Advicetap Blog

Last week we linked up with Christina Peressini, a Vancouver brand identity designer and small business owner. We talked crowdsourcing, design in a digital era, and much more…Check it out!

Hi there Christina, thanks for stopping by the Advicetap towers! Can you start off by introducing your businesses to the readers?

Thanks for having me Sam.

As a freelance graphic designer and strategist, I have been “giving visual form to important ideas” since 2001. I’ve been working in a range of media (print, web, packaging, signage) for clients primarily in Vancouver but as far away as New York. I invite your Advicetap network to check out my work at www.Disegnostudio.com

Ok let’s talk a bit about how you do the marketing of Disegnostudio. You have a large list of clients and projects and have built up an extensive portfolio of branding work. Any tips on promotion and marketing you can share with us?

My clients have almost all come to me by word of mouth.

The tips I would share with you are communicate, communicate, communicate and when you do, be yourself and be sincere. Tell those who are interested, what you do, how you do it, and why you do it.

In the beginning I put the word on the street that I was transitioning into a new career as a graphic designer. It was encouraging to see how many people responded by sending work my way or by passing my name to others. I still do this when I’m looking to generate new work and it inevitably yields results. I also keep in regular touch with my clients by way of email, phone calls, my quarterly newsletter, holiday cards, and the like, especially those clients I might not have worked with for a while.

When I left my job with the federal government and ventured into graphic design, a good bit of that early freelance work was done for the very group of people I’d just been employed with, and almost ten years later I am still doing work for the civil service on a regular basis. So another piece of advice I would give is to go above and beyond to nurture relationships with those you respect and who respect you.

I have also found clients in the most unlikely places: dog park, house party, community centre, temp admin assignment, and pottery class to name a few, so never underestimate the impact you might have on people in any circumstance. The biggest client I’ve had to date is someone I met at a social event where I didn’t have a single business card on me – a classic blunder. But we ended up working together for four and a half years. Good things can happen when you least expect it. I tend to strike up conversations with strangers quite easily. This sort of friendliness can be both a blessing and a curse.

When we were chatting earlier you mentioned one big challenge you’re facing as a specialized print designer is the whole shift in the print design market to digital/online design. Can you reflect a bit on this shift and how as a print designer you’re dealing with this?

Print is not dead as people may have you believe, but over the past few years there has been a marked decline in the amount of print work I am being asked to design. This trend is also reflected in the closure of many reputable print shops in the city. It pains me a little to see this shift away from print because I know first hand how a really effective print piece will beg to be interacted with, can pack a hefty wallop and can deliver a strong message effectively. I just wish people would be more discerning about what they print and how much they print. There is no doubt that less printed material means less waste, and I’m certainly a supporter of less waste, but sometimes circumstances require you to create something tactile and sumptuous that will allow you to hold someone’s attention longer than an email or a webpage can.

Despite all the wonderful qualities of paper though, there’s no denying that new technologies are making the online experience more and more memorable and are catering to a growing population that is demanding pixels over paper. The print designer has to stay current by taking on a variety of work, both print and web-based. Over the years I’ve been happy to count among my professional network, a series of web developers and programmers who have worked collaboratively to help me deliver digital projects to my clients’ specifications. My recent schooling in web-based technologies is helping me stay current, and I will continue in this direction for the forseesable future. Having said that, if I ever have an opportunity to learn how to operate a letterpress (think Gutenberg), I’ll gladly jump at that chance too. I rarely limit the options. I’ve always got my hands in a bunch of creative pies.

Very interesting stuff…Let’s stay on this digital shift in the design industry for a minute here. There are now many online services around where businesses can post their design projects and then get back a bunch of design options from “designers” from all over the world for a low price. What do you think about these kinds of services and have they affected your business at all in terms of clients expecting lower prices or comparing these online services to what you offer? (….More)