How to get an order if there is no portfolio?
In the comments to the previous article , a quite reasonable question was asked that concerns every designer or programmer at the very beginning of his creative journey: “How to get a job if you don’t have your own portfolio?”. I will try to answer it based on my experience.
What was the main problem when I wanted to draw a design, but didn’t know where to get orders from? Of course, lack of experience. No customer in his right mind would give the project to the student, even if he is gifted and gives hope at computer science competitions. After all, the performer appreciates reliability, experience and professionalism. But I was confident in my abilities, so I was looking for ways to get orders. So, what can a novice designer without a portfolio do to get a job?
The competition involves free and voluntary participation. Consequently, the lack of responsibility. You do not undertake the obligation to carry out the project, but only make an attempt and offer your work for evaluation. In this case, the customer has no right to make any claims to the quality, which means that you can choose the project you like the most and not be afraid to fail it. Therefore, on the well-known sites free-lance.ru and weblancer.net, the relevant sections are in demand among novice designers, copywriters and programmers. The second positive point is the opportunity to get paid for the work. Under the terms of the competition, the customer pays the order to the artist, whose work he likes more than others. And this is a real order. The vast majority of experienced freelancers do not participate in contests, so there are usually no obvious favorites, but there is healthy competition between beginners.
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Of course, putting a desktop wallpaper in a portfolio is not the best idea. The customer is usually interested in work, similar to what should happen after the execution of his project. And I still do not remember orders to draw a wallpaper. What to do? If you have confidence in your abilities, then you can do several projects for non-existent customers. We can come up with a project, execute and accept it. It will take a lot of time, but as a result we will get quite tangible work. Having about ten such works, one can make a portfolio of them and it is not at all necessary to advertise their origin.
Do not be afraid of a bad result. Indeed, even if after nine failures the 10th logo turns out to be good, the efforts will not be in vain. Again, this is a great experience.
In fact, not only for friends. You can make your school website, a poster for a familiar rock band, or a t-shirt print for your girlfriend. This experience and at the same time quite real work. The first serious work for me was the site of my lyceum. Of course, now you can look at the work of seven years ago with a smirk, but at that time I had to spend many days and nights studying photoshop, reading articles on usability and faq on layout.
I tend to consider this option one of the best for getting the first experience. Most studios need people who are ready for a small fee to perform routine work. Such as drawing simple banners, buttons, photo processing, design of satellites or drawing templates. I remember that these people were once called "Mexicans" (maybe someone else knows the names?). So the work of the Mexican is constantly connected with the design: a person communicates with colleagues, gaining experience in technology, can ask questions and just watch the progress of the neighbors. This is a foundation on the basis of which you can develop further and qualify for improvement. Including thinking about a freelance career. After a couple of years of such work, you can make a list of projects that will be the first portfolio.
I would like to note: the majority of the above is based only on personal experience and is not a panacea, but can only help to start thinking in the right direction.
And remember - first of all you should like the work. And if there is no craving for design, then maybe it is better to find another occupation?
Source - Dedushka.org
What was the main problem when I wanted to draw a design, but didn’t know where to get orders from? Of course, lack of experience. No customer in his right mind would give the project to the student, even if he is gifted and gives hope at computer science competitions. After all, the performer appreciates reliability, experience and professionalism. But I was confident in my abilities, so I was looking for ways to get orders. So, what can a novice designer without a portfolio do to get a job?
Take part in competitions
The competition involves free and voluntary participation. Consequently, the lack of responsibility. You do not undertake the obligation to carry out the project, but only make an attempt and offer your work for evaluation. In this case, the customer has no right to make any claims to the quality, which means that you can choose the project you like the most and not be afraid to fail it. Therefore, on the well-known sites free-lance.ru and weblancer.net, the relevant sections are in demand among novice designers, copywriters and programmers. The second positive point is the opportunity to get paid for the work. Under the terms of the competition, the customer pays the order to the artist, whose work he likes more than others. And this is a real order. The vast majority of experienced freelancers do not participate in contests, so there are usually no obvious favorites, but there is healthy competition between beginners.
')
Do the work for yourself
Of course, putting a desktop wallpaper in a portfolio is not the best idea. The customer is usually interested in work, similar to what should happen after the execution of his project. And I still do not remember orders to draw a wallpaper. What to do? If you have confidence in your abilities, then you can do several projects for non-existent customers. We can come up with a project, execute and accept it. It will take a lot of time, but as a result we will get quite tangible work. Having about ten such works, one can make a portfolio of them and it is not at all necessary to advertise their origin.
Do not be afraid of a bad result. Indeed, even if after nine failures the 10th logo turns out to be good, the efforts will not be in vain. Again, this is a great experience.
Do work for friends
In fact, not only for friends. You can make your school website, a poster for a familiar rock band, or a t-shirt print for your girlfriend. This experience and at the same time quite real work. The first serious work for me was the site of my lyceum. Of course, now you can look at the work of seven years ago with a smirk, but at that time I had to spend many days and nights studying photoshop, reading articles on usability and faq on layout.
Get a design studio
I tend to consider this option one of the best for getting the first experience. Most studios need people who are ready for a small fee to perform routine work. Such as drawing simple banners, buttons, photo processing, design of satellites or drawing templates. I remember that these people were once called "Mexicans" (maybe someone else knows the names?). So the work of the Mexican is constantly connected with the design: a person communicates with colleagues, gaining experience in technology, can ask questions and just watch the progress of the neighbors. This is a foundation on the basis of which you can develop further and qualify for improvement. Including thinking about a freelance career. After a couple of years of such work, you can make a list of projects that will be the first portfolio.
I would like to note: the majority of the above is based only on personal experience and is not a panacea, but can only help to start thinking in the right direction.
And remember - first of all you should like the work. And if there is no craving for design, then maybe it is better to find another occupation?
Source - Dedushka.org
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/37594/
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