Rookie Designer Podcast

Rookie Designer 112 – Should You Hire a Salesman?

Episode  |  June 3rd, 2009  |  42 mins 35 secs

Possibly the most difficult part of moving from the "safe confines" of a full-time job into a freelance situation is the ability to keep clients and projects coming in. The logical answer... hire someone who excels at selling to come in and do it for you. A sales person on your team would mean more time for you to do what you do best, design, and less headaches related to obtaining and maintaining clients... right? It sounds great in theory, but I'll use this episode to explain why I think it might not be such a match made in heaven.

Rookie Designer 111 – Organizing Folder Madness and Flash Grows Up

Episode  |  May 25th, 2009  |  48 mins 30 secs

Will the REAL episode 111 please show yourself... sorry for the slip up to those of you who were expecting a new episode, only to find yourself listening to 110 for a second time. Here is the real deal!

Social media is a movement that has been building for sometime and now appears at every corner, in your personal life and in business. There is no escaping the technology as it is being utilized by companies to steer marketing campaigns for everything from music to household products you use every day. The good news... you now have a voice and a forum in which to express your opinions. The bad news... everyone is listening, whether you want them to or not. We'll discuss some of the ramifications of social media on the design field and how it may be affecting you.

Rookie Designer 110 – Social Media and Business

Episode  |  May 7th, 2009  |  39 mins 2 secs

Social media is a movement that has been building for sometime and now appears at every corner, in your personal life and in business. There is no escaping the technology as it is being utilized by companies to steer marketing campaigns for everything from music to household products you use every day. The good news... you now have a voice and a forum in which to express your opinions. The bad news... everyone is listening, whether you want them to or not. We'll discuss some of the ramifications of social media on the design field and how it may be affecting you.

Rookie Designer 109 – A Better Quality of Freelance Client

Episode  |  April 9th, 2009  |  47 mins 47 secs

When you start putting yourself out there and share your talents on a freelance basis, your going to come to understand what many before you have already... its HARD to find high quality clients. Its relatively easy to find clients who want you to work for next to nothing, get the work done yesterday and don't appreciate the quality of your work, but this is not what we want. In this episode we'll talk about some ways to make your journey into freelancing more successful and hopefully end up with clients that are willing to pay what your high quality of work is worth.

Rookie Designer 108 – Speaking at SDSU and Speaking in Public

Episode  |  March 24th, 2009  |  41 mins 14 secs

There was some good and some bad about my speaking engagement at San Diego State U, but all in all I think it was a good idea for me NOT to record it (haha). No, instead I'll just be recounting some of the highlights of the evening, and sharing some of the questions that came from the audience. Presenting in front of groups is also something I'll touch on in light of the fact that I think I too need more work in that area.

Rookie Designer 107 – Design Theory and Rejuvenation Through School

Episode  |  March 10th, 2009  |  35 mins 20 secs

When you're in design school, a lot of theories, rules and patterns are being thrown your way, and it doesn't always make a lot of sense at the time. Is there really a point to all this reading material? Will it somehow impact your career in a meaningful way? We'll try to make some sense of it all - AND - if you hit a creative roadblock, or find yourself unmotivated at work, have you ever thought of going back to school or just taking a class to pull you out of your funk. It may be more effective than you think.

Rookie Designer 106 – Tax Time Again & Are You Prepared for Unemployment?

Episode  |  February 19th, 2009  |  36 mins 48 secs

Its that annoying time of the year again, when the state and fed government ask us to tidy up their tax bookkeeping. We'll cover a few things you may be able to write off as a freelancer that you didn't know about. Also, living in this unsure economic time can leave us with questions about our job security. Don't be left out in the cold without a job and even worse without a plan. We'll look at a few tips to be ready for that depressing day, should it come.

Rookie Designer 105 – What Are YOU Afraid Of?

Episode  |  February 4th, 2009  |  34 mins 34 secs

What fears do you have that are related to your profession, or the profession that you plan to enter? Do you face these fears or shy away, and is there a way to turn them into a productive tool for your success? We'll discuss some examples and possibilities in this episode.

Rookie Designer 104 – Getting Freelance Clients to Pay Up

Episode  |  November 13th, 2008  |  39 mins 39 secs

On this podcast, inspired by an entry on our forum, we will discuss strategy for avoiding a situation where your freelance clients are paying you for completed work late. There are several methods we can use in this fight against late payments and most of them revolve around the creation and implementation of a contract agreement. Other topics covered include selling of source files and finding resources for building your own contract.

Rookie Designer 103 – Deadlines and Dealing?

Episode  |  November 6th, 2008  |  36 mins 8 secs

Deadlines are something that we all must deal with and that's not going to change anytime soon! They can be good though, for prioritization, motivation, and just plain getting stuff done. There is a conversation that should take place before the setting of these deadlines though, that can result in a smoother course of action, because let's face it, when deadlines don't get met problems and hard feeling are many times to follow. I have a personal example of a deadline that went wrong, and how i think this sort of thing can be remedied, including how to deal with the people involved so there are (hopefully) no hard feelings between you and the people you must continuously work with.

Rookie Designer 102 – When is it OK to Speak Up?

Episode  |  October 2nd, 2008  |  37 mins 47 secs

We're just getting back into the groove here after a 3 month hiatus. I'm going to try a shorter format with the podcast going forward and cut out the Keys to the Game and Rookie Mistake segments of the show to save myself some time and hopefully keep this this going for a while to come. The "real" topic of this episode is when to speak up... at work with your employer, your co-workers, or even a freelance client. It should always be your intent to discuss things in a professional manner, but when is it maybe not ok to voice your opinion? I'm asking what you think?!

Rookie Designer 101 – One Page Portfolios and Gathering Files for Output

Episode  |  June 25th, 2008  |  41 mins 53 secs

Its see you later... not goodbye. Rookie Designer will be taking a 3 month hiatus. In that time I will be assessing my situation and making the final decision about whether this podcast will continue on after the break. This is a real episode though. One of the new trends out there is to make a simplified One Page Portfolio. We'll talk about what it takes to make one and why you might want to. We'll also touch upon strategies for collecting your files for output and working with the printer.

Rookie Designer 100 – On the Job Hunt Again

Episode  |  June 18th, 2008  |  55 mins 50 secs

Its that time again... job hunting time. In this episode I'll share my most recent experiences with a new staffing agency and a particularly in-depth and good interview I completed, along with some pointers for making that first impression with a potential employer a good one. An update on the status of the podcast is also in this show.

Rookie Designer 99 – Quality

Episode  |  May 22nd, 2008  |  49 mins 14 secs

What is Quality training? I got a dose of it recently at my full time job, and it wasn't half bad. Basically its a set of rules or guidelines that help facilitate a productive work environment. There are several things you probably do on a daily basis that are not exactly necessary, or perhaps could be done in a more efficient way to improve your workflow, and as a result, make you more productive. It also sets the stage for working and communicating with others in a way that benefits each party and the end result of your work.

Rookie Designer 98 – Effective Emailing and Web Design

Episode  |  May 1st, 2008  |  49 mins 40 secs

We've spoken about it briefly before, but emailing is crucial to any business these days, and there are some guidelines to follow to make sure you can communicate effectively and not send the wrong message to those you are messaging! In this episode we'll also look at some common mistakes made by web designers that can really make your users click away from your site, and how to avoid them.

Rookie Designer 97 – Using Fonts, Picking a School and More…

Episode  |  March 20th, 2008  |  41 mins 25 secs

This is pretty much a mailbag episode where we cover questions about font usage, picking out a design school to attend, and knowing when to pull the plug on a client or a project going in the wrong direction.