Let’s face it; finding new work can be a job unto itself. Whether you are a freelancer looking to land the next project or a designer looking to climb aboard (or up) the agency train, the experience and stress can age you prematurely. That, of course, goes two-fold in this economic turbine we currently find ourselves spinning around in.
Designers are notoriously bad self-promoters. We spend a majority of our time helping our clients creatively achieve new heights in their businesses, but personally we fall flat on our faces when it comes to getting our names to stand out amongst the crowd. And let’s not kid ourselves — it’s a big crowd.
The world of design is a big place, and competition can be fierce. The graphic design field might not be a full-contact sport but it can definitely feel like a cage match from time-to-time. Hey, that’s all part of the charm, right? But, before you give us your piercing warrior battle cry, let’s step back a sec and see if we can’t make life a littler easier for everyone.
Channeling Your Inner Art Student (A.K.A. The Fear)
Last December, I went down to my alma mater to review the upcoming graduating seniors’ portfolios. The students looked just like I remember feeling when I was in their shoes: excited and scared. But they were not scared of me, or even graduating for that matter. They were scared of the unknown. What would life be life after college? What if they got out and discovered that post-college life sucked? What if they couldn’t get a job? Who was going to help them if they stumbled along the way? What the hell am I doing here anyway? Can we still throw keggers after we graduate?
All great questions, all questions that I asked myself as I prepared to make the leap from design student to designer-for-hire. Half those questions I still occasionally ask myself, six years later.
I was expected to give a short talk on the second day of the portfolio review. The week before, I had written a script of talking points that I was going to cover. Inspirational things. Things about my personal design career saga. I was going to use big words full of sunshine and rainbows. Words that I hoped would act as a big warm “everything is going to be ok” hug. But after the first day, I threw away those notes. I realized that a recap of my design journey and throwing around a bunch of high fives over the beginning of theirs just wouldn’t cut it. Instead, I decided to write a list that focused on two things: the easiest way to get a portfolio online, and the best job sites that cater to designers.
Your Legs Can’t Carry You Everywhere
You can schlep your portfolio all over town, state, timezone … and you should. Be relentless in your search; leave no creative director unturned. But, the game’s changed. Whether you are a veteran designer who has been in the trenches for decades or a squeaky clean recruit right out of school, if you don’t have your portfolio online, then you don’t have a portfolio at all. Repeat: Not showing any work online means you ain’t got no work to show. Ok, that’s a little harsh and probably a bit polarizing, but it’s rapidly becoming the truth in a world where the internet has become a catalyst to so much change in our lives. Why would the way we get work be any different?
We Don’t All Need to be Web Designers to Be Designers Online
Designers come in all sorts of different flavors. We all have varied skill sets, styles, and ideas that make us unique. I don’t expect people to respond to this article by becoming web designers overnight, nor am I saying that you EVER have to become a web designer. Quite the opposite, really. Focusing on your strengths and design style while looking for work doesn’t leave much room for learning how to design for the web. Whether your focus is print, web, industrial, packaging, branding, or any other design-oriented field, these resources may open opportunities for you.
Portfolio Sites – The Meat and Potatoes
These are a selection of portfolio sites that are either free or inexpensive to use. If you aren’t comfortable creating your own site from scratch, these can provide a vehicle to easily show your work to potential employers quickly and professionally. That means your work will be accessible anywhere the internet is found and also will be working for you around the clock. My personal suggestion is to not limit yourself to one resource; use them all. The more places your work can be found, the more potential pageviews you’ll get.
Finding the Work – Narrowing Your Search
Now that you’ve got your portfolio online, we need the second part of the equation: the job. The easiest way to get started is to focus on job sites that cater directly to us creative types. Let me stress that there is nothing wrong with larger job sites. I recommend that you look down all potential avenues when you are on the job hunt. That said, this particular selection is slanted toward the design crowd wanting to narrow their searches instead of having to sift through a huge career warehouse site like Jobster.
U.S. sites:
- creativehotlist.com
- krop.com
- creativegroup.com
- aigadesignjobs.com
- aquent.com
- coroflot.com
- authenticjobs.com
- jobs.smashingmagazine.com
- talentzoo.com
- craigslist.org (Refer to your locals Job section)
- linkedin.com
International
- creativeskills.be (Belgian)
- creativepool.co.uk (UK)
- gumtree.com (Refer to your locals Job section) (UK)
Now For the High Fives and Rainbows
Finding a job isn’t easy, but at the end of the day, it couldn’t be a better exercise for a designer. We are trained to assess difficult problems and then execute solutions to counter them. As creatives, I think we have a leg up as job-seekers because of this. We are a visual folk full of excitement and vigor. What’s not to love about that, right? By adding the web as a soap-box platform to get your message out, you will find that it’s a great balance to all that pavement-pounding. Take care of yourself.
Good article, Owen. I really like CarbonMade — I think it’s an excellent resource that produces polished and professional portfolios.
I noticed you posted flickr as a resource as well. I personally think Flickr is an incredibly useful, and professional, way to display your artwork. I’ve had a few non-internety friends get scared of it.
What do you say to those who are skeptical of Flickr or any other “free” tool that worry ppl about brand-dilution?
You bring up a good point Josh, thanks.
I can understand the sentiment that some people would feel that using flickr and other free sites not directly related to portfolio building as a means to show their work could be deemed “unprofessional” by some designers.
My response to this is pretty utilitarian in nature. It’s my opinion that having your work somewhere that is accessible online is better than not having it there at all. If you are comfortable using flickr, then use flickr. It’s my general belief that if you have good work to share, it’s ok that the medium by which you present it takes a backseat.