Here at the blog, we tend to spend a lot of our time giving you practical tips on what you can do to improve your skill sets. However, we also tend to overlook the much larger part of freelance designing—learning the ins-and-outs of owning your very own business and being your own boss. So if you’re some kind of art school graduate without a clue how to get your businessman on (There’s no shame in it, as we totally use to be!) then pony up, Soldier: We’ve got your complete guide to dressing for a business meeting queued up and ready to go.

  1. Go For Business, Less Casual: The first rule of thumb is relatively simple to get a hold on. You should look like you belong in a corner office downtown. Does this mean you should wear a suit or full-on formal outfit? No! Would that look good at the corner office downtown, bottom floor? Your end goal is an ensemble that says you are professional, but not trying too hard. This sort of look is really what my mother would call your “Sunday best.” When in doubt, ask yourself if you would pay someone dressed as you are. If not, hit the wardrobe again!
  2. Don’t Be Afraid to Be Unique: Here’s how we dress when we go to design meetings. During the summer, we wear full business attire, except for the shoes—there, we’re sporting a nice pair of leather flip flops. During the Winter, we do the same, except with Converse. Why do we do this? Because we simply aren’t the kind of office that is totally serious all of the time. There’s a whole lot of whimsy in what we do, and though we’re professional to the core, we’re also proud of the fact that we are artistic. In fact, most of our clients are artists themselves. As such, we like to show off that uniqueness a bit by ditching the business standard at the shoe-level. With this in mind, we encourage you to find something that really sets off your own brand. Don’t change any of the core elements (shirt, pants, etc.) but consider adding a brightly colored watch, or some other accessory that you can easily be remembered by. It’s always nice to see in a designer.