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  • Illustration
    • Graphic
    • Realism
  • About
    • Meet Alvalyn
  • Blog
    • Submissions Policy
  • Courses
    • Freelance Road Trip
    • Private Instruction
    • Color Theory & Digital Color Gear & Supplies
    • Elements of 3D Design Course Supply List
    • Fundamentals/Elements of 2D Design Supply List
    • Introduction to Graphic Design Supply List
  • Newsletter
  • Print Store
    • Learning Resources
    • Recommended Books & Gear
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Read more about the article 5 Outreach Steps For Winning Better Clients

Successful freelancing is a matter of finding the right clients in the right places for the right reasons. Every client you take…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading5 Outreach Steps For Winning Better Clients
Read more about the article Why Branding Is Crucial If You Want To Be Profitable

Creative freelancers invest time and effort carefully crafting brands for their clients. In regard to their own brands, they often come up…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingWhy Branding Is Crucial If You Want To Be Profitable
Read more about the article Leads and Referrals — What’s the Difference?

Early in my freelance journey I joined a business networking group through my chamber of commerce for the purpose of generating leads and…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingLeads and Referrals — What’s the Difference?
Read more about the article Should Freelancers List With Online Business Directories?

Q: As a freelancer, is it worth having business listings like Yelp and YP? A: It depends upon what directories you choose and…

  • Post category:advice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingShould Freelancers List With Online Business Directories?
Read more about the article How To Build An Effective Professional Network

When you're in business (and freelancers are in business), you build reputation through social and in-person networking. According to the Oxford Dictionary,…

  • Post category:business/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingHow To Build An Effective Professional Network
Read more about the article No-Money Marketing Tips for Creative Freelancers

We are always marketing. From the quality of our work to how we talk about ourselves, we are constantly sending messages into…

  • Post category:design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingNo-Money Marketing Tips for Creative Freelancers
Read more about the article What Kind Of Freelancer Are You?

Did  you know that there is more than one way to be a freelancer? Independent creatives — freelancers — can choose a variety…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingWhat Kind Of Freelancer Are You?
Read more about the article Self-Promotion Tips for Creative Freelancers

Self promotion is the practice of telling potential clients about what you do. With it you build your brand, engage prospects and…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing/professional practice
Continue ReadingSelf-Promotion Tips for Creative Freelancers
Read more about the article 7 Places to Find Freelance Clients Online and Offline

One of the huge differences between a salaried worker and a freelancer is that freelancers need to always be looking for work.…

  • Post category:business/design/design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue Reading7 Places to Find Freelance Clients Online and Offline
Read more about the article How to Build Your Prospecting Pipeline

As an independent creative, prospecting is a practical and necessary business activity that needs focused attention to. It requires work to maintain…

  • Post category:design practice/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing/marketing
Continue ReadingHow to Build Your Prospecting Pipeline

The commonly-given advice is: Do what you love and the money will follow. This is a great ideal, because no one wants to…

  • Post category:Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/freelancing
Continue ReadingPassion or Profit: Should You Start a Freelance Business?

In Part 1 of this article I focused on what a brand is, and the visual and conceptual components of an effective…

  • Post category:advice/branding/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design
Continue ReadingHow To Manage Your Brand
Read more about the article A Philosophy of Branding, Part 1
branding influence reputation typographic illustration in reds for Design and Conquer blog post

Of Influence, Time and Trust Branding is a popular discussion in my circles, and in the course of those conversations I gain…

  • Post category:branding/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingA Philosophy of Branding, Part 1

Email is the most effective means of reaching your customer base. It's targeted and direct, and recipients have opted in to your…

  • Post category:branding/marketing/tips
Continue ReadingThe Best Days to Send an Email Blast

Are you more concerned about aesthetics or your bottom line when contracting design services? Designers - good ones - always care about how…

  • Post category:aesthetics/design/marketing
Continue ReadingShould You Care About Aesthetics?

Start-up businesses and organizations tend to hold themselves back in terms of establishing reputation and solidity by under-budgeting and under-investing in the…

  • Post category:aesthetics/business/design/marketing
Continue ReadingThey’ll Notice

Whether you’re a business owner, executive or staff member, business cards continue to play a leading role at events, in business and…

  • Post category:branding/design/marketing
Continue ReadingOptimizing Your Business Card

Non-descript design that lacks distinction will do nothing to add distinction and value to an organization.

  • Post category:branding/design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingPositioning and Differentiating Your Business Through Design
Read more about the article 5 Stages of Customer Loyalty

To be meaningful, design needs to connect on five successive levels of significance…

  • Post category:branding/design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue Reading5 Stages of Customer Loyalty
Read more about the article The Importance of Knowing Why

How many people set goals and never achieve them? How many creatives start a business and then watch it fizzle out Are…

  • Post category:branding/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingThe Importance of Knowing Why

Does it matter if a design is good or not? Before we can deal with that question let's ask a more basic…

  • Post category:aesthetics/design/marketing
Continue ReadingDoes Good Design Matter?

Practically every business, organization and government has a banner. These are raised in the form of logos, motifs, icons and flags. We wear them and put them on our car bumpers and on signs and travel mugs. Every banner represents something—an identity, a set of values, a reputation, a history.

  • Post category:branding/design/History/ideas/inspiration
Continue ReadingHow We’re Remembered: Memorial Day 2011

To be promoted in our design-driven culture, a product must be packaged in such a way that it becomes meaningful to the person using it, so that they become an evangelist for it. This requires thoughtful planning and execution of a design strategy

  • Post category:aesthetics/branding/design/design strategy/marketing
Continue ReadingLoving It: Seduction, Satisfaction and Graphic Culture

How can you invest your product or service with “lovability” and create devotion in your customers? Here are some options: Love it…

  • Post category:branding/design/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/marketing
Continue ReadingCreating Lovability

Graphic design represents ideas and values. A design is not in itself the idea, but the expression of it. Design points to…

  • Post category:business/design/ideas/marketing
Continue ReadingDesign As Your Ambassador

Those who track and analyze cultural trends generally agree that our culture has become design-driven. It's no longer based on business or…

  • Post category:art/branding/design/ethics/ideas/innovation
Continue ReadingTrue Lies

My friend, Mary, was in a community theatre production of The Mikado, and was asked to write her bio for the printed program. This being…

  • Post category:branding/creativity/Freelance Road Trip — Business of Design/inspiration/marketing
Continue ReadingBeing Remarkable

Once you have made the investment in the creation of a company identity – a logo – how should you utilize that…

  • Post category:branding/client relations/design/marketing
Continue ReadingUsing Design to Build Awareness
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