Strange
Day

Rule #32689 – Do not itemize expenses for clients.
The exception, of course, is when a client demands it. But maybe twice in 10 years have I ever had clients ask for it.
You will have the urge to itemize. It seems like, if you itemize, you are able to justify the amount of money you are charging. But any time you are justifying anything, except that lipstick on your collar, it’s probably a terrible idea.
Itemizing is time-consuming and will cause trouble. Clients will start second guessing you and trying to “optimize” their bill by cutting what they feel are unnecessary expenses. (Of course, you shouldn’t be quoting unnecessary expenses anyway). One of my clients cut back on the proofing they did to save on the 50 cents per laser print or $5 a PDF. I made the mistake of rattling off a list of expenses to a client that they may not have considered. While I can understand logically why they were hurt at the thought that talking to them was a drain on my resources (read: time), I was surprised when they literally threw a fit.
And as a designer, I cannot survive by strictly billing hourly or per item. The value always has to come in somewhere. If your client doesn’t have the opportunity to nitpick a bill, it instills a much greater sense of value, as opposed to product.
So simply said… don’t do it!
The flip side, of course, is that clients actually seem to prefer the simpler, unitemized bill. They’re coming to me because they either can’t or don’t want to do the work. By spelling out every step you take, most clients feel overburdened. It much more impressive sounding as well, to give them a single number, and say “it includes EVERYTHING!”. And when it comes time to bill, its cut and dry — there’s just a single number that both sides already agreed upon.
Yeah… don’t itemize.

Newsletters are an “easy” way to make money. You charge a set price per page, and hopefully get a cut of the printing. So if you do a 12 page newsletter for $60/page, you’ve already made $720. And a newsletter that size doesn’t likely take more than 2 business days. Do five or six of those a month and you could live comfortably. And keep in mind many newsletters are longer, and cost more per page. They’re easy to do, because after he first couple issues, pretty much all the design work is done, and you are just dropping the contents into templates.
So I wouldn’t mind getting some newsletter jobs up front.
Today’s thoughts on non-profits:

• Register with vendor bank, (yeah… i know i did it already, but I was listing everything that came to mind)
• Find associations and organizations with missions the same as or similar to existing clients, (read: religion and AIDS)
• Find listings of local non-profits
• Find upcoming events and marches on the Mall. Then figure out what organizations would likely attend and approach them with help for promotional items. (Pins, flyers, signs, banners, t-shirts)
• Find ethnic organizations. Embassies?
• Look into government newsletters/newspapers
• Look into Methodist organizations
• Don’t bug these people when they’re actually promoting themselves… ie. festival booths and such

Some existing contact thingys:

• contact RB at N about finally doing the damn website
• Check Old Company’s client list. public info is public info.
• Ask R at TA where he gets ideas for new clients
• Find out what happened with that hotel that was re-doing their identity
• Ask landlord if they’re interested in doing a seasonal newsletter. Maybe work in trade for partial rent.
• i really dont want to… but consider that direct mail campaign company
• check on the A newspaper and see if they ever found a permanent designer
• doubtful, but ask BP about doing their newsletter in trade.

And some miscellaneous new client stuff:

• get in touch with L’s contact
• contact publication and communications offices at universities — RIT, GWU, AU, Georgetown
• Work on script for phone solicitations
• Put up large blank sheet of paper on wall where I can write ideas for new clients
• Research local music labels
• Expand the list of printers who know I’m on my own. I may need their help, an occasional notepad or free lunch never hurts, and they may be able to offer jobs
• research communications offices at Unions — AFL-CIO, Teamsters, etc).

D annoys me. Well, the whole company really, cause it takes on a life of it’s own.
So I ask J, if she can give me the names of some contacts at the ad agencies she works with. Since, of course, you know, Old Company won’t be marketing design services to them.
But J says no, because Old Company is still accepting design jobs.
First off, are they accepting them or will they be accepting them. Cause if they ARE accepting them, then where is the work going? D and JG are both constantly busy and neither are exactly stellar designers. So are they continuing to do it themselves, in a manner which will yield the same results… namely, the client never coming back for a second job. Are they hiring an outside designer who is not me? If so… why?
But I think it is more of a matter of they WILL accept design jobs. Which I find frankly MORE offensive. The idea of hoarding something that you are not using, just cause it is of some potential value to you, even if you don’t plan to exploit it. (Trust me… after seven years of watching these salespeople–they don’t plan to exploit it). Whereas it would be a highly valuable resource to me that I would actively exploit to the fullest degree.
When I left there, they literally gave me everything I asked for. Books, clients… anything. I turned down some stuff cause I knew they would need it.
The question is… do I go on my own to these ad agencies and try to get in. Or do I offer Old Company a commission, just for the name of a contact? I think I will wait till my strategy session tomorrow, when I think more in depth about this.

