Rookie Designer Videos

In this episode we re hitting the mailbag and covering some topics sent in by our listeners. Topics will include coming up with a strategy for delivering content that your target audience can consume and use, keeping your portfolio diverse and keeping your creativity at a high level, even when things get stagnant at your job, and also dealing with payments when you are in a different country than your freelance client. Links from the show: Rookie Designer on Facebook Rookie Designer on Twitter In the Bullpen: Web and Designers Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

In this episode we ll cover a topic sent in by a listener who is having a problem at the workplace. What is the role of a junior designer as opposed to a senior designer? Who is supposed to know what, and is the senior supposed to be a sort of mentor for the junior? We ll discuss these questions and more. Links from the show: Rookie Designer forum In the Bullpen: Core 77 Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

This episode is a bit of a Part 2 to the last time I spoke about not being afraid to voice your opinions when it comes to design solutions. We will cover this again, bringing in some new factors and guidelines to make your comments as effective as possible. Links from the show: When Bad Things Happen to Good Content Management Systems In the Bullpen: Desizn Tech Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

In this episode I will share some of my knowledge of Content Management Systems including WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. We will focus on the definition and purpose of CMS tools, as well as how they can be very useful in helping you design for your own business as well as others. Links from the show: WordPress Joomla Drupal Dreamhost (my web hosting service) Lynda.com In the Bullpen: The Pro Designer The Pro Designer on Twitter Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Again our topic comes from one of the listeners and the question is this: Do you HAVE to own or run a business to freelance? What if you just do a few projects every now and then, as a side thing apart from your full time job?. We ll talk to several different subjects as related to the casual or part-time freelancer, and what needs to still be covered, even if freelancing is not your primary job. Links from the show: Rookie Designer Podcast on Facebook In the Bullpen: Work Awesome Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

A question from one of our listeners sparks a conversation on accepting cash as payment for freelance work. We also take an in-depth look at research techniques for learning more about how customers/audience members use an application. Links from the show: Google Analytics In the Bullpen: Photoshop Preset Viewer Brush Pilot Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Have you thought about an internship to finish out your educational career? Do you know some of the challenges that you might be faced with in an internship? We ll take a look at these topics as I answer some internship questions from one of our audience members. Book Review: Building Design Strategy: Using Design to Achieve Key Business Objectives A very good book for those learning how to integrate the business key objectives side of the equation into their design process and strategy. Great reading material for the intermediate to advanced design professional with thorough investigation via case studies of specific design solutions and implementation. Click on the book to pick it up at Amazon. Links from the show: LinkedIn In the Bullpen: Six Revisions Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

More life (and career) lessons from my work experience to you! We ll discuss the lack of research and how it can foil your designs before they even get started, and some of the important information that you definitely want to pick up before you even start a project. We will also dive into the core values of Scrum and how those directly relate to a workflow that can help any designer to end up with the design result they are looking for. We ll also touch on client relations and a state of mind that can help you relate to your clients and understand better what their goals are. Links from the show: boagworld Paul Boag - Getting your clients to say YES (3rd video down) In the Bullpen: I Love Typography Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Its 12 o clock and you break out the sack lunch, but you still feel the need to be productive with your hour away from work. Are there things you can do to further your career in design? Of course, but what can be done in an hour to bolster your skills and design savvy?! In this episode we ll take a look at some of the things you can do with your free (and i use that term loosely) time to help you bone up on your application skills and possibly get a leg-up on the thousands of other designers out there. Links from the show: Lynda.com Layers Magazine NAPP O REILLY In the Bullpen: Creattica Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Possibly the most difficult part of moving from the safe confines of a full-time job into a freelance situation is the ability to keep clients and projects coming in. The logical answer hire someone who excels at selling to come in and do it for you. A sales person on your team would mean more time for you to do what you do best, design, and less headaches related to obtaining and maintaining clients right? It sounds great in theory, but I ll use this episode to explain why I think it might not be such a match made in heaven. Links from the show: Outlaw Design Blog In the Bullpen: Just Creative Design: 99 Sites ALL Designers Must Know About Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Will the REAL episode 111 please show yourself sorry for the slip up to those of you who were expecting a new episode, only to find yourself listening to 110 for a second time. Here is the real deal! Social media is a movement that has been building for sometime and now appears at every corner, in your personal life and in business. There is no escaping the technology as it is being utilized by companies to steer marketing campaigns for everything from music to household products you use every day. The good news you now have a voice and a forum in which to express your opinions. The bad news everyone is listening, whether you want them to or not. We ll discuss some of the ramifications of social media on the design field and how it may be affecting you. Links from the show: Vans.com Adobe Air FaceDesk In the Bullpen: JobPile Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Social media is a movement that has been building for sometime and now appears at every corner, in your personal life and in business. There is no escaping the technology as it is being utilized by companies to steer marketing campaigns for everything from music to household products you use every day. The good news you now have a voice and a forum in which to express your opinions. The bad news everyone is listening, whether you want them to or not. We ll discuss some of the ramifications of social media on the design field and how it may be affecting you. Links from the show: Vans.com Adobe Air FaceDesk In the Bullpen: JobPile Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Social media is a movement that has been building for sometime and now appears at every corner, in your personal life and in business. There is no escaping the technology as it is being utilized by companies to steer marketing campaigns for everything from music to household products you use every day. The good news you now have a voice and a forum in which to express your opinions. The bad news everyone is listening, whether you want them to or not. We ll discuss some of the ramifications of social media on the design field and how it may be affecting you. Links from the show: Twitter Myspace Facebook LinkedIn LastFM In the Bullpen: Creative Photoshop Brushes Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

