So, starting out after college offers designers a variety of paths to travel.  Do they want to work for themselves, work for a company (In-house) or work for a small design firm.  Each has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages, but for me, I think I would like to continue working for a small design firm.  They handle all the hard work of getting the design jobs and you get a ton of experience doing the work.  This may not seem as glamorous as working for yourself on jobs you want, but it is a very good starting point in terms of gaining experience and you don’t have to deal with many of the horror’s of freelancing right away.  Right now my job at Media Infocus Studios is just like this.  I get a ton of experience doing all sorts of things and got some really great examples for my portfolio from working there.  I also have a job lined up after I graduate.

Some things I have noticed from watching my boss and his partner work, it is  VERY hard to turn a profit doing it freelance.  Hardware, software and other expenses really rack up over the year.  This is something I don’t want to attempt to manage myself.  I just don’t know how I would get enough work to sustain my standard of living.

Seeing as I won’t really be trying to attract clients to sustain a freelance business, I feel that my portfolio should focus on appealing to smaller design firms and small business owners.  This way I can keep my options open when I graduate and see who else would be willing to hire me.  This would also enable me to gain some more insight as to what others are paying for negotiation with my current job.

Also by keeping my portfolio aimed at this audience of small design firms and small business owners, I may get the occasional request for a side job, which would always be welcome.

This week I read a new chapter in "Designing A Digital Portfolio" about just these things.  What to include in my portfolio depending on what type of job I’m after.  I think I have a fairly good idea on what would be better for attracting the audience I want and that is a little different from some of the stuff I have done previously.   Small businesses may want something a bit more professional looking, more "businessy" haha.  So far I have done sites for friends or on subjects that I enjoy myself.  Designers who create their portfolio’s around themselves don’t aim for the audience I am aiming for.

Beyond this week’s readings, I started attempting to design a logo for myself.  Now Adrian Shaughnessy was right when he said that designer’s often have a difficult time designing for themselves in his book "How to be a graphic designer, without losing your soul."  This was true at least in my case.  I just couldn’t figure out what type of logo would encompass what I did the best (mainly web design).  I came up with a ton of different sketches and a bunch of comps in Illustrator…but I’m definitely going to need help in determining which is a good starting point.  My scanner was also packed away so I couldn’t scan my drawings into illustrator either which may have made some of the ideas a bit easier to transfer.