake: doing all of these workshops solo was no easy task.

We get hundreds of requests to visit different cities all around the world. Back when I started teaching workshops, I was a one-man show on the road. My wife Lindsey organized the events and made sure everything was scheduled and set up so that I could fly into the city on a Friday, wake up the next morning (like a lost puppy in an unfamiliar territory), teach the workshop and hop back on a plane to return home early Sunday (early as in 3 or 4 in the morning early 😩).

I had to do this at the time. I lost my job, my family didn’t have a home (it was on the market when I lost my job) and we were about to welcome a baby boy to the world. We already had 2 girls under the age of 4! Life was a bit Cray to say the least 😐 And while it wasn’t a sustainable living situation, it was necessary.

So after some time passed, I decided I couldn’t go at this alone anymore.

Hiring can sometimes be as daunting as doing all the work yourself. How have you built a team of educators?

Throughout my visits to these cities, I reached out to local artists who have shown interest in Crayligraphy while also having an understanding of the art. I asked these artists if they had any interest in co-hosting a workshop with me in their respective cities. I did this for a few reasons. One, having two instructors to teach a workshop adds so much more value for the attendees. Two, it adds some local flavor that the students can relate to.

Most importantly though, I was able to train these local artists to teach the Crayligraphy material. We call them “Educraytors.” So, whenever a city’s interest arises, I am able to call upon an Educraytor who represents that region, to host the workshop. This allows me to focus on Crayligraphy’s bigger picture and spend those precious moments I would otherwise be missing during travel, with my family.

Does Crayligraphy define a specific style of lettering, or does each artist put their own spin on it?

Our team of educraytors is a great example of how you can produce wild results with one simple instrument. Check them out on Instagram! Veronica Ruiz of @veronicaletters is based in Denver, CO. She has a wide range of styles, but you know Vero’s work when you see it scrolling through Instagram because it always stops you in your tracks. Terence Tang of @tinlunstudio comes from Houston, TX, where we hosted a workshop last year with AIGA Houston. He has now integrated what began as a serious hobby into his professional design workflow, where magic markers are now among his go-to tools for designing logos and lifestyle goods.

I’ll be co-hosting Baltimore’s workshop with Natalie Downey of @nataliedowneydesign. She’s one of the best out there when it comes to Crayligraphy. Her fragmented style (broken strokes) is something to watch over and over again while scratching your head in awe of how she does it. We like to call Natalie The Ninja-Wizard ⚔️🧙‍♀️of the team because her strokes are so quick and unbelievably accurate.

What sorts of techniques are taught in a Crayligraphy workshop?

We’ll go through the two different methods to create your letters. We begin with the fragmented method; that’s breaking down each character into basic strokes so that we see the makeup of these letters as shapes and pieces to build upon. So, after each stroke, you lift your marker and place it down where the next stroke needs to be marked.

Some of you will be able to learn a little quicker and if that’s the case, you might be ready for the fluid method. That’s not to say we leave those who don’t learn as quickly in the dust. We just have another option to practice for the people who might have an easier time understanding the fragmented method.

The fluid method entails keeping your marker on the paper and transitioning between thick and thins based on pressure and release through the fingertips. This method allows for a more elegant or smooth aesthetic where the fragmented method is based on broken strokes that appear sharper and quicker.

Sign up for the Crayligraphy workshop!

Can You Teach Yourself How To Be A Graphic Designer?

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

Looking to learn graphic design? You’re in the right place.

What a time to be alive! The internet is an amazing resource, the likes of which has never before existed in human history. This entire catalog of knowledge, gathered over thousands of years, can now be accessed in a matter of seconds from anywhere in the world.

Information used to be a huge barrier to entry in most professions, design included, but those walls have largely come down. Skillsets which previously could only be gained through an apprenticeship –– or years of study at certain prestigious schools –– are now available to everyone who knows where to look.

Information is cheap. In fact, it’s often free. It’s so freely available that it brings a whole new set of challenges. Just because it’s all out there, doesn’t mean it’s easy to sift through the noise and properly absorb the most important parts. You will still face a steep road ahead to reach your creative and professional goals, but it’s very doable.

