Talent Is Not Enough: Business Secrets for Designers

by Shel Perkins

The best business guide for design professionals just got better! This revised and expanded second edition includes everything designers need--besides talent--to turn their artistic success into business success. You'll find information on key issues facing designers from freelancing to managing established design firms. A strong visual focus and to-the-point text take the fear factor out of learning about thorny business realities like staffing, marketing, bookkeeping, intellectual property, and more. These smart business practices are essential to success in graphic, Web, and industrial design. Here are just a few of the things you'll learn: - How to get on the right career path - The best way to determine pricing - How to avoid common legal pitfalls - How to manage large projects - The secrets of efficient design teams - How to forecast your workload and finances Talent Is Not Enough provides a big-picture context for these and other challenges and shares practical, real-world advice. Since its first publication, the book has become an essential resource for both students and working professionals in these areas and more: - Design planning and strategy - Corporate identity development - Publication and editorial design - Brand identity and packaging design - Advertising and promotion design - Marketing communications - Environmental design - Industrial design - Motion graphics - Interaction design - Information design

"It is rare to find one individual with such a wide range of knowledge in the design-related fields. And, because of his experience as a designer, Shel brings a sensitivity and understanding to administrative issues while still respecting the artistic side of our industry." Frank Maddocks, President, Maddocks & Company "Now that design skills have become a commodity, you need business skills to focus them. Shel has written a crackerjack book that will be on the shelf of every ambitious designer." Marty Neumeier, author of Zag and The Brand Gap

Genres: Design, Business, Creative, Nonfiction, Productivity, Art Design

457 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2005

Reviews

[Tatiana Jimenez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be a bit biased because I read this book as a required text for a class taught by the book's author, but I found this to be an incredibly helpful resource. From tax preparation to copyright infringement, Shel Perkins has a wealth of knowledge that he generously shares in this easily digestible book about how to be a successful business person in the world of creative professions. I highly recommend this book for designers. I'm sure I'll be hanging on to this text for a while.

[Tim Hogan]

Great foundation for small business owners in the creative field.

[Armeen Basavaraju · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago, but it’s amazingly useful. The writer gives many suggestions on how to charge for creative work. He explains each method with pros and cons. It’s a very educational book which shows how many costs we typically overlook. It also has excellent recommendations on how to protect your time and your work, and ways to safeguard the designer’s earnings on projects.

Would highly recommend to any self-employed creative or tech worker.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books that I said I would read back in college when the first edition came out. I never read this book because I thought the talent was enough, and I brushed it off. Now that I am out of school and dealing with the difficulties of freelancing. I wish I read this book sooner. Shel Perkin's is not the first author to tackle the business side of being a freelancer, but he is one of the most thorough.

this book is broken down into four main sections.

- The first section, career options gives you an idea of how to make a living out of being a creative professional.

- The second section is about becoming a small business. This section helped me because I did not understand the small business process well enough.

- The third section is about intellectual property rights. This book is not an end-all solution to legal problems. However, this book lays out a lot of interesting aspects of intellectual property rights and gives you samples on how to format things. Although the driest. This chapter was the most beneficial to me. There are also links for further reading.

- The last section I found the least helpful ( because it does not apply to me at this time), it did, however, give me an overview of how large firms work. So the information is still worth it.

I would love to see more bonus chapters coming out of this book. I think all too often designers, including myself, forgot that it takes more than our creative process to thrive. This book helps us do just that.

[Doug Cheever · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book already has some of the great names in design giving it 5 stars, so who am I to be any different.

In short, every designer should have this book. As an AIGA member, which is a professional group for designers, and board member I can say that this is the resource for anyone planning a professional development workshop or speaker engagement for designers.

FYI, there's also a new addition as well as chapter updates on Shel's site. If you've met the man, or heard him speak you get a sense of how brilliant he is, but you really have to read this book to appreciate how well he can explain the landscape of the design business. There's even a chapter on in-house designers...the most overlooked group of creatives. Nuf said.

[Shanti · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should have been text in my design department. So many designers leave school without knowing a lick about how to run a business for themselves or even work within one. We are given the tools and guidance for space management, but few of us are advised how to make money and sustain ourselves in the industry.

Talent is Not Enough offers great advice, line after line and I highly recommend this to anyone in the creative industry who freelances or manages a small firm.

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book I'm not going to read all the way through. If you use the table of contents and the index it is quite helpful. It has all that "business" kind of stuff in it - pricing work, self-employment insurance, which is what I was interested in. With 600 pages, I think you will be able to get your questions answered.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent detail and well-organized, useful information. This book is a great reference for both freelancers and small-business owners. It's thorough and thoughtful, which is always nice when one is just starting out.

[Erin Glaberson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for new college graduates. It reiterates everything I learned in my specialized business for designers class in college. It's great for people who have not had a class about business or who want to start their own design business.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of valuable information for folks who want to be freelance designers. There's always something you think you know about but don't really know. Get this book and stay out of trouble.

[Sara McAllister · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read with practical advice for designers, particularly those wanting to set up shop. As a design note, the outer margins were annoyingly wide.

[Aals]

AWESOME! This book helped me and is helping me restructure some things within my business! A MUST READ for freelancers, designers, CEOs, Project Managers, etc.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, basic information on running a profitable creative business.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has solid advice on navigating the complexities of entrepreneurship as a designer. There wasn’t all that much if any, regarding other kinds of employment in design

[Clint WalkingStick ᎤᏓᎸᏄᏍᏘ · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to run a creative business, you MUST read this book.

[Jesse Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most practical guide to the operations aspect of the inner-workings of businesses ever written. Very very useful if you're running your own design practice or are planning to.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super helpful!

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great resource for freelance artists looking to go into business for themselves.

[Erika Lucivero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for Americans, not so much Canadians