How to Be a Graphic Designer, Without Losing Your Soul

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I admit, I was a bit worried about the "without losing your soul" in the title of the book before starting, but Adrian Shaughnessy turned out not to be nearly as romantic as I expected; he even argues that self-initiated projects ("personal projects") usually are not a good way to promote oneself and get new clients – something that doesn't resonate well with the title, and something I don't agree with even though I don't believe in souls. I think the book is mostly suitable for a freelance designer or a designer thinking to start her/his own business. It was difficult to distinguish whether the problem lay in design, or designing for THAT particular company. Written by a designer for designers, it combines practical advice with philosophical guidance to help young professionals embark on their careers. And this is a book that i am glad i put the effort in and read the first page because by the end of every page i wanted to read the next one and for me that is the sign of a well written book.

Saying that, I think this book is worthwhile for any budding designers or artists, even if you skim the bits you don’t think are relevant. Some of the advices were also outdated, but you can still get the valuable learning from it and adapt it to modern technology or practice today. And - quite inspiring this - he gives us the green light to rely on our INTUITIONS, without apology. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average.

Please select the alternative 'tracked postage' option at checkout for full cover on more valuable items! This revised edition contains all-new chapters covering professional skills; design thinking; and global trends, including social responsibility, ethics and the rise of digital culture. How to be a graphic designer offers clear, concise guidance for these questions, along with focused, no-nonsense strategies for setting up, running, and promoting a studio, finding work, and collaborating with clients. This book is full of gems, that I have found extremely helpful for specific elements of my work and in general.

The practical information and tips are a bit outdated for 2020 but the gist of the thing is helpful for any young graphic designer.He seems to give us a very honest and candid account of one designer's experiences grappling with and growing within the design world; and starting, running and ultimately leaving a design studio to go off on his own again. My favorite parts perhaps are an emphasis on a often neglected aspect of freelancing: be nice, don't be a sourpuss and have some EQ. This books gives great insight on the structure of the graphic design world from the perspective of successful working designers. Interestingly, there are a few paragraphs where Shaughnessy is really soul-romantic at the beginning and they sounded so wrong to me that I even thought of dropping the book.

Aimed at the independent-minded, it addresses the concerns of young designers who want to earn a living by doing expressive and meaningful work and avoid becoming a hired drone working on soulless projects. It offers straight-talking advice on how to establish your design career and suggestions - that you won’t have been taught at college - for running a successful business.

I haven't given it a full 5 stars as it is a bit long winded in some of it's explanations of things. This revised, extended edition includes all-new chapters covering professional skills, the creative process, and global trends, including green issues, ethics and the rise of digital culture.

Got this book as a belated birthday gift for my boyfriend who's just finished graphic design and apparently he really liked it. The advices were a bit common sense, but it still gives a good foundation for those who are new in the field. After 19 years as a Graphic Designer and Photographer for a management consultancy, I recently grabbed voluntary redundancy. I picked up this book after a little bit of exhaustion with the thought of what I should expect in the future. How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul addresses the concerns of young designers who want to earn a living by doing expressive and meaningful work, and who want to avoid becoming hired drones working on soulless projects.I found that I am not alone in the big bad world of Graphic Design, and that some of the fears and insecurities I have are shared by designers all over the world. It covered a lot of the less glamorous areas of becoming a designer: things like actually getting a job and dealing with difficult clients. The book also includes inspiring new interviews with leading designers, including Jonathan Barnbrook, Sara De Bondt, Stephen Doyle, Ben Drury, Paul Sahre, Dmitri Siegel, Sophie Thomas, and Magnus Vol Mathiassen. Creo que si está dirigido o podría servirles más a diseñadores que acaban de graduarse y no saben que hacer, pero para ser un libro que fue publicado hace varios años (creo que 2004? There is a lot of practical advice about finding the clients, setting up a studio, working as a freelancer and overcoming your fear of failure and fear of ideas.