Knowledge and information is a huge piece of the puzzle, but it’s not everything. Applying what you have learned consistently, practicing and failing, is the second piece that transforms information into real skills. Many people will fail here. They’ll watch hours upon hours of YouTube videos, get super excited about their newfound passion, but never enter the next phase of applying what they’ve learned.

‘Learning’ can quickly fall into the realm of ‘entertainment’, if you are not taking an active role in getting involved with the material. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Considering all the media content that we consume these days, there are certainly less enriching and educational things we can waste our time on. But if your goal is to hone your craft and move closer to your professional goals, it’s important to be honest with yourself and admit when you’re just being a passive spectator.

4 Tips for Self-Taught Designers, From a Self-Taught Designer

teaching yourself graphic design

1. Embrace your unique journey

Unlike a fully structured college syllabus, the road ahead is going to be completely up to you. The good news is that you can cut through a lot of the fluff and focus on the topics and skills that you can apply immediately. The bad news is that nobody will be holding your hand and guiding you. It’s very easy to get lost in the weeds of information overload, distraction, and “shiny object syndrome.”

First, be crystal clear with your short, medium and long-term goals. Actually spend the time to sit down and think about this and write it out. Yes, that means you. No, you can’t skip this step. If you set the right targets, you can catapult yourself up the learning curve and get ‘pretty good’ at a particular skill in a matter of weeks or months. If you have unclear goals about what you want to do in graphic design, you could wander aimlessly for years before giving up… thinking you somehow lacked the innate talent to be a success.

What is your next logical step? Should you be building a portfolio? Are you missing a skill needed at your dream job? Can you learn something new and use it to help someone in your life, for free, to build up your confidence and network of references? These are some examples of excellent targets you can aim your learning journey towards.

learn from other designers

2. Model yourself after the designers and artists that inspire you most.

Figure out who’s doing the work you wish you could do and try to recreate it yourself. No, I’m not saying to plagiarize someone else’s work and pass it off as your own to others… but purely as a learning tool, it’s perfectly ok.

Try to ‘reverse engineer’ every element of their work and understand why they made the creative decisions they did. If you want to showcase this piece in your portfolio, then you will need to put your own spin on it and not blindly copy. However, don’t worry if your work is ‘derivative’ at this stage of the game. Finding your unique creative style is something that comes later, after you’ve learned the fundamentals.

There’s a reason behind Picasso’s classic quote, “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Don’t take it too literally, but there is a lot of truth in it. Model yourself after those who are successful to help ‘catch up’ in your skill level, before taking it to the next level on your own.

Dedicate a lot of time each week looking at design from experts. Yes, this might make you feel a little bad about your relatively amateurish creations, but it’s something you need to do. This helps you develop ‘good taste’ which is the driving force that will help you close the gap between where you’re currently at and those at the top of their game.

Depending on your specialty, there are several good sites for this. Dribbble is a good example, across the board. For motion design, Vimeo is the industry standard and as a bonus allows you to go through pieces frame-by-frame. Pinterest is another classic source of inspiration for many designers.

aiga design community

3. Join a community. Online is great, in-person is even better.

One hurdle you will run into on this path are ‘gatekeepers’. People who will say you cannot do it, or who make things seem overly difficult to discourage you from even getting started. Often, these people are insecure about their own position, fearing that more competition could cost them their livelihood.

Also, they are afraid that the spread of free information will undermine their own education and experience, rather than seeing the opportunities to enrich their own careers by using these resources to continue their own education.

Don’t be discouraged if you run into a few naysayers. The internet can bring out the worst in people. Keep this in mind, try to develop a thick skin, and keep on moving.

You will also find supportive communities that are welcoming to newcomers and more than willing to help in any way they can. AIGA is one such example. Make sure that you are willing to give back and add value to others, even if all you have to contribute is a positive attitude. Be respectful of others’ time, be humble and willing to learn, and people will point you in the right direction.

Find Your Community With AIGA Baltimore ask for feedback

4. Ask for others to critique your work.

This is a tough one. None of us want our egos bruised, especially when we already feel like imposters and amateurs. But constructive criticism is the best way to refocus your efforts and move up the ladder quickly.

