Freedom

Im sitting here on a Thursday evening surfing the internet, ahem, ‘researching’ and eating fairy bread, yes you read correctly, fairy bread. For the uninitiated I’m talking about sliced bread, spread with butter and drowning in rainbow coloured hundreds and thousands. And when I am done I will lick the left over sprinkles from the plate... oh yes indeed I will. Why do I do this? Well, because I live in my own house, I am an adult, and I am home alone (and therefore cannot be scolded by my partner!). I am also endowed with the freedom to do as I please.

Freedom is a wonderful thing, and a precious commodity in the design world. Without freedom, we go insane, bending to the will of others. Freedom invites innovation to the table. There is a common misconception that designers have full creative liberty, when in fact we are merely vessels than translate ideas/notions into life, and to do this, we must be able to predict what our client, the user, or the consumer; wants. More often than not, before they even know it themselves. I give the Ipod as a classic, albeit well-used, example. Apple did not identify a gap in the market and fill it... they created the market, and therefore the demand. But for the men and women who designed it, Apple was the client. Apple had a brief for a product and its parameters that needed to be fulfilled.

Unbridled creative freedom is rare, unless you’re one of the very lucky few whose name surpasses most others in your industry. If I could access an architect like Frank Lloyd Wright, and know that he could create something that rivalled Falling Water in Pennsylvania, I would walk away and give the man his creative freedom. If you could secure Helmut Newton for your fashion spread, you’d give him a model and some clothes and ask him to go nuts. In most instances, our freedom to ‘be a designer’ is in constant battle with client (realistic or otherwise) objectives, marketability, budgets, and environmental and social accountability. A client once said to me, “Go ahead and pick whatever you want, anything really... As long as I like it”. A good designer meets or even exceeds client expectation, and what does the client expect? For you to meet the brief successfully, on time, and on budget, and with beauty (and I don’t just mean aesthetics, I’m talking about a refined, well thought out, quality product).

So how do you push on as a designer and a creative soul if you are constantly having to create within these limitations? How do you keep your sanity, and be proud of your work? How can you fight for your freedom? Well you can start by no longer perceiving these client imposed boundaries as limiting. Be thankful in fact, that you have them. These guides make your job easier, and NO design job should start without a well documented and mutually agreeable brief. A good design brief sets the pace, cuts free any misconceptions, saves you time and money and is a valuable reference point. It allows you to narrow your field of vision to a few concepts, concepts which can be explored in depth with all the creative juices you can muster.

Select design jobs that align with your morals. The ability to express your creative freedom can be cut off at the knees if you disagree with the morality of the design job. The architectural firm I work for is currently in bid phase for a new refugee detention centre, some of the team members refused to work on such a project, and it was such a hotly contested topic. If youre recovering from cancer and are a packaging designer, chances are you will unconsciously sabotage your own work if its a cigarette packet you’ve been asked to design. If you find there are negative implications of doing your job well (and lets face it, you should be doing your best) the parameters will feel so stifling that even if youve done an amazing job, you’ve still failed. And it is that knowledge alone which crushes your freedom. You have the power to choose your client as much as they can choose you.

The customer is not always right. And I should know, I spent too many years in retail. As a designer, you do not work alone – believe it or not. Your business is a partnership with your clientele; you both have a vested interest in the result. I’ve heard stories of web designers or illustrators working for hours on a fantastic theme, only to present it to the client and a response of ‘No, I don’t like it, No, thats not what I meant’. And they walk out of the presentation at risk of blowing their resource budget, and perhaps their temper, mumbling under their breath about how little the client knows about good design. But where did it go wrong? Sure it may be an amazing concept, but did you respond to the brief properly? Did you communicate effectively in the first instance, did you have a kick off meeting, and did you keep all lines of communication open with the client? When things like this happen, we often here the lament about the lack of creative freedom. But I have been surprised by clients who had been completely taken by an unusual concept because the designer ‘sold’ it to them. And why were they able to sell it? Because the client trusted his/her opinion, and why again? Because the lines of communication were wide open, the client was able to trust the designer, knowing that every move, intent, and objective had been communicated. I’m not talking about an obligatory email every time you want to change a font colour, but a genuine interest in treating the client like a collaborative partner, to facilitate your freedom of creativity.

Have you ever had free reign in a design job? Did it work out as you planned? Or have you ever had what you considered to be the world’s most difficult client!?

Freelancer Unplugged

Hi!
Welcome to my blog and business portal! My name is Kaye and I shall be your guide on this lovely little journey. To your left you shall see design finds, and inspiration bits and bobs, including links to some of my favourite writers and designers, and on the right, you shall see some of my very own creations and foray into the design world. It is my sister blog to another site, where I generally keep a more personal collection of creative ramblings, venting, and adoration.

Well, a little about myself;

I was born and raised in regional Western Australia, moving to Melbourne in 2007 to chase dreams. I’ve since found myself to be one of the many Generation Y’ers who are multi-occupational(!). I combine my study in Interior Design with work for an architecture firm, as well as writing, modelling, and stints in acting. I also have experience hosting media and events, and presenting on dvd productions.

I recently established my own part time creative consulting business, offering interior design and styling advice to small scale post-construction developers and renovators. This baby of mine is a teeny-tiny newborn for me, so I am treading nice and slowly, although it keeps trying to grow up too fast! My intention is to branch into collaborative design work, working with photographers to style interiors & architecture or product shoots, or the design of temporary exhibition spaces for events or galleries.

My personal interests include blogging, home renovation, bargain hunting and way too much online ‘research’ …aka surfing! And to keep my sanity I love travel and exploring… my ultimate weekend away is hiking in country Victoria.
Wow, I hope that doesn’t sound too much like a personal ad! :)

And now… the purpose for my entry today... Freelancer Unplugged. I was introduced to Freelancer Unplugged by two freelancin’ friends of mine, Diesel Laws, a graphic designer, and the writer Flic Manning.
Freelancer Unplugged is a new collaborative online community where Freelancers from various professions (currently mostly creative, hopefully soon to expand to include business-orientated freelancers) can network.

The ‘blurb’ – “We host Freelancer Profiles and Group Forums, allowing freelancers to connect with clients, visitors and other professionals. We also encourage real world networking, hence the “Unplugged”. We run events where you will get to hear from freelancers just like you on how they go about creating an online presence as well as creating an identity for themselves”.

Last night I went to the first ‘real-world’ networking event, where we listened to a discussion panel talk about a range of topics, followed by question time, and some networking. Working in an international and corporate environment, not only is my exposure to the university based networking limited, but I am limited in my exposure to cross-discipline collaboration. Naturally I am exposed to facets of Architecture, Interior Design, Modelling etc as standalone fields, but rarely can I use/expand my skills base by working with other disciplines. I learnt some very interesting things that I didn’t think I would too, including how to raise your web presence, the business side of running a small business, and how to decide to charge or work for free. The people in the room tended to be writers, photographers, graphics based people (ie I was the only Interior Designer) but that was ok. The topics were broad enough to be applicable to my profession too. I will definitely go to the next event. Thanks guys!