A Designer's Best Kept Secret

09 June 2010

It was a conversation of mentor to pupil, sorcerer to apprentice. Years of wisdom were passed down and guarded secrets were shared. How does one succeed freelancing in the creative industry? Only the fox knows.

Lesson #1 is a strategy of the psyche. He calls it the Rowing Theory. So there's a rowing team of six dudes and they contract you to design their logo. You draft up a bitchin design and send it to the first team member. He wants to take credit for making this project happen so he makes an edit and sends it back without showing his whole team. Artist amends the logo and delivers the final product. Now the remaining 5 rowers all take their stab at the logo, attemping to make it their own by critiquing one aspect. Creative gets back the logo with notes from each team member, all asking for conflicting edits. Sick of being stuck in the middle of everyone's ego trip, he enacts a new law: with every design he hands over to a client, one major flaw is left blatanly staring them in the face. Client gets one round of free edits so he can feel masterful by picking out the blemish, demanding revisions, and taking ownership over the project. Fox snickers and retouches the design, ships it off, washes his hands and collects his check. Works every time.

Lesons #2-10 are equally cunning. They are being safely guarded in the depths of a rocky cave accessible only by a water-filled tunnel. It leads to a sacred pond where light emits, a light worth dying for. Only one man knows how to reach it.