Established Graphic Designers Step in
- Thread starter GTDProductions
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-always work on your craft, keep up with technology & the industry you want to work in
-establish your market (but dont limit yourself, try to be versatile in your work so more opportunities come your way)
-network & advertise (dont just sit on your shit waiting for people to come to you)
-make great customer relations so that they refer you to others
-dont sell yourself short yet don't price your stuff extremely high unless you have an advantage and have a good continuous customer flow & bigger accounts (dealing with def jam, universal in comparison to joe shmoe from down the street)
-dont get deterred by competition, just do you & the work will speak for itself
theres really no one real answer as to how you can make $750 on a friday which isn't really alot in the design industry - but it's also more than 99% of people on here make from graphics alone.
another piece of advice if you are based in the bay area & if you are or deciding to work in the bay area "rap" industry...get the fuck out while you can. theres no money in it, just cheap lowballers who want and are used to cheap QUALITY TOP NOTCH work. this area is saturated with talented designers/photographers that aren't getting the money they should be getting.
i know a couple photographers on the east coast who make around $10gs a day off a full shoot and some here who make chump change compared to that, including myself.
-establish your market (but dont limit yourself, try to be versatile in your work so more opportunities come your way)
-network & advertise (dont just sit on your shit waiting for people to come to you)
-make great customer relations so that they refer you to others
-dont sell yourself short yet don't price your stuff extremely high unless you have an advantage and have a good continuous customer flow & bigger accounts (dealing with def jam, universal in comparison to joe shmoe from down the street)
-dont get deterred by competition, just do you & the work will speak for itself
theres really no one real answer as to how you can make $750 on a friday which isn't really alot in the design industry - but it's also more than 99% of people on here make from graphics alone.
another piece of advice if you are based in the bay area & if you are or deciding to work in the bay area "rap" industry...get the fuck out while you can. theres no money in it, just cheap lowballers who want and are used to cheap QUALITY TOP NOTCH work. this area is saturated with talented designers/photographers that aren't getting the money they should be getting.
i know a couple photographers on the east coast who make around $10gs a day off a full shoot and some here who make chump change compared to that, including myself.
What I dont understand is why dont these other photographers that are so good in the bay don't go after the bigger clients. Magazines hire photogs to fly all over the world, and they certainly dont limit themselves to only photogs working on the east coast....I think this is an example of why everything else you said is so important....With the correct marketing plan, and networking those area photographers wouldn't even be home half time because they would have projects booked up all over the place....The photography industry as well as the graphic design industry is 90% networking when it comes to working on huge projects.....I think folks just need to jump out there with two feet 
it's not that they don't, and im including myself on this. its who you know - photography in general, is especially now and days extremely hard to break through - there are MILLIONS of talented people out there, trust me.. i have worked with big corporations/clients as well as small time ones - it isn't an easy industry to break in if you start off not knowing anyone which is why networking is key to making it anywhere.
I guess thats what I'm really getting at....Everybody knowing how important it is to know people, I dont see why more people dont spend more time getting to know people that could help them out....I guess the problem I see most with fellow artist is that they dont have a real grasp of how important it is to network and think that being a good artist is enough to when in actuality thats just the tip of the ice berg
Similar to your situation, Im in Chicago, and personally know a lot of good artist that are struggling to make ends meet...It isnt because of the lack of work, I know that for sure....Its because the market here is dominated by a select few individuals that know how to market themselves, and who's mouth to put their name in
Similar to your situation, Im in Chicago, and personally know a lot of good artist that are struggling to make ends meet...It isnt because of the lack of work, I know that for sure....Its because the market here is dominated by a select few individuals that know how to market themselves, and who's mouth to put their name in
I got to say Tragik is right. Only thing is ... its not about who you know, its really about WHO KNOWS YOU!!! Me ... I am from Germany, went out to NY ... a city full of photographers, and I found a way, my very own way, I think everybody has to go there own direction and I worked with people like Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, and most likely had a lot of rap artists in front of the camera that are on a major label.
The thing with photography is, and specially in this music industry, you are really unemployed every new day you wake up or every time you finish a project, you can never stop hustling to get a new project. I had times (and this is no bullshit) where I was making 5 Gz a day!!! But then I might had nothing to do for like the next 2 month. Right now, I am doing nothing, no real projects, just pennys. So its high and lows. I just signed a deal with a major label where Im going to do all there covers and will get $1000 - $2000 for each cover, so that puts it back.
The thing with photography is, and specially in this music industry, you are really unemployed every new day you wake up or every time you finish a project, you can never stop hustling to get a new project. I had times (and this is no bullshit) where I was making 5 Gz a day!!! But then I might had nothing to do for like the next 2 month. Right now, I am doing nothing, no real projects, just pennys. So its high and lows. I just signed a deal with a major label where Im going to do all there covers and will get $1000 - $2000 for each cover, so that puts it back.