Maybe you’re fresh out of design school and are feeling the inevitable pull to find a job and get to cranking out new graphics. Or, maybe you’ve just quit the day job and have decided to make graphic design your sole source of income. Either way, if you’re looking to carve out your own niche within the graphic design workforce, you’re going to have to remember to keep a few things on your mind. In other words, if you don’t have the pointers we’ve included below, you may end up in a gig that doesn’t fit your needs and doesn’t help you progress as a designer. To avoid that, just skip on down below the jump and get to reading, Cowboy!

  1. Do You Want Freedom? We aren’t talking about William Wallace and the Highlanders here. Do you want the absolute freedom and flexibility that a freelance graphic design business affords you? Do you want to take long vacations here and there, or simply get up at eleven each day and work until two in the morning? If so, then go freelance. Or, if you feel like you can give up a bit of your freedom in return for steady work and a salary, a gig at an actual firm will do you much better. If you haven’t considered either of these, we highly suggest you do.
  2. What Designs Are Ideal? What we mean is, what kind of designs would you like to produce on a daily basis? Are you find cranking out bake sale brochures for the local market every Saturday? Or are you feeling a bit more like Don Draper, and want to tackle some of the largest advertising gigs in the nation. If the later, you’ll likely have to work your way up, but that doesn’t mean you have to perform tasks you’d rather not at any level. If you don’t want to do web design, find a graphic design gig that leaves you out of that loop. Or, if you’d rather do nothing but ad work, find something that fits your needs. If you’re in a rut and creating graphics your heart isn’t into, it will show in the end result. As well as in your mental health. For best results, add a job that fits the person: That’s what our Grandfather always used to say, anyway.