Design is a Job

A series of quotes and paraphrases from Design is a Job by Mike Monteiro.

• A designer solves problems within a set of constraints.
• A designer understands goals, gathers information & imposes order.
• The work starts before a single pixel is placed.
• Clients are looking for confidence.
• Lack of clients is the number one reason studios fail.
• Be pleasant to work with, do good work.
• All successful jobs lead to more jobs.
• Be pleasant, don’t be nice.
• How a client behaves at the start is how they will behave later on.
• Trust your gut.
• Walk away from clients who don’t listen and just want an implementer.
• Don’t work with people who show up begrudgingly and dont value design.
• Work for money!
• Charge as much as you can.
• You can always negotiate down a high price. You can’t go up from a low price.
• Break down your bill into the services your charging for.
• Never compete with the client to solve the problem.
• Present your work or you are not a designer. Keep at it and you’ll get better.
• End a presentation on time. Anwser everyones questions.
• Never speak ill of your clients.
• Lawyers talk to lawyers.
• Always have a contract.
• The larger the project the more often you should invoice.