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Posts Tagged ‘Web Design’
Odd Jobs for Web Designers: Easy Ways to Make a Quick Buck
As web designers we’d like to be doing web design work ALL the time but that’s just not the case. Here are some ways to make some extra money as a web designer:
Sell Stock
Everyone now a days owns a pretty decent camera and can take nice pictures and upload them fast. Instead of having them sit on your computer collecting e-dust (?) why not see if any one of the image stock sites will take them. Some of them have fairly high standards but some of them don’t. Basically though if you know the rule of thirds anyone can make a nice stock photo. It’s nice to be able to upload a photo, forget about it and be able to make some money on it.
Design/Sell T-shirts and Other Stuff
Web design is a very creative field of work but sometimes you just want to design something that you like and not have to worry about what your clients think so If you’re feeling a bit more creative you can design t-shirts. There are a couple options, you can enter design contests and win prizes like on threadless or you can design anything you want and put it out there for sale and make money off of commission like on zazzle.
Design/Sell Templates
We are web designers so I’m sure you, as I do, have some unfinished projects lying around or designs that didn’t make it to the cutting board. Why not try to sell some of those. You’ll have to make it more user friendly (or not) but it’s a good way to make some cash out of those unfinished projects. In my opinion it’s not worth it to create templates from scratch and sell them to these places because if you think about it I’d sell a template for say $750 but they will sell it for $10 plus you usually only get a percentage of that let’s say it’s %60 so really you are getting $6 per each one sold so you’d have to sell 125 templates to make up for what you’d sell normally. Just my opinion though.
Design/Sell Fonts
This is something you can do but you have to have a bit of a different skill set to do this. Meaning you’ll need to learn a couple of new things but if you’re into typography this can be lucrative for you.
Search Job Boards
Job boards are not only a decent way to get new web design clients but also to do odds and ends jobs. Some easy quick ways to make a buck through job boards are:
- ebook formatting
- banner design
- simple website fixes
- button design
- photo touch up
- and much more
Here are some job boards that I frequent:
Question for the Freelance Designer World
I’ve been trying to figure this out, maybe somebody can help me.
For most freelance web designers designing comes easy. That’s what we’re here for…to design! It would be nice if that was all we had to do, but it’s not. Sure we get to be our own bosses but we also have to be entrepreneurs, accountants and much much more.
An important aspect of freelancing is deciding how much to charge for web design. Here’s my question:
Is it okay to charge differently depending on who wants your services?
Let me explain. Say I charge $30 per hour on average (I don’t actually charge by the hour buy I make sure it comes out to that) because I’ve calculated that’s how much I need to live off of plus expenses. Is it okay to charge more for bigger companies and less for say an individual? Or should I keep it a flat rate?
My moral standing on this is that for most individuals this might be breaking their wallet where as it won’t for a big company. But another factor in this would be that most design work comes from referrals from past jobs. Individuals know other individuals. Big companies know other big companies.
So more specifically my question is should I change my rates depending on the wallet of the client in hopes of any work and pick and choose or should I keep my rates at a comfortable level and potentially not get a lot of work?
Discuss.
My Favorite Website this Week
DesignBump:
Just found this website this week that lets designers submit your articles and “bump” them up if they like them. I believe this has been the thing behind my boost in traffic, so I’ll be continuing to use it to get myself out there.
Farr Designs is proud to present…
I’ve recently just finished and launched the redesign of author Lisa Lipkind Leibow’s website and wordpress blog.
Lisa Leibows Homepage
Lisa Leibow's custom Wordpress theme
Lisa Leibow's contact page
Let me know what you think!
What can a redesign do for you and your company?
An organization’s Web site gives visitors a first impression. A professional and stylistic look to your Web site is crucial to having and maintaining an online presence. Upgrading your Web site’s overall layout, design and look leads to more creative credibility that can lead to fewer page exits, higher Web site traffic, greater number of return visits and more overall interest in what your company has to offer.
My Beautiful Workspace
Since I don’t have much time to write today. I thought I’d show off my workspace. As a freelance web designer that works from home it’s always pertinent to have your own quiet workspace. Currently mine is in my dining room, and my husband often plays WOW on the PC, forgets that I’m in the room working and yells at the screen. But currently it’s the cheapest workspace I can afford right now. As you can see I’ve already got the best computers, so I couldn’t afford an office if I tried.
Oh yes, it comes with a cat too!
Equipment:
Micro Velocity PC with LG screen Windows 7 OS
uses: Gaming, IE web design troubleshooting
Dell Laptop with Linux OS
uses: Some serious programing!
iMac with Leopard OSX and Wacom tablet
uses: All my designing goes on here along with web surfing.
Oh yes, that poster in the background..I’m not supposed to talk about it. :)
I love my set up. I get a good couple hours of it to myself while my husband is at work as long as my cat isn’t sitting on the keyboard that I’m using (she has to use the one I’m at, seriously?)
So what does your workspace look like?
20 Amazing CSS Resources and Time Savers
Here are a few CSS resources and time savers that I find really helpful.
CSS Inspiration
For those days when you can’t quite figure out what you want to do, it’s nice to look at other people’s work and who knows what will trigger your muse! Just be careful not to be a copy cat.
My Freelance Web Design Process: Part 3
This is the last part in the series, if you want to read the progression I suggest you start at Part 1.
Step 7: Dreaming in code!
Aha! Here comes the other fun often times frustrating part. In this time period I often start dreaming in code. Me and my code vs. the missing “m.” My husband says it’s sick that I dream in code.
You’re client loved your design and had no problems with it and told you to be as creative as you want! HA! Don’t make me laugh. You usually will have a somewhat (completely) different design than you imagined but it’s usually for the better or at least the client thinks so. Client’s happy, you’re happy.
Here you start out with the basic template. Get everything linking together pictures everything, before adding any content. You may add something here and there but this way you have a good base.
Everyone’s process here is different just take it slowly, organize well and all should go well. If you’re stuck there is plenty of help out there in the world wide web. Join a forum and ask away, more than likely there are some nice people willing to help.
My Freelance Web Design Process: Part 2
If you want to see the whole progression I suggest you go to part 1.
Step 3: Don’t even touch that computer!
After I’ve collected all the information that I need, I put my computer to sleep and take out the old notebook and BRAINSTORM!
Sketch sketch sketch, get all your ideas down before you start coding. Here’s an example of what one of my sketches look like:
notebook
They are usually a lot messier than this but for the sake of your eyes I cleaned one up a bit.
My Freelance Web Design Processs: Part 1
This is mostly for me as well as it is for anyone who reads this. I mainly want to see how my design process changes over the years. This is going to be a many part series, don’t know how many yet. So here goes!
Step 1: So I’ve got the clients interest, now what?
I send out a routine email asking a few questions that help me understand more about the client and what they want and need.