When you start putting yourself out there and share your talents on a freelance basis, your going to come to understand what many before you have already its HARD to find high quality clients. Its relatively easy to find clients who want you to work for next to nothing, get the work done yesterday and don t appreciate the quality of your work, but this is not what we want. In this episode we ll talk about some ways to make your journey into freelancing more successful and hopefully end up with clients that are willing to pay what your high quality of work is worth. Links from the show: Freelance Switch John Nack on Adobe In the Bullpen: Web Designer Depot Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

There was some good and some bad about my speaking engagement at San Diego State U, but all in all I think it was a good idea for me NOT to record it (haha). No, instead I ll just be recounting some of the highlights of the evening, and sharing some of the questions that came from the audience. Presenting in front of groups is also something I ll touch on in light of the fact that I think I too need more work in that area. Links from the show: Lynda.com Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

When you re in design school, a lot of theories, rules and patterns are being thrown your way, and it doesn t always make a lot of sense at the time. Is there really a point to all this reading material? Will it somehow impact your career in a meaningful way? We ll try to make some sense of it all - AND - if you hit a creative roadblock, or find yourself unmotivated at work, have you ever thought of going back to school or just taking a class to pull you out of your funk. It may be more effective than you think. In the Bullpen: Artician Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Its that annoying time of the year again, when the state and fed government ask us to tidy up their tax bookkeeping. We ll cover a few things you may be able to write off as a freelancer that you didn t know about. Also, living in this unsure economic time can leave us with questions about our job security. Don t be left out in the cold without a job and even worse without a plan. We ll look at a few tips to be ready for that depressing day, should it come. Links from the show: 10 Tax Deductions Freelancers Can Make - Freelance Switch Prepare To Get Laid Off - graphicPUSH In the Bullpen: Freelance Radio (Podcast) Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

What fears do you have that are related to your profession, or the profession that you plan to enter? Do you face these fears or shy away, and is there a way to turn them into a productive tool for your success? We ll discuss some examples and possibilities in this episode. Links from the show: Everything You Know About CSS is Wrong! A  book by Rachel Andrew and Kevin Yank from Sitepoint I felt that this book had some great lessons to offer in the way of moving from a table-based workflow to CSS. The topics were covered well, and explained in enough detail for most to follow. The only problem I have with the book is the title. It lead me to believe that there is some new revelation in the book about how CSS code should be written, thus targeting avid users of the technology. After reading the book, I felt it was more a guide designed for those users who are NOT yet familiar with the ways of CSS. I would recommend this publication for those looking to get into the game of CSS coding as opposed to a completely table-based workflow. In the Bullpen: Photoshop Disasters Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

On this podcast, inspired by an entry on our forum, we will discuss strategy for avoiding a situation where your freelance clients are paying you for completed work late. There are several methods we can use in this fight against late payments and most of them revolve around the creation and implementation of a contract agreement. Other topics covered include selling of source files and finding resources for building your own contract. Links from the show: Forum thread: Late payments from clients In the Bullpen: Web/Graphic Designers Contracts & Agreements & Forms 5 Contract Must Haves for Web Designers  Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.

Deadlines are something that we all must deal with and that s not going to change anytime soon! They can be good though, for prioritization, motivation, and just plain getting stuff done. There is a conversation that should take place before the setting of these deadlines though, that can result in a smoother course of action, because let s face it, when deadlines don t get met problems and hard feeling are many times to follow. I have a personal example of a deadline that went wrong, and how i think this sort of thing can be remedied, including how to deal with the people involved so there are (hopefully) no hard feelings between you and the people you must continuously work with. Try GoToMeeting for 45 days! Visit www.GoToMeeting.com/techpodcasts to start your free trial today.