Websites for learning graphic design

youtube

This is obviously everyone’s first go-to when looking for short video tutorials. Surprisingly, there is a lot of high-quality content here… it’s just a matter of sorting through all the junk to find it. Unfortunately, YouTube is full of distractions, misinformation, and worst of all… people trying to sell you something under the guise of free help.

Overall it’s an excellent resource to look up any specific knowledge when you need it. If you’re just starting out however, you may do better with a more structured and well-curated source.

Find Design Tutorials on YouTube skillshare

Skillshare has over 18,000 online classes and continues to grow every year. The classes are project-based, and there is a vibrant community of fellow students to help provide feedback and critique.

The projects are fun, highly relevant to the latest design trends, and taught by some big names that we all know and admire.

Baltimore’s own Ellen Lupton has several classes on the platform. Her typography classes are a great foundation for anyone serious about learning graphic design.

Overall, the course format is a little more bite-sized, than the more intensive format of courses on LinkedIn Learning and others. This is great to hit the ground running on a project after only a few hours of tutorial, but may lack the broad foundation needed by a total newcomer.

AIGA members can receive a free two-month trial.

Learn Design Skills on Skillshare lynda

Lynda has a smaller catalog of courses than Skillshare, but they are far more intensive. Where a Skillshare course can be 3-5 hours of learning material, Lynda might be 20-40 hours. The potential downside is the time commitment, and the possibility to lose focus and enthusiasm, especially if a large portion of the course is reviewing the basics.

However, Lynda’s deep dives can get you up and running on the latest technology and trends in your industry even if you’re coming in as a blank slate. If you dive in and treat these with the same commitment as you would a college course, you will be rewarded with a solid foundation of knowledge.

This is also a monthly paid subscription, with a free trial that allows you full access to all of the courses.

Expand Your Skillset With LinkedIn Learning adobe

If you’re serious about Graphic Design, there’s a good chance that you are already using Adobe’s suite of products. With yearly updates, the software is constantly changing. Luckily, Adobe provides a large library of free tutorials that will help you find your way around the basics in all of these programs.

These tutorials are generally pretty short, so if you want to learn about every facet and feature of the latest Photoshop, for example, the above-mentioned Lynda might be a better choice.

Explore Design Tutorials With Creative Cloud pluralsight

Like Skillshare, with a smaller library of short-format courses. I’d probably check out the others first, then consider a free trial here to see if there’s some particular topic or teacher that interest you and isn’t on the other sites.

Check it out on Pluralsight udemy

Here you will find a similar deep-dive format as Lynda, but instead of an unlimited access monthly subscription, you pay by the course. This might make sense if there is only one particular course that interests you, or if it will take you several months to complete since there is no time limit once you’ve bought the course. Unlike some of the other sites, you won’t automatically be billed monthly regardless of your progress.

Learn More on Udemy

Online Design Programs & Courses

If you feel like you’ve gotten everything you can out of all of these sources, and you want to further hone your craft with an advanced level of online education, there is another tier (price-wise) of courses that exist.

For motion design, the two most prominent examples are School of Motion and Mograph Mentor. SoM’s courses start at around $1k, and MM at about $2k. There are other similar companies for other specializations.  These big-ticket courses are a long way from the ‘free’ information on YouTube.

Are they worth it? Maybe… To be honest, most of the information itself that is presented in these courses is probably available elsewhere, but they offer a higher level of personalized attention. These are 6-10 week ‘bootcamp’ intensity courses, usually focused on one large project that can be used as a showcase portfolio piece.

If you’re already 90% of the way there, the personalized feedback and coaching through every phase on the project could take your skill level from advanced to elite. If you’re still a hopeless newbie, you’re probably not going to get that much out of it. You will not be magically transformed from someone with no knowledge to an expert just because you shelled out a lot of money for a course.

Feedback and mentorship can be had for free elsewhere if you ask nicely and respect peoples’ time. And the amount you can actually learn and absorb in 6 weeks is limited. If you have the money to spend, and you feel like putting serious cash down will motivate you to work harder, go for it.

Education is a lifelong road, not a finish line that you cross once.

Education is a lifelong road, not a finish line that you cross once. Those who stop learning risk falling behind and stalling out in their careers. This is especially relevant now as technology advances as an accelerating pace. If you’re not learning something new every year, you’re probably already behind where the industry is headed. 

