Showing posts with label freelance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freelance. Show all posts

The Positive of My Job as a Graphic Designer


Hello everyone,
Well it's Monday and I'm sitting at a cafe enjoying my Matcha donut and Latte (This is becoming more of a routine now). I'm about to head to work, where Mondays seem to be my haven after the busy weekends at the tearoom. As I start writing my morning pages, I'm always surprised with the though of how fortunate and blessed I am. I do what I love and I earn money doing it. It takes the stress out of a part of my life at least, that's something that I never want to take for granted.

At my non-profit I help inspiring young artist and talents grow in real time productions. I know that plenty of them look to this blog for inspiration and advice, which I'm happy that this blog has evolved from a hobby to something that has helped others. I've come a long way and I really want to share the things that I've learned. So aspiring Designers and those just breaking into this field, here's a little look at the highlights of my daily grind and why I find it so rewarding.

I bridge the gap where there is a need: I think one of the things that blows me away is the places I can take a business with something as simple as a cleaned up logo, or a flyer. Think about how often you look at a screen through the day, then think about how often you look at paper. Almost always have these things been graced by a designer, they are like a suit to the business and they help 'dress' the company. It's a good feeling to help give businesses that access.

I'm constantly inspired by being challenged: When I started working for Tea Rose Garden, I was so frustrated with how much needed to be done. It was a growing pain for me to take everything that I felt was new and necessary to finding that compromise that soon reflected the shop the way that the owner always wished it to be. In the end what it taught me was to be a better listener to my clients. I study seasonal flowers to vector into their newsletters, I know the shapes of fine boned china brands, and I keep on trend with wedding designs. These inspire and reflect my decisions and how I go about designing things for the shop.

I work with other artists, which is a great community: If you haven't noticed yet, artists are weird. We have our own strange ticks that only other artist seem to understand sometimes. This doesn't always seem to apply every client, but as for my main client I work with a floral team whic is constantly designing flowers and special events. We understand and respect each others strange ticks, but at the same time we have a strong understanding to be honest and critique. I think that more than anything, this is one of the best things about my job. It adds a sense of freedom and value to my work and skills.

Granted, like any job there are the definite ups and downs. I get just as upset and frustrated as I do in any other job that I've held. But at the end of the day, there is this underlining gratefulness that I'm doing something that I know I've worked hard to be skilled at. I hope that this post helps inspire.

Happy Monday, Cheers!

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I Heart: Mile IQ App

Hi everyone,
This I Heart post is mainly for the freelancers out there. I just wanted to share about this app that I recently discovered that has been helping me in keeping track of my business mileage. I've seen the ads on You Tube, but I didn't realize that it would have been so useful for a single humble contractor like myself.

Before the app, I've calculated mileage the old fashioned way, I would buy my mileage logs in the office supply stores. More than not, I would forget to write down the mileage for short trips and only write them down for my longer trips. I think this was one of the biggest mistakes that I used to make.

Since I've started to travel to different cities for my work, I've been more mindful of my mileage logging. It didn't make it any easier to calculate these things, so I was more open to trying various apps. Out of the three that I've downloaded this is the one that has made the cut for these three reasons.

1. No more calculation: This was the major perk for me. I'm not the biggest fan of math. This app also brags that it makes an IRS friendly report of all the miles logged, which is a win for me! I also found myself doubting myself when it came down to travel, often doubting that I did drive that far with my commute. With the GPS attached to this app, there is no second guessing. The best part about it was finding out all the little drives were accumulating to about an extra $25/week I was missing out on, this has all been really adding up!

2. It's all automatic: When your doing and thinking about so much for your little business, it's so easy to forget to calculate your mileage when your minds going everywhere! I hate to admit it, but I love this app because it does all the thinking for me. It reminds me every couple of days to classify my drives as business or personal. I love that about this app.

3. It's free: Well... technically, If you only see yourself logging in 40 drives a month than it is. Otherwise, unlimited is around $60/year. Good thing about this is you can consider this a business expense and write that off as well. I've barely hit my half way mark in drives and I'm well into the month. But I would definitely purchase this app if/when I find myself expanding and doing more traveling.


Give the app a try! Download it, and the way it works is so easy to learn. I've saved a little under $100 this month alone. I also feel more put together and aware of my expenses for my business, which in turn allows me to look at the areas to make myself more efficient. I hope that this advice helps some of you freelancers out there!
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