Graphic design is a great way to make money - IF you have the right tools, the skills, and the knowledge to use them. Otherwise, making money as a graphic designer could remain a distant dream.
But, don’t worry, we’ll get you started with what you need.
Here's a step-by-step process of how to design for a client and sell it online.
That’s not all. Stay with me till the end, because I’ll share with you why graphic designers are struggling to earn a consistent income and how to overcome the challenge.
How To Design Graphic Design For Your Client
If you’ve been keeping up with us, you’d know that we’ve been saying it forever now - “You don’t need to be a pro to create stunning designs”.
Forget the layers, masks, grids, and all the complicated Photoshop and Illustrator jargon.
In this section, you’ll learn how to create a design template from scratch. Like a PRO!
For this tutorial, I’m going to use Picmaker, a DIY design platform that lets you create world-class designs in minutes.
If you are creative enough to put your ideas on screen, this tool is a blessing.l
Sign up or sign in to Picmaker using your credentials.
This is the Picmaker dashboard with which you can get started.
All the design elements on this page are meticulously arranged so it's really easy to use.
Let’s assume you want to create a YouTube thumbnail template for a client who’s a fitness and martial arts expert. We will create a design template that your client could use by just replacing the text and images.
Click on the ‘create’ button on the right side.
You’ll notice a lot of design categories crafted to serve all your design needs.
Go ahead and choose YouTube thumbnail in this list.
You can either start from scratch or explore tons of templates tailored by our professional graphic designers.
First of all, let’s start with the background color.
Click on the slide.
You’ll notice a color box at the top.
Click on it.
You can either choose from the predefined color palettes or choose a color of your choice.
Remember that the text on the YouTube thumbnail is an important component that drives clicks.
Like we said before, the client is a fitness and martial artist.
In this case, a bold font style is ideal because it gels well with the martial arts and fitness theme..
Click on “Text” in the sidebar and select “heading”.
At the top, you can change the font family.
Montserrat Black and Medium is the best font for this category because it helps us convey what we wanted to do.
Let’s mix these two font styles with our creativity.
I’m going to add “Self defense tips” but rather than giving a monotonous look, I’m going to split this sentence into 3 lines. That helps deliver the core message more powerfully. Moreover, it is easy to read than read it one long sentence.
Choose Montserrat Black for the first and last word, Montserrat medium for the word “defense”.
Align the text as you wish.
Now let’s add a creative twist to emphasize the word “defense”.
Let’s click on “objects” and select “shapes”.
And now, we select the square frame.
You can adjust the frame so as to hold the text in the middle.
Choose the frame color by clicking the color box at the top.
Let’s build more context to the thumbnail by adding more text.
I’m going to duplicate the text in Monserrate medium, scale it down, and customize the text.
To spice it up, use illustrations.
A punching hand clip art would be attractive to this thumbnail.
We’re done with the textual part of our design
Let’s move on to the next important part in a thumbnail - Images.
Use the search bar in the photos section on Picmaker’s left-hand menubar to find a relevant image.
This one is a good image, and we’ll use this. Remember that if you’ve got an awesome image that you’d like to use, use the ‘Upload’ button at the bottom to import it.
You can use the FREE background remover feature in Picmaker to cut out the subject from the image.
Scale-up and down the image to fit it into the thumbnail.
Now the template is ready.
All you need to do is just share this editable template with the client.
Click on the share button at the top right.
Select the drop-down at the bottom and choose “Use as template”.
Copy the link and send it to your client.
Once your client clicks on the link, they will be directed to this personalized page with the design title and your name.
By clicking the “Edit as template” button, they can use the template and replace the elements as required.
Remember that your clients would need a Picmaker login to access this design.
Now that we know how to design a youtube thumbnail template from scratch, let’s move on to the next section of this video.
3 Best Websites to sell your designs
Many designers create awesome designs, but they are not sure how to showcase and sell their work.
If you are one of them, this section is for you.
Here are the best online platforms to find clients and sell your designs at reasonable prices.
1.Fiverr
Fiverr is one of the top marketplaces that connects freelancers and their potential clients.
