Sunday, May 21, 2017

Finding Your Niche in Graphic Design

Graphic designers are creative types and we often feel as though we’re capable of taking on the world and every project that it has to offer. See sample of creative graphic designs.

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However, although this approach means that there are always going to be job opportunities available, you’re going to struggle to struggle to hone your skills to an expert level in one particular discipline.
And this means your brand becomes a little vague. Sure, you can probably design a business card as adequately as a website, but clients want more than adequate. They want masterful designs which are the result of years of experience.
To become more of a go-to designer for specific needs you need to carve out your own little niche in which you can specialise. And, luckily, I’m here to show you how to dig out that niche which could prove to be a goldmine!

Understand Your Current Performance

No doubt you’ve probably been beavering away for a few years now as a graphic designer, so this should provide you with enough information to analyse what’s worked and what hasn’t.
Try and take a look back at all your projects and identify which ones were the easiest to complete and which were a nightmare. It’s likely that either result will all contain similar styles, mediums or genres. And this knowledge will help you narrow down the niches in which you can work with the least amount of stress. Remember: stress does nothing but stifle creativity.
Money, of course, will also play a role as it’s no point consistently working on projects which are simple, but fail to pay the rent. A compromise, therefore, needs to be applied which gives you the best chance to enter a niche which doesn’t cause you palpitations or bankruptcy!

Who Do You Want to Work With?

Graphic designers end up working with all types of clients from huge million dollar corporations to local pet shops. And all these different clients have different combinations of pros and cons e.g. large corporations pay well, but are very demanding when it comes to deadlines and smaller corporations tend to be more patient, but don’t stump up as much cash.
It’s down to you to determine which type of client base you want to serve. Do you, for example, want to design websites for small businesses or concentrate on medium to large businesses? These are all different niches and some graphic designers will feel more comfortable serving different clients.
Once you’ve decided which type of client you want to work with then you can see which projects have been most successful with this sector previously. You should be able to draw up a number of potential niches where you can work to your full potential and satisfy your client’s every need.

What Is Your Passion?

The best niche for a graphic designer to enter is one that they’re wildly passionate about as it’s one you’ll be able to invest blood, sweat and tears in. And this should translate into some amazing logo designs.
As we discussed above, though, that may not always be financially viable, but believe me, if you’re passionate about one specific area of graphic design then you can make it become very lucrative.
Grab a pen and paper and draw up a wish list of the top 5 graphic design jobs you would be more than happy to work on for the rest of your days. Once this is done you need to take a long, hard look at these 5 genres and see which offers the best chance of success in the long run.
And the one you choose may not work out, so just go through them again and try something else. You’ll know when you’ve chosen the right niche for you as everything will suddenly click.

Finalizing that Niche

The best niche will be one which combines something from each of the methods we’ve discussed above.
A graphic designer needs to ensure their niche doesn’t leave them tearing their hair out, allows them to work with customers they can best serve and also contains something they’re capable of getting immersed in passionately.
Once you find this you’ll have the perfect niche.

Source: Finding Your Niche in Graphic Designs

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