Graphic Designer & Illustrator

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. There's really nothing common. I have designed projects from logos, illustrations to web. I have a very well rounded background and can work in a lot of mediums, i.e. print, illustration and web design.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. To make sure they know what they are needing so that the designer they hire can hit the ground running, and that the client not only gets what they are wanting, but isn't spending money on time because they are unsure.

It's great for clients to write down on paper what they are looking for. Even if it's just ideas, this brings good information to the designer. If the client doesn't know what they want, the designer won't know either. This doesn't mean that the client needs to come up with the design solution. Good information creates good design.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. We're able to conceptualize and create work across many mediums such as illustration, photography, web design and graphic design. We are creative and professional.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Executing creative solutions for clients that stand out and help them professionally promote their businesses and services.

We love what we do.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. Can you design a website? Yes.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. Well, not necessarily just about me, but about all good designers. With crowdsourcing trying to take a major bite out of our industry, consumers need to understand why these are not the best places to go to for design. You don't get to work one on one with a designer, and if something goes wrong or needs changing down the road you have no recourse or contact with the original designer. Crowdsourcing cannot help clients with their total image.

It's in people's best interest to find a designer that they like, know, respect, can work with, and trust.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. My father, Donald Leo Malick, was a bird illustrator. He was always painting and worked for the Denver Museum of Natural History for many years, even doing a stint in Botswana for the museum.

Growing up around art, it was a natural progression for me to get into the field. I do paint, but my main design work is electronic—including my illustration.

I think that the computer is as comfortable to me as acrylics and brushes were to my dad. My sister is also a fantastic artist and the other sister also creative, went to the Culinary Institute of America to become a chef.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Always. I'm constantly tinkering with new technology, different languages for web, and new software.

While pure design and illustration generally won't change too much, web and mobile technologies will. They've already made leaps and bounds from the early days.

But even in illustration and design, there's always new ideas and techniques to be learned. I don't look at education as a drag. I love to learn. It's what makes my career interesting.

Q. If you have a complicated pricing system for your service, please give all the details here.

A. I don't consider it complicated, but I do charge differently for different types of work.

For pure print design I charge $30 per hour.

For web design I charge $35 per hour.

For web development and illustration, I charge $40 per hour.

I can provide a bid estimate to clients if they have a large project and need to know what their costs will be.

Q. If you were advising someone who wanted to get into your profession, what would you suggest?

A. I've had this discussion a lot with aspiring designers.

Some of what I say may sound harsh. It's not meant to be but there are a lot of realities to my line of work.

First, make sure you do have talent. I believe with the onslaught of computers and software, so many people try/tried to jump into this field thinking that it's easy and that the software will do the work. YOU NEED TALENT. The computer and software are only tools.

While being a designer is fun and wonderful, it's also a job and hard work. Don't jump into the field thinking that you'll be playing all day. Treat it like a job, be professional, and work hard.

Be open to learning. I hear too many designers say they don't want to learn this or that. Times are changing constantly and you need to be adaptable. I come from the days of hand design and paste up. I had to adapt and learn to work on the computer. I am constantly learning new technologies and skills. I jumped into the web field and now am thinking ahead for mobile. Even if you don't want to work in web or mobile full time, understanding the technology and how you can design for it will make you a better designer.