The good news is that where there were once walls, there are now an endless number of ladders. You don’t have to feel stuck doing something that doesn’t excite you. Life’s too short, and you’re never too old to change directions or decide you want to try something new. You can make a lot of progress in learning something new, in a relatively short amount of time, if you know how to sort through the information overload and focus clearly on your desired destination.

Can you teach yourself to be a graphic designer? Absolutely.


About the author:

Vaibhav Sharma headshot

Vaibhav Sharma

Vaibhav is an NJ native, who has called Baltimore home since 2013. He loves motion design, cooking, cats… and most of all, being a dad. Vaibhav is an introvert but loves to make new friends. Feel free to say ‘Hi!’ on Facebook, Dribbble, or in a comment below this article.


What I Learned About Being A Creative

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

What I learned about being a creative, after breaking through 30 years of stifled creativity

“I suck at art.”

I can’t remember the exact age when that thought crystallized in my head, probably around first or second grade. It was a toxic seed that I unwittingly planted in myself. As I grew, so did that seed. Until it completely cut me off from the creative instinct inside of me. Luckily, that drive to create always bubbled right beneath the surface, and after several decades of my life I have been able to reconnect with something that I thought I lost long ago.

Nobody is born a talented artist; every child produces some level of messy scribble when they first try to draw or paint or create anything from their imagination. But I felt like my scrawl was especially bad. Maybe I just lacked the fine motor skills. I couldn’t keep my coloring inside the lines, and I certainly couldn’t recreate any person, animal or object. I was hopeless.

I have this one distinct memory where I had a full spectrum of crayons in front of me, but for some reason chose to use my pencil to color a picture of a duck. “Why did you do that?” I remember the teacher asking… wondering why I had chosen pencil-gray instead of yellow or some other sensible duck color. I didn’t have a good answer for her. Maybe I preferred the sharp precision of the pencil. Maybe it was just what was closest to my reach. Whatever it was, I came away that day feeling like I had made the “wrong” choice creatively.

I came away that day feeling like I had made the “wrong” choice creatively.

There were many similar instances where I tried to express myself artistically and was left with disappointing results. Before long, other kids’ work began to outshine my own, and instead of striving to improve I just decided art was not for me.

Creative answers aren’t right or wrong

It took me many years to realize that it was my own belief system that caused me to give up on my artistic ability so early. The truth is that I couldn’t deal with the threat of criticism or ridicule. I couldn’t deal with making mistakes.

By comparison, it’s a lot easier to focus on learning something where the answers are concrete and unambiguous. There’s only one correct solution to a math problem, and I could learn how to repeat the same steps to arrive at that same answer every time.

But art, or any other creative pursuit, is not like that. The ‘solutions’ to any particular project can be infinite, which creates uncertainty that used to drive me crazy.

Before long, I had cut myself off from my inner creativity so much that I forgot that part of me ever existed. “I just don’t have any good ideas”, I’d tell myself. I admired others who were able to create inspired pieces of art, music, storytelling, but thought they had some magical source of inspiration that I somehow lacked.

Creativity, in the purest sense, cannot be taught or learned. However, it already exists naturally in every human being. What differs between us is the degree to which we self-criticize and suppress the ideas that are constantly being born within our minds. After a while, this suppression becomes second nature and we don’t even notice we’re doing it. All we’re left with is a blank slate when we try to access our mind for an original idea. This creative blockage comes from years of saying ‘no’ to all of the tangential and creative thinking that our brains naturally produce. When we set the bar too high for what constitutes a good idea, we close ourselves off to the source of all ideas.

This kind of flawed perfectionist thinking comes from childhood experiences. It’s not our fault, but it is our responsibility to correct if we want to reach our full potential. Many of us did not have the proper nourishment or encouragement to launch us into our best lives. Some of us were told directly that we did not have what it took, or that art was a dead-end path. For others, it might have been more subtle than that. Maybe we just weren’t in an environment where we felt like it was ok to make mistakes, and where we learned the important lesson that failure was the path to growth.

It took me until near middle-age to realize that the ‘safe’ path in my life was not safe at all. It was absolutely soul-crushing to work in a field I had no interest or passion in, just because I thought it was the most logical career path and the path that was expected of me by society, family, etc.

