The Brand New Conference is a two-day event on corporate and brand identity with some of today’s most active and influential practitioners from around the world.
It's organized and hosted by UnderConsideration and is a direct extension of the popular blog, Brand New. Past speakers have included Erik Spiekermann, Debbie Millman, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher, Michael Bierut, Lance Wyman, Marina Willer, and Bob Gill to name a few.
I have heard a lot of my friends complain about being asked to design for free. I have also seen memes on this topic, especially linked with the use of the word ‘collaboration’. Luckily, I have never been asked for free work until now.
But there’s always a tomorrow, right?
So, I have decided to prepare myself for the future. If I ever get asked for free design services, I can simply redirect the prospects to this article.
As a graphic designer with a love for branding, I love creating visual brand identity schemes for big and small businesses. I love it when I’m able to communicate about my client’s brand honestly and meaningfully. To do so, it is important to know about client’s work and professional landscape in as much detail as possible. As a communicator, a Graphic designer has to regularly dig into a business’s founding story, industry nuances, manufacturing, marketing and much more. And this is probably my second favourite thing about Graphic design, right after creation of visuals.
There aren’t a lot of professions that enjoy this privilege. Your doctor won’t ask you about your competitors. Your software engineer probably won’t need to know about your company’s purpose of existence. Your cook might not question your choice of packaging material. This isn’t the case with designers. If your designer isn’t asking you enough questions, it’s time to question your designer.