I cannot avoid it any longer. Today, despite adding another four line items, I finished up the marketing list for the “old things”, meaning anything I already had experience with. All the old clients. Old printers. Former co-workers. Family. Friends. Contacts. Getting collateral and a website.
I also submitted my name to a vendor bank for a association of associations in this area. It wasn’t incredibly full or vendors… so if it is at all popular, I stand a better chance. I think this is the list that my old boss referred to. He didn’t know how we ended up on there, but we kept getting jobs from there.
Now I need to start marketing to new people and things. New ways. I really need to sit down and just spend some time thinking about how to market, who to market, and all that shit. If I just keep running and doing work, and interacting… I come up with the same ideas as everyone else. But when I put a little brain sweat into it… I come up with some good shit.

There’s design ignorance and then there’s outright contempt for design. Someone in the juror’s office no doubt felt that it would be improper to go so far as even make their badges legible, ’cause it would appear as they were concerned with something other than justice. Cause frankly, this top part of the badge is the least screwed-up portion of the Jury Summons in DC.
I’m seriously considering redoing the Jury Summons in my own time, just to see what I can do.

Yay! Replacement phone arrived.
*grumble$75*grumble*fuckingtaxidriver*grumble*shovethatoldphonesomewherewarm*grumble*

List from when I was trying to come up with names:
chupa design – we suck and we know it
69Design – putting you in the right position
inbred design – we’ll treat you like family
Optical Industries
The Furnace
Papercut
State Design
Ligature
Exchange Street Design
DesignBitch.com
MediaHussy
Design Tease
Tease
TypeSlut
Pineapple Design
The Design factory
Washington Design Factory
Design Sweatshop
Hero Design Group
emanon
akima
clear
spot color
inspire(d)

DONE – Send thanks to D
DONE – promote the company to family and friends
DONE – send letter to existing clients
– mention referrals appreciated
send letter to old clients
follow up with emails
DONE – ask d
ask j for referrals
contact School
DONE – contact fax-guy
contact web-guy
DONE – contact j g
contact P
contact M
contact J
contact D
contact E

Yes, I’m still alive.
My last few days at Old Company were busy, finishing projects, starting some last minute ones, cleaning out my office, and teaching people to do what I do. I did more in that last week than I had for the previous 3 months.
I finished work at 6:30 PM on a thursday, and flew out of DC at 4:30 AM on Friday. Family thing in Texas. I actually took a job with me, because it couldn’t wait.
Got back from that on Tuesday evening. Spent Wednesday stocking up and setting up. Picked up most of my identity package from the printer. They do good work, but you have to keep an eye one them. They didn’t do enough business cards, and the envelopes weren’t ready. Spent the evening setting up mysa daaaeaaaskfg gggggggggaggnggdg 78wo8r8k888s88p8a888c8e8888888
888888888880
Sorry about that… danger of working in a home with a cat who thinks the keyboard is her bed.
… desk and workspace.
Served Jury duty and Thursday and Monday. In between, I started up a marketing list, with all my ideas of what and how to market. I check things off and add them as necessary.
Turns out the people i my court case settled. Tuesday I did a bit more marketing. The last 2 days I’ve had some work to do, and marketing as possible.
Marketing List and stuff to come…

I spent the morning at the Department of Consumer & Regulatory Affairs, over on N. Capital Street. Interesting system they have there. “Have a seat, and we’ll talk amongst ourselves and see if we can figure out what you want”. If half the people coming in there weren’t regulars, they would have been in trouble.
Only after waiting for an hour and finally getting my application looked at did they tell me I basically needed a permission slip from the owner of my building. Why on earth does the main application ask you if your landlord approves and what is their contact info, if they are just going to make you fill out a whole separate form on the subject.
So… four cab rides later, all I know is that I should call back in 3 to 5 business days to see if they approved my application.
Go on… ask me if I give a shit wether they turn me down.
I haven’t been in that area before. The area between N. Capitol and 10th, and F and L. It’s pretty run down in some parts… but oh do I want to go over there with a camera. The place has some amazing character. North Capitol Street alone has an amazing view towards the Capitol.
I inquired about an old thermal fax machine that has been floating around work for years, and “D” gave it to me. Not bad. Not a great machine… but it works. And until it runs through the 8 rolls of paper, it’s all good.

As sent out on Wednesday:
This letter is to inform you that as of June 11, 2004, “Old Company” will no longer be actively marketing graphic design services. While we are always happy to help you with any of your marketing and promotional needs, we have chosen to focus on the promotional product aspect of our business. We feel this will allow us to use our resources to their best potential.
However, as of the 14th of June, “P” will be independently providing the same graphic design services that “Old Company” has been offering. “P” has worked as a graphic designer at “Old Company” for more than six years, and been involved in most of your projects. He will continue to work from the downtown Washington, DC area.
We hope that if you choose to continue working with “P” for your design needs, this will provide as seamless a transition as possible. “Old Company” will continue to be available to work with you on all of your promotional product projects.
Should you have any questions about this change, feel free to contact “D” at XXX or “P” at XXX. We both look forward to working with you in the future.
Sincerely,
*sig* *sig*
“D” “P”

