10. Bibliografía y Anexos
10.3 Fuentes bibliográficas
A.
In my opinion, the single most essential element when seeking for your first position in the industry is work experience. When I was at university, I did a three-week work placement with a couple of footwear brands. One of which ended up offering me a full-time job once I had graduated.Other important things to get right are:
• Your portfolio, this is your chance to make a great first impression, make sure it is fantastic, get this right and you’re more likely to get through the front door;
• Showing enthusiasm, be willing to start at the bottom, I’ve encountered too many graduates who don’t want to put in the hard graft and think they have made it just because they have a job – this is when the hard work begins
• Don’t be afraid to express your true opinion, after all this is what a potential employer is looking for, although always have a reason for your opinion – “I do/don’t like it” should never be an answer, “I do/don’t like because…”.
Louise Shill, Senior Footwear Designer - Shoe Geek
Work Experience
Mark’s note: Check out some useful tips for creating a good portfolio (not fashion specific):
http://www.coroflot.com/public/help_portfolio_tips.asp
Q. Freelancing can be extremely rewarding but it’s not for everyone, what advice can you give to those who may want to pursue this path?
A.
Remember your worth. The problem I find is that it feels as though you may be overcharging for your time, but you need to balance your salary. When freelancing, there'll inevitably be very productive and high-earning periods. Those amazing times when you're making lots of money and enjoying a healthy bank balance. But before you go out and splash the cash, be aware that the good times might not last because every freelancer is constantly on a roller coaster cycle of ups and downs.There will be quiet months and there will be months when you're working all hours of every day. Just remember that any money you earn one month, might not be the same the next. So get used to saving for a rainy day and be prepared for the worst at all times. Also always remember, you’re only as good as your last work, so make it good!
Jili Alen, Creative Designer - MJM Int./Owner of Jili Allen Ltd
A.
Freelance design work is very rewarding, in my opinion. You have flexible hours and you can have a variety of projects which is great. But you need to be aware that there are times when you won't have work or struggle to get projects. Be prepared for this and build up contacts and a strong portfolio.Nicole Le Grange, Creative Director - Love Art Wear Art
For freelance designers, I’d just like to reiterate this advice I gave someone in an email going on seven years ago! (From Jessica Good, Designer, shoedesign.co.uk)
You will get people who won't or can't pay, it is a fact of life and you just have to deal with it. If you have savings to fall back on, you will have a better chance of success. It was a whole five months before I got any work and got paid for it. Even once you have clients, you will need savings to fall back on as it can take a long time to get invoices paid! Some clients now work on 60 day terms - that’s 60 days before you get your invoice paid! In any case always ask for a deposit of at least a days work, that tends to weed out the potential non payers.
If you are working from home, don't scrimp on your work equipment - do your research to get the best price you can. Make sure it is properly insured - household insurance does not cover equipment used for work. I ended up with RSI last xmas, I didn't consider how my workstation should be set up. If you work in an office, health and safety takes care of ergonomics, when you work for yourself you have to look after your own health. At the same time, don’t go crazy buying the fanciest things – now I understand why my boss was always complaining about the amount of stationery we got through – it affects your bottom line!
Freelance
Get a reliable ISPwith no downtime - the last thing you want when you are trying to email work off at 3 am is a broadband service that is not working! You might find you have to pay a bit more to be safe but it's worth it. Also bare in mind that server downtime can affect your Google rankings – if a bot goes to find your site and it’s down, it counts against you.
Save all your receipts - bare in mind in your first year of business you get 100% tax back on any computer equipment you buy.
Get a proper email address for your website - gmail, hotmail or yahoo etc. can look amateurish. You can use gmail in private of course, most of us do, but you need an email address to front the business.
Also bear in mind what you name this address. [email protected] is not going to cut it in the business world.
Don't expect to get rich quick - we are still nowhere near earning what we used to earn as full timers, three years on, but we are a zillion percent happier and because we are at home all day, we don't waste money on travel, bags of crisps, cans of drink and all those little things you spend on when you work in an office.
You will have to be very disciplined with money - it's tempting to piss your first invoice up the wall, but if you don't know when your next job is coming, it's better to play safe. We no longer get cabs, we don't go out so much, we cut down on takeaways and we don't eat out.
Much of the money we earn we plough back into the business - it can be costly because you have to keep up with technology.
One of the other big shockers is the banks - they don't like the self employed very much - despite us having savings and owing no one a cent, they won't lend to us as they consider us too high a risk. If you want to buy a property in the future, you are looking at 3 years accounts all showing year on year growth and a huge deposit. If you want to borrow money, you might have more chance if you ask a sympathetic (and loaded) friend or relative!
As for accounts - you only need a business bank account if you are a limited company - we just run two regular current accounts, we use one for business and one for personal. I also set up an internet savings account which has no penalty for regular withdrawals - arrange for your invoices to be paid directly into it and your money earns you interest immediately. We pay ourselves a monthly 'salary' out of this, into our current account. Again this requires a lot of discipline.
Even if you aren't busy - you should always give the impression that you are - clients want to hire successful people. Desperation is very off-putting to them. There are ways of marketing yourself without putting this across. Most important thing is to never ever go asking for work, if people want you to work for them, then they will ask you.
Finally read this. http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/ ;-)
Q. What type of mentality or work ethic does one need in order to succeed in your type of job?
A.
In high-fashion you will need to be prepared to sacrifice everything for a job you really want. The people who succeed are those who put everything else second. You can get your life back later on when you have reached a certain level and experience. But in the beginning you need luck, hard work and the right attitude.Magnus Gjoen, Designer/Product developer - Vivienne Westwood
Q. In your opinion, what would be the ideal type of company for a new designer to work for and why?
A.
There isn’t one, it depends what the new designer wants to do. So many different market sectors, but I would say if you wish to freelance, don’t limit yourself, try working at as many differentbusinesses that service different types of consumer as you can. The variety will benefit you. It is easier to get work if you don’t limit yourself.
Jessica Good, Designer, shoedesign.co.uk
A.
I don’t believe there is a best career path as I think that some of the most successful and interesting designers that are out there don’t come from ‘traditional’ backgrounds. I think that these things can’t be planned and as long as you have a passion and make the time to hone the basic skills, you may develop something genius that hasn’t even been entertained before because of strict educational rule points.However, if you have the creative spark, you need to also have the business head; there are some fantastic books out there but in all honestly, if it all seems a bit much, I would highly recommend a business partner. My partner James deals with the finances, etc as these such elements of a fashion label are too important to risk getting wrong.
Jili Alen, Creative Designer - MJM Int./Owner of Jili Allen Ltd