The Economy and a Designer...

The economy is in shambles. It's kind of scary to hear that all the "experts" are saying this is an international crisis. It is no longer just an American problem but the entire global community is facing a financially uncertain couple years. I have no doubt that we all will come out of this with bumps and bruises on our nest eggs but I don't think we (the general public) will be missing any arms or legs. That being said, everyone seems to be cutting cost where ever they can. Some are driving less, cooking meals at home instead of eating out, shopping at Walmart, and reconsidering their everyday expenses. For many business owners this is a very bad trend that could possibly lead to many of them going out of business. However, as a young designer, I am not so worried. I might even go as far as to say I'm secretly smiling.

I was once told that a smart business practice is to spend more advertising money when the economy is on the down and out. Why you might ask? Honestly, I'm not entirely sure but I've been hearing that more and more. Spend more money now to gain a competitive advantage. It goes against the typical thought process of save your money for a rainy day. However, when you sit down and think things through a little bit, it starts to make sense. All of the competition is sitting back waiting for things to get better while you are out there gaining recognition and impressions on your customers. Still, how does this effect a designer. More importantly how does this affect young freelance designers that are just entering the design community. Here is the silver lining in all of this mess that is constantly swirling around us.

As young designers, we are cheap, fresh, and hungry for work. Like I said, businesses are trying to cut cost where ever possible. One place where they can cut cost is by using young freelancers with little overhead costs compared to the large design agencies that are more expensive. This means that there is a lot of freelance work out there. Even more, there are a lot of freelance jobs out there that would normally go to agencies but are now on the open market for all to bid on. What better way to beef up your portfolio than to get a bunch of work from a variety different businesses. It can also be nice because typically, younger designers are not making millions of dollars. Freelance work can pad your wallet and help with paying the bills.

So where does someone find freelance work? Good question. Most of my work has been through my network of friends and co-workers but there are also web sites out there for freelance creative professionals such as ourselves. A few that I know of are: Craigslist, Elance, and iFreelance. I am sure there are more and if anyone knows of any please share for the rest of us to check them out.

I guess what I'm trying to say to those young designers out there is just to sit back, breath deep, and realize that this economic fall out isn't such a bad thing. Take advantage of all the work out there, get your name noticed and who knows, you could make it big.