FAQs
- What should the customer know about your pricing (e.g., discounts, fees)?
The first thing is to consider the clients budget, and work within it. That being said, I use a set standard for each feature or module that a client may want. This is based on industry standards researched by AIGA, the Arts Guild and similar organizations. This way I am thoroughly informed and can charge competitively. This actually gives me more flexibility to get things done for clients that may otherwise get hung up. I also block out time on my calendar in order to estimate the time required I use standard contracts with fair terms. Most clients make a deposit of one-half or one-third and pay the remainder on delivery. Details and milestones are worked out of course on an individual basis.
- What is your typical process for working with a new customer?
Usually, when meeting with a new client, I try to find out what they want to achieve within a certain time frame. I might ask, "what tangible results do you want to see in six months?" You would be surprised how well this focuses the conversation. It's a fairly non-technical conversation with a note pad. Who will see it? How old are they? What do you want them to do? What's in it for them? One of the most difficult things that small businesses have to do is deal with the Web. Art and technology can be very confusing sometimes. I make a special effort with all my clients to SHOW how we are getting to our goal. I don't just talk about it. I work in such a way that the stages of development are clear and can easily be viewed by the client. I build for change. Things are supposed to be adjusted and improved as we go along, without causing progress to come to a screeching halt. The client is completely read-in and is made part of the process.
- What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have a Bachelor of Art from Florida State University where my internship was to work in the Art Department at State Department of Agriculture, Marketing Division. That quickly turned into a job. Our office was so broke we didn't even have computers; we had to everything by hand the old fashioned way. I got really good at this. I then studied at the Macintosh Learning Center in New York City and started working for Medical Economics, who publishes the Physicians Desk Reference. As a Designer, I became the "person who can communicate with the Editorial Department". Together we won two Neal Awards for Exceptional Design, Single Best Article and Single Best Edition. After this I went on a whirlwind tour of consultancy work for a host of major Manhattan companies, a real who's-who: Estée Lauder, Macys, Saks Fifth Avenue, Grand Central Terminal, KPMG, Cisco Systems, Barclays, Land Rover International. As a result, mostly or real-world professional experience, I have pretty much become an expert at Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and much more. Now my learning and work is primarily online. HTML5, Bootstrap, CSS3, SASS, JavaScript, Angular, Node, Meteor. I am immersed in a sea of the code responsible for making your projects work.