‘Staying inside the lines’ career-wise was a defense mechanism that I thought would keep me safe from criticism… it didn’t. Even within the confined, predefined spaces of corporate life you will still make mistakes and have to stand behind them constantly. But at the core of it, I didn’t believe in any of that work in the first place. I felt completely incongruent and therefore lacked any power or conviction to be proud of what I did.

Here’s the good news…

I wasn’t that special. I can’t believe how liberating those words are. It seems so obvious now, but it took me over 30 years to realize that. I’d rather take the risk of being a creative with “no talent” than being stuck in a career focused on conformity and rigidity.

Perhaps I wasn’t destined to be an illustrator or fine artist, but there are so many other mediums through which I can express myself to the world. And expressing myself authentically is non-negotiable. I cannot happily live my life without the opportunity to do so.

Creativity is in all of us.

It’s a combination of our life experience and a multitude of other intangible factors. It’s just a matter of the extent which we nurture that natural creative instinct. Creation is more of a process of getting out of your own way than trying to force ‘good ideas’.

My new path has been a series of these revelations. It has been a process of unburdening. Questioning my limiting beliefs about why I couldn’t succeed. Asking myself if I really do lack some fundamental ability that other, ‘real’ artists possess.

Ultimately, success as a creative professional comes from cultivating certainty.

When a client hires you to make creative decisions, you must back them up with certainty. You alone are the expert in whatever you do. If you were brought into a project in any role, you must believe that the client chose you because you are the best at what you do.

This kind of confidence and self-certainty doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time to build, but it can only come from within. You need to be comfortable making difficult creative decisions and being courageous enough to put your work out there even when you feel most vulnerable.

The biggest piece to all of this is just giving yourself permission.

If you don’t value the work you do, nobody else will.

It comes down to an inner choice, although ‘flipping the switch’ in your head to believe that you and your work are enough is much easier said than done.

It’s a lifelong journey, that never ends until you give up or decide to move onto to something else. There’s always room for improvement in terms of honing your craft and sharpening your skills. But in my experience, the biggest piece to all of this is just giving yourself permission. Believe that you are enough, right now. You are not an imposter, there is real value to what you do. If you can feel your heart calling you to do this work, then nobody can ever take that away from you.

Stay strong.

Never give up.

About the author:

Vaibhav Sharma headshot

Vaibhav Sharma

Vaibhav is an NJ native, who has called Baltimore home since 2013. He loves motion design, cooking, cats… and most of all, being a dad. Vaibhav is an introvert but loves to make new friends. Feel free to say ‘Hi!’ on Facebook, Dribbble, or in a comment below this article.

And The Winners Are…

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore
After drooling over very colorful and inspiring workspaces of the AIGA Baltimore Instagram community, it is finally time to announce the winners of last month’s Instagram challenge. DRUMROLL, please! May we present:

 

Emilee Beeson:

http://instagram.com/p/zqqWxoO555/

 

and Tiff Mason:

 

http://instagram.com/p/ys3d–xC2Q/

 

Congratulations to Emilee and Tiff! They each won a 1-year subscription to Skillshare!

 

We’d like to give all our challenge participants a BIG THANKS for sharing your workspaces with us. We loved seeing where you work, your colorful walls, pretty posters, creative desktop backgrounds, and awesome adaptations of our challenge hashtag, #bmoreAIGA100. To see all the entries, head over to Instagram and search the hashtag #bmoreAIGA100, and stay tuned for more challenges and Skillshare giveaways!

 

Now that we’re feeling workspace inspired, how about joining us for a mix-and-mingle at Price Modern on Tuesday this week?

 

20150310_workspaces_1000x600

We’re getting together to dive deep into the topic of designing creative workspaces and we want you to come join us! Light refreshments will be provided, and we may head over to the Ottobar afterwards, too. See you there!

Behind the Scenes: February’s Open Board Meeting

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

What is AIGA, and what do we do?

Last month, the AIGA Baltimore board welcomed designers and design advocates to check out our monthly meeting at Heavy Seas Alehouse. AIGA members were invited to grab a beer and be a part of the conversation as we talked about the past month and what we’ve got in store for the future. Spoiler: a lot.

