Product Description

Designers are quick to tell us about their sources of inspiration, but they are much less willing to reveal such critical matters as how to find work, how much they charge, and what to do when a client rejects three weeks of work and refuses to pay the bill. How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul addresses the concerns of young designers who want to earn a living by doing expressive and meaningful work, and who want to avoid becoming hired drones working on soulless projects. Written by a designer for designers, it combines practical advice with philosophical guidance to help young professionals embark on their careers. How should designers manage the creative process? What's the first step in the successful interpretation of a brief? How do you generate ideas when everything just seems blank? How to be a graphic designer offers clear, concise guidance for these questions, along with focused, no-nonsense strategies for setting up, running, and promoting a studio, finding work, and collaborating with clients. The book also includes inspiring interviews with ten leading designers, including Rudy VanderLans (Emigre), John Warwicker (Tomato), Neville Brody (Research Studios), and Andy Cruz (House Industries). All told, How to be a graphic designer covers just about every aspect of the profession, and stands as an indispensable guide for any young designer.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19507 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
His likable and generous voice guides young designers toward civility and integrity in their approach to a life in design. -- Communication Arts, November 23, 2005

Review
Graphic designers love to talk about sources of inspiration, but less willing to discuss the basics on location work, pricing, and how to handle irate or non-paying clients - so it's essential that any graphic designer operating independently have this practical reference.

About the Author
Adrian Shaughnessy was co-founder of the leading London-based design company Intro and was the company's creative director for 15 years before leaving in 2003 to pursue a career as a design writer. He writes regularly for Print magazine and for UK design magazines Eye, Creative Review, Design Week, and Grafik, and is a contributor to The Wire magazine.

Customer Reviews

Not just for graphic designers, must read for all design students
If you are in commercial art field, regardless whether you are in graphic design or not, you must read this book. It tell you everything you wish your design school teachers had told you about the business of being a commercial artist. As an art school instructor myself, I made this book into a recommended reading material for my graduating illustration majors. Just cross the words "design" in this book and write over "illustration" (or animation, advertising, or whichever commercial art occupation), and more than 95% of it works. It is because this book does not teach you the tricks and gimmicks, but teaches you the philosophy of the business of being a commercial artist.

What they don't teach you in school
Anyone entering into the field of graphic design, either coming out of school or embarking on a career solo, should read this book. It doesn't mess with what the best typefaces are, or any software tricks. Instead, it lets you in on how designers think, and how to be successful in your endeavors. A foreward written by Sagmeister himself, along with interviews with other "rock star" designers, make this book simply amazing.

Essential that any graphic designer operating independently have this practical reference
Graphic designers love to talk about sources of inspiration, but less willing to discuss the basics on locating work, pricing, and how to handle irate or non-paying clients - so it's essential that any graphic designer operating independently have this practical reference. It's one thing to be creative; it's another to manage its business needs. How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul provides tested strategies for setting up, running and promoting a studio - and working with clients and their common problems.