trade tales
trade tales
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June 24, 2022
What homework do you give to your clients?
Once a project is underway, the legwork doesn’t have to fall on the designer alone. Some firms request a little more from their clients. We asked six industry pros—Doug Davis, Suzanne Duin, Wade Weissmann, James Conley, Karen King and Florence Livingston—what homework they assign to help the process along.
trade tales
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June 17, 2022
What’s your biggest client pet peeve?
Every designer has at least one thing that drives them up the wall, and in this industry, there is no shortage of ways for clients to get under your skin. We asked 10 industry pros—Sandra Asdourian, Leia T. Ward, Georgia Zikas, Bupe Soneka, Amy Leferink, Nicole Fisher, Susan Hayward, Sam Tannehill, Malka Helft and Catherine Staples—to share their biggest client pet peeve.
trade tales
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June 10, 2022
4 designers share how they manage out-of-town clients
Since the pandemic, virtual communication has become part and parcel of the work process. But designers’ jobs haven’t become any less hands on, nor any less personal. So we asked four industry pros—Irene Roqué, Mimi Meacham, Eleanor Trepte and Judy Pickett—to share how they strike the right balance when it comes to managing out-of-town clients.
trade tales
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June 3, 2022
Who runs your firm’s Instagram account?
Instagram has inarguably become one of the most powerful marketing tools for the design industry—more than just a means of discovering new talent, it’s now a way for potential clients to get to know your brand ahead of an inquiry. Managing an IG account well, though, can take a lot of time. So we asked five designers—Bupe Soneka, Leia T. Ward, Sam Tannehill, Shivangi Shahane Phanse and Catherine Staples—who manages their firm’s Instagram account.
trade tales
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May 27, 2022
4 designers share how they handle change requests
A designer’s time is precious—and when it’s spent going back and forth, particularly after a design has been finalized, exchanges risk becoming tiresome if not outright contentious. It can be frustrating to hear that a client wants to substitute something after the fact, but the reality is, replacement requests are an inevitable part of the process. Here, we ask four industry pros—Irene Roqué, Matthew Boland, Samantha Arak and Maria Viola-Kuttruff—how they navigate that conversation.
trade tales
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May 20, 2022
How often do you reassess your fees?
For those in the industry, the value a designer brings to a project is never in question—but charging for it is a whole other story. Are your rates too low? And how often should you be upping them? We asked four industry pros—Judy Pickett, Mimi Meacham, Nina Grauer and Billie Theraldson—how often they reassess their design fees.
trade tales
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May 13, 2022
What’s the most important line in your contract?
It’s perhaps the most important part of the design process, and yet there are so many ways to approach it. When it comes to a designer’s LOA, what are the clauses that seasoned pros stand by? We asked five designers—Ines Kelly Mazzotta, Dennese Guadeloupe Rojas, Anelle Gandelman, Veronica Solomon and Nathalia Hara—to share the most important line in their contracts.
trade tales
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May 6, 2022
How do you get a client to embrace bold design?
Sometimes designers find themselves face-to-face with a project where the opportunity to push the creative envelope is too enticing to pass up. But how do you make sure that your client is along for the ride? We asked six industry pros—Maria Viola-Kuttruff, Alison Giese, Matthew Boland, Melissa Sanabria, Tracy Morris and Annie Elliott—how they nudge clients outside of their comfort zones.
trade tales
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April 29, 2022
How do you charge for travel time?
Whether you charge a fee or bill hourly, there’s a less-talked-about expense that definitely cuts into a designer’s workflow: travel time. We asked five industry pros—Veronica Solomon, Mindy O’Connor, Anelle Gandelman, Alicia Cheung Lichtenstein and Dennese G. Rojas—how they charge for time spent on the road.
trade tales
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April 22, 2022
4 designers share how inflation is affecting their workflow
Let’s face it: Between the market thrill ride caused by COVID-19 and an exhausting refrain of supply chain woes, inflation is here and happening. We asked four designers—Mindy O’Connor, Whitney Jones, Sarah Jefferys and Alicia Cheung Lichtenstein—to get real about how it’s impacting their workflow.
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