Roses & Thorns

How did you find your personal style or niche? - Kristie Boyd

I am interested in creating a better client experience and making a smooth onboarding process. Are there any tools or tips that you would recommend? - Maggie Glissman

• Honeybook
• Notion
• Create a standard SOP / checklist and follow the same steps every time
• Go over the client portal with the client on the call

What was the beginning of your business like? I only hear stories about after becoming successful, never in the beginning of the career and how tough it might have been and their struggles. - Sigrid T

How do I help small startup clients who can’t afford a multi-thousand dollar branding package? - Caitlin Johnson

• when you reduce scope, reduce deliverables. make the timeline short. practice your skills and get faster. with lower ticket offers, you need to do more sales volume, so grow your network, actively engage with people, and develop an impactful marketing plan

What is your favorite software you use day to day in your design business? - Sarah J

• Notion, Adobe, Voxer, Slack, Loom, Quickbooks, Flodesk, yes - Canva!
• Ones you might not be as aware of:
  • Figma - use for presentation decks, site maps, social graphics
  • Gusto
  • Monotype subscription (enterprise.monotype.com)
  • Audacity
  • Novo (business bank)
  • GSAP - Green sock animation platform - scroll and timeline based animation js library - my devs use this!

How do you handle clients that want something super custom or hand drawn, when you’re not an illustrator? - Jamie McDonough Chodoroff

What definition would you give “brand design” when explaining to someone who doesn’t know anything about it? - Joy Warren

• In his Book The Brand Gap, Marty Neumeier’s definition of “brand designer” is: Any person who helps shape a brand, including graphic designers, strategists, marketing directors, researchers, advertising planners, web developers, PR specialists, copywriters, and others” - to me, this feels too wide
• His definition of “brand identity” feels better: “The outward expression of a brand, including its name, trademark, communications, and visual appearance”

How do you manage pricing when it comes to friends and family? - Kylee Compton

What is your favorite and least favorite thing about running a design studio? - Rachel Buckley

• Jen: Fav: The time and financial freedom that it gives my family. Day to day tasks, probably designing the primary logo and logo marks for a brand. Least fav: dealing with difficult clients, going through slow seasons
• Lauren: Fav: I love not feeling constrained to what society’s version of a job looks like - my mental health really suffered working 8am-5pm in an office setting. With projects, probably branding + packaging combo. Least fav: the lack of consistency (slow/busy and making a lot of $ or none)

Do you utilise AI for ideas generating? - Li Ching

• I use AI to help me get an outline for blog posts and then I go back and rewrite to change the language and add in specific info that only I would know

Do I have to offer both Brand Identity Design and Brand Strategy so I can be a better designer? - Lourie Joy Tolentino

How to price branding / brand identity services in a package with website design? - Kim Nellans

How do you know if your original idea is actually original and not being used somewhere else? - Mars Caruso