Becoming a graphic design artist is a beautiful merge between professionalism and artistry. There are a few key ways to excel as both a professional and an artist, and listed below are three lifelong tips for becoming a success story.

1. Free Time is Practice Time!

It’s critical to remember that each and every minute that is spent making designs will eventually affect each individual artist’s skills in the future. It’s like the butterfly effect. The free time spent today, tomorrow and next week will all have a profound effect on the skills developed next year. Once a professional career in graphic design has been obtained, the time normally spent “messing around” with a graphic design program now becomes a way to grow and sharpen skills. Many budding artists never use to learn their time effectively and will subsequently grow much slower than an eager learner. You also want to practice printing with several different printers to find the best. Try a print booklet first, because it is simple and every printer should be able to do one.

Important Questions to Ask Yourself:

“Have I learned how to do anything new today? Did I get better at something I already knew?”
“Can I do this faster? Should I do this slower? Is there any way to do this with less work without compromising the results?”

2. Find the Best Clients

The successful graphic design artists that I’ve met personally have all had one thing in common: they have excellent clients. It’s also important to realize that the definition of an “excellent client” varies from designer to designer. If a designer excels at creating logos, text and web layouts, the best client for him or her will be different than the best client for an artist that excels at 3D rendering, lighting effects and coloration.

Even if a designer is contracted to work with a specific companies, there are still lots of opportunities to increase profits with personal clients. There are an endless supply of businesses that will pay great money for new signs, web designs, flyers and advertisements. The designers that hone their skills and are hungry for more will most likely have the most productive year. On top of that, designers that do an exceptional job will often get noticed by bigger and better prospective companies and clients, feeding their hunger and making them a “self-fulfilled prophecy” of sorts.

Important Questions to Ask Yourself:

Could I be making more money with less work?
Do the orders of this client make sense for me to be completing? Do they challenge my skills or provide me with excellent profits, or is this just another “job?”
Does this client provide me with all of the information that I need to do my job?
Am I providing something of value to this client?
Am I developing an important business relationship with this client?

3. Have fun with it!

One of the saddest sights to see in any professional field is an exceptionally talented individual that hates their job. They live their lives in misery instead of turning their talents into a lifestyle that lives up to their unique identity.

This tip is both a helpful reminder and a warning. It’s very easy to fall into a robotic routine once work has been acquired, but the designers that love their line of work are the ones that will push beyond all expectations with a smile on their face.

About the author: Casey Haslem is a professional writer that enjoys hiking, the outdoors, and spending time with her family. She has expertise in business printing, which encompasses print booklet and much more.