This document provides job hunting tips for new graphic designers, including steps to take to market yourself, gain experience, and find resources. It discusses opportunities to showcase work like competitions and portfolio sites, both free and paid options. Building a portfolio through self-authored design work, volunteer client work, and freelance projects is recommended. Resources for interactive and freelance design are also listed.

1. Designer U
job hunting tips for new graphic designers
—Mitzie Testani, Interactive Designer

2. Steps
– Marketing yourself
– Getting experience
– Resources

3. GETTING IT
Five opportunities to see (OTS) are believed required for
a reasonable [advertising] impact....To achieve [this] may
require 20 or 30 peak-time transmissions of a commercial,
or a significant number of insertions of press advertise-
ments in the national media.
— D. Ogilvy, ‘Ogilvy on Advertising’ (Pan Books, 1983)
via Wikipedia

4. Almost 30 years later, how many more times
should your information be visible in a market with
distracted attention spans that are now spread thin
over a multitude of channels? You must create your
own opportunities.
— Mitzie Testani
interactive designer & sometimes job hunter

5. Competition{s}
Getting in front of the right audience.

6. Competitions
Low range
CMYK Magazine $45/15 ImaGEs | Creative Quarterly $10 EaCH
Adobe Design Achievement FREE | AIGA somE FREE wITH mEmbERsHIp

7. Competitions
High range
Communication Arts $35 sINGlE ENTRY / $70 sERIEs
Art Director’s Club $35 pER ENTRY | HOW Design $30-50 pER ENTRY
Print Magazine $50-75 pER ENTRY | Graphis $60 sTudENT ENTRY

8. Portfolio{s}
Channels for exposure.

9. Portfolios
Fees/membership benefit
AIGA | Creative Hotlist | Graphis | Design Taxi | Art Director’s

10. Portfolios
Free or partially free
Behance.net | Coroflot.com | Flickr.com | Cargocollective.com
Carbonmade.com | Shownd.com | Squarespace.com
Viewbook.com | Dripbook.com | Virb.com

11. Portfolios
Blog/microblog
Linkedin.com | Facebook.com | Twitter.com | Google+
Posterous.com | Wordpress.com

12. Portfolios
Highly recommended, with a note of caution
You.com

13. A quick glance at the markup
will also tell me how organized
[the] designer is.
—Jeffrey Veen
Five steps to a better design portfolio
November, 2006

14. Options
Designer for Designer +
front-end or front-end
developers developer

15. Designer for
front-end
developers
Should understand
• How integrate cross print/multi-channel with interactive
• Wireframing and site maps
• Design patterns
• Technical capabilities of code or interaction
• How to work with information architects
• How to fight for usability over form/features
• How to create hierarchical navigation systems

16. Designer +
front-end
developer
Should understand designers’ requirements, plus
• Accessibility
• HTML / CSS /Javascript
• Responsive interaction design
• How to work with back end developers
• Be willing to grow coding knowledge
• How to translate to clients

17. Portfolio building
• Self-authored dEsIGN pRaCTICE
• Volunteer ClIENT pRaCTICE, basElINING
• Freelance ENTREpRENEuRIal pRaCTICE

18. Start list
• Logo
• Stationery
• Timesheet
• Contract
• Estimate form
• Invoice

19. Resources
Interactive
InterACT with Web Standards: A holistic approach to web design aaRRoN
walTER, VIRGINIa dEbolT, dEREk FEaTHERsToNE & dENIsE R. JaCobs
CSS in Easy Steps mIkE mCGRaTH
Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web Design aNdY ClaRkE
Designing with Web Standards (3rd Edition) JEFFREY ZEldmaN
Responsive Web Design ETH aN maRCoTTE
Head First HTML with CSS & XHTML ERIC T FREEmaN, ElIsabETH FREEmaN
& ElIsabETH RobsoN

20. Resources
Freelance
Graphic Artist’s Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines GRapHIC
aRTIsTs GuIld
The Designer’s Guide to Marketing and Pricing IlIsE bENuN & pElEG Top
Graphic Designer’s Guide to Pricing, Estimating & Budgeting Revised Edition
THEo sTEpHaN wIllIams
Business and Legal Forms for Graphic Designers (3rd Edition) EVa domaN
bRuCk & Tad CRawFoRd

21. Thanks.

22. Sources
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising_media_selection
• http://www.designstudentresource.com
• http://veen.com/jeff/archives/000935.html
• http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/06/14/uietips-ux-practicing/