We met up at the Alehouse where our Membership Director, Marisa Martin, introduced AIGA Baltimore and its board members. Shortly after, the meeting was called to order and everyone in attendance was given the opportunity to make suggestions, all of which were discussed with the group and noted by board members for possible action.

Since we had some people who couldn’t make it to the meeting we’re posting a recap of our February meeting here. Take a look and share your feedback on what you might want to see from us.

Marisa started off the evening with a short history of AIGA’s past, present, and future.

If you’d also like to know a little history, our national website is a great place to learn about AIGA and what we do.

How old is AIGA?

  • 100!
  • This year, we’re reflecting on our history and planning our legacy

We’re developing a strategic plan:

  • A national committee is is currently reviewing all current practices and policies, ensuring that we’ll be a strong, respected institution for another 100 years
  • Based on their findings, they’ll develop a five-year strategic plan for implementing the envisioned change

Major recurring themes and recommendations:

  • Members and chapters are the nexus of the AIGA experience
  • Membership engagement is key to viability and loyalty
  • Members expect greater means of connecting with each other
  • We are our members, not an omniscient institution

AIGA Baltimore is celebrating a milestone…!

  • We just turned 25!
  • We had a big celebration during Design Week but, as with AIGA national, this calls for our own period of reflection
  • AIGA Baltimore is taking national’s membership focus and translating it to our chapter and our community

We’re focusing on creating and increasing:

  • Personal connections and engagement
  • Value for our events
  • Inclusiveness and transparency

Next, we shared some insight into AIGA Baltimore’s operations.

Meetings:

  • The entire board gathers every first Monday of the month for about 2 hours
  • We meet in smaller groups as needed
  • Basecamp is the chapter’s current project management tool of choice. Our legacy information is saved in PBWorks and is shared with all chapters
  • Once every 6 months, we have a board retreat, an extended day-long meeting

Leadership Retreat:

  • National conference just for board members
  • Number of attendees depends on the size of your chapter (we send 4 board members)
  • Connect with National and board members from the other 66 chapters

Who are all these people?!

We introduced ourselves, guests and all, which helped provide more context to our conversation. You can find a list of our current board members here. For a personal look at each one of us, keep your eye on our blog for Board Member Spotlights.

Then the board meeting began.

We ran through some important action items for upcoming events and communications. The usual meeting agenda was condensed for our guests’ sake, as the amount of information covered can get overwhelming sometimes, even for us. Board membership is hard work, but we volunteer because we love what we do!

Our State of the Chapter address followed.

Jennifer Marin, Co-President

  • Co-Presidents are in close communications with AIGA National and other presidents across the country (lots of phone calls!)
  • Last year’s chapter goals:
    • Strengthen the chapter by growing size of membership and the board
    • Increase visibility by creating meaningful relationships with area organizations
    • Provide consistent and valuable programming
  • 2014 chapter goals:
    • Ensure the stability of the board through succession planning
    • Diversify outreach by programming relevant events to a wider variety of disciplines

Courtney Glancy, Programming Director

  • 2011: joined during big transition on the board/membership, audit and re-evaluated programming
  • 2012: ran 10 special events (non-recurring events)
  • 2013: ran 15 special events with many attendees
  • We’ve come a long way. In 2013 the membership structure changed; we adapted and figured out how to make events worth it in a way that’s profitable and cost effective
  • All our profits go back into programming and operating expenses
    • Operating expenses: storage unit, web hosting, insurance, board retreats, etc.
  • Premium Blend: look out for these special Blend events
    • Blend used to be a happy hour for designers, but we evolved them into a mini-lecture series: they’re informational, relevant, and, at the same time, very social
  • Ink & Pixels: a student conference that debuted in 2012. We had a loss that year, but made up for it in 2013.
  • Design Week: Also debuted in 2012. In 2013, we increased engagement and attendance. Watch out for DW2014! It’ll be awesome.
  • 2014 goals:
    • continue to evaluating programming for relevance, profit, and value
    • increasing the number of valuable special events
    • listen to members more to hear about what our audience wants to see, so we know what ‘value’ means in programming

Kara Turner, Communications Director

  • What aren’t you seeing that you’d like to see? Let us know: communications@baltimore.aiga.org.
  • Social Media: Won CBS Local Affiliate award for Best Local Art Enthusiasts to Follow on Twitter

