How to find the first clients?
This is one of the most popular questions that beginners ask me. And this question is absolutely logical, because it cared for me when I was just beginning my professional career, living in a dormitory, without a MacBook, special education and almost nothing in the design.
In this article, I will share my personal experience only and will not collect fragments of information from popular design blogs, whose materials often have little relation to the real world.
I will not call my experience objective and I do not think that everyone can apply it. I did not set myself such a task. My goal is to tell you honestly how I got the first customers who became the foundation for further development in the food industry.
First projects
I try to answer all the questions that designers ask me on social networks. And recently there was the following dialogue:
It seemed to me that every designer in his or her own blood had to invent his or her own tasks and implement them in a freestyle (even if they were detached from the real world). But it turned out that not everyone has it. Therefore, I will tell you more about it.
I started my way in design, copying popular concepts. Rather, trying to copy, as the quality of my work left much to be desired. After that, I started to invent my own tasks, but still regularly peeked at other people's works, trying to reproduce various visual effects. (I didn't realize at the time that the essence of the designer's work was different.)
Thus, in practice, I tried to understand a new business for myself. I didn't understand the essence of the projects I was copying, but nevertheless, I was getting my hands on the visual part of our work.
After making another project, I compared it to popular concepts and tried to understand why my works look worse. And gradually I began to understand the importance of correctly selected indents, colors, contrasts, logic of elements arrangement and many other things. I liked the design of services better, so among my projects was a mail client, notes, task lists, and CRM-systems.
I published all the works on Behance, despite their quality. I don't know why, but I wasn't afraid of negative criticism and I wasn't ashamed. Perhaps because I could not adequately assess my level and considered it worthy.
I see that many designers are ashamed to put their work on display and ask for feedback. Sadly, because without it they will grow much slower. If at all there will be.
Any initiative develops through iterative improvements. In other words, evolving. This is the way the world works: you do something, you get feedback from the real world, you draw conclusions, and you try again. Whoever is able to go through this cycle many times will be rewarded.
First sentences
As time went by, I practiced regularly, removed old works, replaced them with new ones, and at some point began to receive offers. No magic or secret advice. I just evolved in design for months, showing it to the world, and at some point, he started to answer me.
The biggest project at the time was the automation service for Swiss hospitals. This project was from Russia, but since it was developed abroad, I had to communicate mainly in English, although I didn't have a deep knowledge of the language.
Despite my lack of experience, I was able to earn a record 50,000 rubles per month and went to Spain to rest. (A few years later, I managed to earn the same amount in 4 hours.)
At the time, I didn't realize what type of projects I was publishing in my portfolio, and that's the type of customer I would get. Looking back, I can see that this is exactly what happened. Since I have designed services, I still do them today, which I like much more than creative concepts. Everyone has their own.
That doesn't mean you have to follow my path, either. Choose the theme you like better and practice in it. If you don't know what you like better, experiment.
Do not be guided by trends. You can prove yourself in any field, so start working on the one you like best. Life will become much more pleasant, believe me.
Continuation in the second part ...