Let’s start with the pros of Fiverr.
- You can work on myriad projects. The platform is not just limited to logo designs or posters.
- You can access to clients from different verticals.
- And thirdly, Fiverr is pretty straightforward with a short learning curve.
Now that you know the pros of Fiverr, let’s dive into the cons.
- If you are a beginner, you need to undercut yourself. This is not just for Fiverr. It applies to all freelancing websites. Fiverr has its name for a reason. Most gigs start as low as $5. So, be ready to take on quick gigs with fast turnarounds. They help you gain exposure.
- Unless your profile is loaded with positive reviews, finishing clients on Fiverr is an uphill struggle.
2. 99designs
99designs is another platform to showcase your designs and get hired to work as a freelance designer.
Just like Fiverr let’s break its pros and cons down.
- Unlike Fiverr, 99designs is professional in pricing. This is one of the top reasons why the platform has a large pool of designers.
- Just like Fiverr, it is really easy to use. You don’t have a long learning curve to get going on 99designs.
- The platform is really open - You can sell your designs to anybody across the globe.
Let’s take a look at the cons.
- If you do not communicate well, you may find it hard to attract international clients.
- The platform maintains a strict money-back guarantee. When your design doesn’t satisfy your client, you needs to return the money to the client.
3.Upwork
Upwork is one of the go-to websites for freelance designers.
It has its own pros and cons. So let’s break it one by one.
- Upwork is similar to Fiverr when it comes to fishing clients. However, you can get promising referrals if you also have a good client base. So, make sure that you get all the reviews in before you pitch your services to other clients.
- The platform has positioned itself as a luxury freelance job site. So you can pitch your design work at high rates as long as you believe in your work.
When it comes to cons,
- Upwork charges you a client relationship fee. They call it as lifetime billings per client relationship. It can range from 5% to 20%, and it depends on your earnings. So, make sure you know what your fee is.
- Just like the other platforms, it is challenging to get your first client.
5 Best practices for consistent income from graphic designing
Every online freelance platform has its own pros and cons.
Some graphic designers climb up to the pros and others slip through the cons.
So here is the list of best practices that you need to follow to earn consistent income as a graphic designer.
- A professional profile attracts more clients. Use your real picture to improve trustworthiness.
- Your profile description should be precise and mind-blowing. There are millions of graphic designers out there in the freelancing space. One way to distinguish yourself is through your description. Explain what designs you specialize in. Or, maybe you could narrate your designing process, and how you iterate them.
- Do your research and find the keywords related to your niche. If you are a pro logo designer, add “logo designer” in your description. It is a smart way to get found on platforms where there are tons of logo designers.
- Some people are not interested in reading descriptions. Share your client testimonials to appeal to them. Testimonials act as a social proof of your work.
- People tend to watch videos rather than read your profile. If a platform allows you to upload your video, leverage the feature to significantly increase your visibility.
3 Tips to stay on top of graphic design trends
Graphic design is an ever-evolving industry.
It is difficult to keep up your phase with the trends in order to produce good work.
Fret not! Here are the tips to stay up-to-date.
- Sign up to design newsletters and blogs. It helps to manage and get to know the trendy topics from a centralised location. This is the reason why emails are not dead in the era of text messaging. Email is not just a communication medium anymore. It is a powerful tool to stay ahead of the curve. If you’ve already signed up for Picmaker, you don’t need to worry about finding the best influencers to subscribe. We keep our users up-to-date with our email communications.
- As you’re watching this video, somewhere a webinar is happening. Online events have become popular and available to everyone today. All you need to know is, what the webinar is about and when it is happening. Usually, you’ll get to know about these webinars on online groups.
- You need to take advantage of the online media. For instance, as Picmaker is in the graphic design industry, our latest templates are the gateway to learn new graphic design trends. Our professional graphic designers adopt the trend as it happens and offer the best designs. Next time you want to know what’s happening in the industry, just look at our templates. It may be gradients, grids, double exposure, or duotones. You’ll get to know all in one place.
It is obviously not easy to earn money online as a graphic designer. But, it is not too difficult too, provided you have the right approach.
Check out the below tutorials