Greg Jericho, Digital Publications Chair

Michelle Fazenbaker, Special Events Director

  • Part of the focus for 2014 is to celebrate AIGA’s centennial
    • The goal of this year is to create awareness on a national level and on a chapter level
  • Design a Chair project is one example
    • National got a company to donate chairs and Baltimore had the opportunity to design a chair with children’s artwork from Art with a Heart.
    • Our chair is in NYC right now at the AIGA gallery.
    • We’ll get it back and donate it back to Art with a Heart after the design chair show

Marisa Martin, Membership Director

  • Considering the new(-ish) membership structure and the refined focus on membership, it’s an important, yet challenging, time to be a Membership Director
  • We increased membership by 32% in 2013!
  • We will hold two membership drives in 2014, so be on the lookout!
  • Opening the doors of communication with members and the community
    • Not just growing but maintaining a strong, thriving membership base and design community in Baltimore
  • Defining the value of membership and ways to increase engagement, retention and grow membership
  • Nationwide, we have 1000+ events per year, 100+ per month; global events, too
    • Important that you find them valuable, and we need your input!
  • Members drive the AIGA content, and give us the capital to continue providing what you need
    • 90% of the sustaining memberships (mid-level at $250) goes directly back to the chapter

Sara Blumberg, Volunteer Chair

Finally, we opened the floor for input, questions, and comments from our attendees.

Feedback highlights:

AIGA as a whole is still being considered an organization primarily focused on print-based graphic design, something one of our attendees voiced this evening. As AIGA continues to evolve, our goal is to be more inclusive of all industries related to design; however, we cannot do this alone. By partnering with other organizations like Refresh, R2integrated, ADG Creative, Gilah Press + Design, and Storyfarm (just to name a few!), we can work together to connect our communities. As one of our favorite member attendees stated:

Design is at a certain crossroads; not just print, not just digital. There needs to be a re-education of what design actually is. It’s more than just style and aesthetics. People outside of design don’t really understand that.

Our job at AIGA is to facilitate that conversation, but it’s up to you to spread the word!

And we posed a question for Attendees: If you could come to any AIGA event, what would it be about? Here are some of their suggestions.

  • Code vs design interaction: how do you make the it beautiful and not have a multi-car pile-up in the intersection of design and code?
  • Speed developing: bring in a design and translate it into code
  • Design/development training for clients
  • Portfolio development: possibly submitting a design online, feedback is presented, have an event to show the re-draft
  • Infographics: a workshop series about getting data and creating infographics from it
  • When do you know when to hire your first employee as a design entrepreneur? What kind of employee should you hire? And other challenges from a business perspective

Now what are your ideas? Leave us a comment below or email us at info@baltimore.aiga.org!

Converse: Starting a Design Business

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

Last converse, business-curious designers got together at Alexander’s Tavern in Fell’s Point to talk about starting a business. Courtney and Josh, two AIGA Baltimore board members who have some experience in this, led the discussion. Resources identified are listed at the end of the article.

When your job starts affecting your mental or physical health, you need a change. Whether that means finding a different employer or a different career depends on what part of your job is bringing you down. If you’re lucky enough to get paid for doing something you love, yet rarely find satisfaction in the work you’re being given, it’s time to look for someone else to give you work.

Tried that a few times? Now, you might start thinking about giving yourself work.

Before flipping your desk and marching out of the office, there are obviously some things to think about.

And What Do You Do?

Think of your elevator pitch. That quick answer when a stranger asks what you do. The clearer that answer sounds to you, the more confidence you have in your business model.

Whatever you are able to offer that another designer can’t, or doesn’t, is where to start in building a brand. A photographer who can create sets and costumes for his compositions has a desirable skill over a designer who primarily uses stock images. An illustrator with technical skills in perspective and proportion should consider herself more marketable than someone who depends on clip art. Design web-sites? That’s great. Develop them to current browser standards, including responsive design for mobile and tablets? That’s something I need: got a card?

Digital cameras and desktop publishing has put graphics design in everyone’s hands but not everyone means to make a whole business out of it. If you do, then identify your niche, the thing you do that makes you a designer, and make sure it’s in your marketing as prominently as possible.

