Practical Advice To Work Efficiently As A Freelance Designer
For a freelance designer, getting customers and meeting delivery dates can be complicated. After all, you need to deliver the progress or final file on the date that has been agreed with the client, but you also need to think about the next project you will develop. It is quite likely that you serve several clients at a time and work with two or more projects at the same time.
To be able to work with several clients and projects at the same time, it is necessary to improve labor productivity and work more efficiently. The main points to consider are having a schedule and organizing effectively. These tips are the most essential and there are various techniques to achieve this.
However, there are other specific tips that can help you save valuable time. In this article, we mention those tips that will allow you to work efficiently as a freelance designer.
Work with programs that make you feel comfortable
If you already have experience in your work area, you probably already have some favorite design programs that fit your needs. The client is unlikely to ask you to use a program for the design or development of your program. Finally, what interests your customers most is to see the fruit of your work, check the results.
So you use those programs with which you already have experience and know each of its functions. But apart from using specific programs that you feel comfortable with, you can save valuable seconds and minutes by learning the essential keyboard shortcuts of those applications. Or at least the functions you use most in your projects. Although it may not seem like it, this little detail allows you to improve the speed of your workflow greatly.
Much of your productivity will be based on the type of tools you use. This does not imply that you should opt for the most popular, but that you should use the one that fits the needs of your usual projects.
Use other resources such as mockups or icon packs
Apart from your favorite programs, it is a great idea to put together a large library of various resources such as icons, color palettes, mood boards, fonts, mockups, etc. In certain cases, some resources such as fonts, for example, are used immediately and it is better if we have an extensive library that contains several styles.
On the other hand, resources such as mockups need to be modified previously. We probably need to place the design and verify if the shadows and glare are correct. However, the changes are minimal and it is much more practical to have a series of mockups ready to be used when necessary.
The best part is that many of these resources can be acquired for free. Review specialized pages on social networks, as well as various design blogs where icon packages are collected or sites or tools to generate color palettes are recommended.
Organize your folders and files
The way you organize your projects is also a determining factor in your productivity. You need to sort your files so that you can quickly and easily access each of them. If you take time to find the resources or PSD files you were working with, then something is failing within your organization system. It is preferable to check your folders and files, detect what the problem is and solve it immediately.
Even if you think you are wasting time on these tasks, in the end, you will save valuable seconds and avoid the frustration you may feel if you do not find the right files immediately. Detecting and correcting errors in your file organization system allows you to learn and avoid future failures.
Remember that the process starts on paper
As a designer, you know that every idea starts on paper, like a simple sketch. Working on paper is cheap, simple and fast. It also allows you to generate new ideas and improve others quickly. Thanks to paper sketches, we can better organize our ideas and it often allows us to define certain basic concepts.
Not all ideas arise immediately. You may need to review references or other inspiration resources to get a more concrete idea about the design. However, it is advisable to write down each new idea and not rule out one. Little by little you will see how the ideas take shape to the point where it is ready to move to a digital sketch.
Keep all the necessary items for your work at your fingertips
Another element that can affect your productivity is the environment in which you work. It is advisable to have a separate space to work as a small office or an area within a room that is appropriate to work. In your workstation, you must include all kinds of tools that are necessary. The most obvious instrument is a computer or laptop.
But there are other necessary elements such as a logbook with blank sheets, a lined or squared notebook, pencils, pens, colors, markers, sticky notes, as well as a small library where you have compiled books related to design themes or even magazines that they can serve as inspiration in certain projects.
These are just some of the common items that should be on a desk, but you can also decorate it with other things, just like you would in an office. This allows you to stay at ease while you work. Evaluate what items you need to have at your fingertips and organize them on your desk or work area.
In conclusion
As you can see, working efficiently does not only have to do with organizing your time and setting tasks. While these tips are essential, there are other specific actions that you should consider, such as those mentioned in this article. These are fairly simple tasks, but they can help you save seconds and valuable time. You will see that if you put them into practice you will notice the difference immediately.
Author Bio:
Melissa Crooks is Content Writer who writes for Hyperlink InfoSystem, a mobile app development company in New York, USA and India that holds the best team of skilled and expert app developers. She is a versatile tech writer and loves exploring the latest technology trends, entrepreneur and startup column. She also writes for top app development companies.