Skills to Pay the Bills

Now that you’ve identified your strengths, how should you get paid for them? Finding a rate to establish your value is compounded by the need to stay competitive. To start, AIGA publishes an annual report on design salaries on its website. Our Converse moderators also identified online resources that help to calculate a reasonable price while also paying for overhead costs.

Don’t Get Over Your Head

Overhead costs, such as insurance, attorney fees, and marketing, take a large percentage of what a self-employed designer makes for each job, especially in the first few years. Thorough planning is the key. Courtney and Josh advised strongly against taking clients who are difficult solely out of desperation. Depending on the strength of your brand, the frequency of your work, and the effectiveness of your marketing, it’s best to have 3 to 6 months of savings on standby.

Get Started, Already

Once you have your business plan set up, now is the time to get the word out. Every event, every get-together, every happy hour is an opportunity to drop a mention of your design work, not to mention, a business card (you know, the one that clearly sums up your elevator pitch). Of course, you’re not actually a business yet, you’re just building up contacts and maybe, if you’re lucky, getting some freelance work. Using the resources gathered for your business plan, you’ll already know how to charge. Plus, you’ll build a portfolio of clients.

Right away, when dealing with clients, you’ll want to draw up a contract and require a deposit. This makes the project into a commitment for both you and your client.

If you’ve been successful and have carefully documented all transactions, you’ll see the income that will go back into taxes. If it’s significant enough where you can see savings through business write-offs, it’s likely time to get licensed.

Licensed to Bill

To make your business official, you need a license. Our moderators recommended getting advice from a lawyer throughout the entire process of building a business but this is likely when you’ll first need to talk to one.

In Baltimore City, licensing can be done at the Department of General Services; however, anyone in Maryland can go online at the Central Business Licensing Initiative (linked below).

If You Love It So Much, Why Don’t You Marry It?

Once the business is started, it becomes your life for a while. Whenever not actively engaged in a design, it’s best practice to use your time paying a lot of attention to furthering the business: don’t forget all the work you did to get it going. Continue to learn new skills, push them into your brand, and revise your rates accordingly. Develop new marketing and send it to past clients to remind them that they might need something from you. Go to every event with plenty of business cards and be ready to talk to everyone. Keep records for your accountant. Make an appointment to meet with your lawyer. And don’t be afraid to partner with a business coach to help you with your goals.

As with all of our Converse events, it’s difficult to include all the brilliant suggestions and statements made by attendees in such an open discussion, which is why it’s best to join us and experience it for yourself! Sign up for our mailing list and we’ll make sure you know what’s planned, including the details for our annual Baltimore Design Week, October 21-25. See you there!

Resources

Here’s a few helpful resources for getting your design business started, but if you have advice or other resources to share, please add them in the comments below.

Invoicing

Time, expenses, and invoicing tracking:

Licensing

Department of General Services: 301 W Preston St. Baltimore, MD, 8th floor
Maryland’s Central Business Licensing Initiative

Insurance

Other

Converse: I love print, but I need to do websites too!

Posted on by AIGA Baltimore

Last Thursday, we had our monthly Converse event. Converse is an opportunity for lovers of design to come talk casually about a specific topic. This month’s topic was “I love print, but I need to do websites too!”

In case you missed it, here is a little bit of what was discussed that night:

  • Web design and web development are two different things.
  • Don’t try to become a developer. It is a completely different set of skills. Would you ask a developer to design a brochure or logo?
  • Do understand that you are designing for something interactive, its not static like print. Otherwise, the process is all the same.
  • Find a good developer to partner with on projects. You might be able to find them at CMS conferences. You need someone who you can have good communication and respect for a good working relationship.
  • Bring your developer early into the process. Ask them what kind of design files they prefer and bring them into client discussions to talk about functionality and design.
  • Don’t take a job that wants the “everything” type designer. That type of employer does not have realistic expectations or an understanding of the web design process
  • It is necessary to educate the client about all of the planning needed to design a website well

And here are some possible resources to consider:

Thank you to b.Creative for sharing their space and their wealth of knowledge with us!

Converse is our roundtable event regularly occurring on the third Thursday of each month. Each event focuses on a different topic for discussion. Email converse@baltimore.aiga.org if you have any questions or if you would like to suggest a topic for a future Converse night.