Two days ago I wrote up the letter to send out to Old Company clients who I want to take with me. I was amazed at how eloquent and professional it sounded. I’ll put up a copy here as soon as I remember to grab it from work. D approved it with no changes. So yesterday I printed up copies, had us both sign them, and sent them out. Guess I’m screwed now.
Cell phone is still a thing of beauty, though no one has actually called me yet. I’m sure that the honeymoon will end soon ’nuff.
My official last day is next Thursday.
Going to the DC zoning office tomorrow. I may or may not need a permit to work from my apartment. No one on the phone really knows. “Betty” told me to just come in prepared to apply for a permit, and someone will probably kick me out if I don’t need one. They open at 8:30 AM, and I will do my damndest to be there by 8:35.
After that, the only legalities have to do with registering with tax agencies. Waiting for advice from my advisor/friends-mom. If I don’t hear from here by tomorrow, I’m going to switch to someone else. There’s still Gretchen’s husband.
I was hoping all these clients would hold off on their regular jobs until after next week, so I could have some initial work. But one of them came in today. I sat there at my desk, saying ‘fuck’ over and again. It was the cheapest of the regular jobs though. And I know this particular client has more work coming up for conferences.
D stuck a joke in my mailbox today. A fax we received from someone trying to sell us something. Obviously a freelancer. It was full of misspellings and bad language. It didn’t look bad… It didn’t look like anything at all. The cover letter was just a blank sheet with some typing on it. The other sheets were obviously done in PowerPoint or some clipart program. D’s idea was that I would offer to help them out, since it was an easy sale to point out what they could improve. I think I may actually do it though. As soon as I get my letterhead package back from the printer, I have one or two companies I know with horrendous designs that I may just drop a letter to.
Did I mention that my letterhead was out to the printer? I came up with a design on Monday, and dropped it off on Tuesday. Costing me about $500 for the package. I got a thousand of everything. The printers are nice guys… been working with them for years. Said they would see if they could lower it anymore.
I think my cat is gonna get sick of me being home all the time.

My cellphone arrived yesterday. A Motorola v300. It’s beautifully put together. Feels much more substantial than the older model I played with at the T-Mobile store. It charged up fairly easy. Came with the typically impossible to digest instruction book, which was promptly forgotten about. Activation simply involved inserting the SIM card, turning it on, and waiting 30 seconds. I’ve had excellent reception everywhere so far, except the subway. (Which is to be expected… Verizon has a monopoly on cell access in the subway, and doesn’t like to share).
I need to write the letter D wanted to send to the clients concerning the transfer of authority/jobs. With about a week and a half left, I can’t afford to wait for him to write it. He’ll no doubt want to edit it. If he fucks it up too much and refuses to reason, I’ll just write a letter on my own.
Need to work on a logo this weekend too. Which kind of means deciding on a name. I think The Design Works is ruled out. It got the least response of the people i polled. And its pretty blatantly marketing-ish, or at the least cheesy. You could replace “design” with “coffee”, and have as interesting a name. Meanwhile, people seem to love or hate The Design Foundry. Several people, presumably those who hate the Foundry name, say they like Hero, but none of them are willing or able to tell me why.
J #1 tells me he may have some shit work for me. Shit work is better than no work. And J is a nice, successful guy. Printers L and H have offered to hook me up with jobs as well. (Which is funny since they never hooked up the company I was working for, where I met them). L already gave me one name. I’d bet printers R and C have some work as well. I have one or two personal freelance contacts as well, who I will let know I am available full-time. And I am hoping J #2 will be able to provide me some contacts in an ad agency or two. And all that is without an cold sales work.

I’ve come up with at least 3 names I would be willing to use:
(The) Design Foundry
The Design Works
Hero Design Group
Explanations follow, (if you’re interested).
Design Foundry was originally Design Factory or Washington Design Factory. Someone mentioned that Washington Design Factory reminded them of Burlington Coat Factory. And Design Factory is awful close to the well known Logo Factory. So Factory became Foundry, which was great, because it even better expressed the gritty-hard-work feeling I wanted, and which is in my background. (I grew up 2 blocks from a ball-bearing foundry). Plus…. it sounds really cool to me.
The Design Works sorta just popped into my head, but it has all kinds of good connotations. It’s also got the factory idea, as well as the idea that everything about design is offered… “The Works”. And, slightly marketing-ish… it can be read as the sentence “Design works.”.
Hero Design Group was my ode to indirect names, (a la Starbucks). The ‘design group’ is a somewhat common name extension in this field, blatantly lifted from Serif Design Group and others, to make yourself sound a bit bigger. Hero is a good, short, powerful word. All positive connotations. Goes well with some of my interests. And I think it has a lot of marketing possibilities, (a la “We want to be your hero”)
Meanwhile… I have finally talked to my boss about my plans. It went over remarkably well, considering the audience. And it was kind of important, as most everything else hinged on the outcome.
The announcement that I was going into business for myself was greeted with quiet, and presumably suppressed doubt. Maybe he was sincerely gracious… he certainly never suppressed anything I thought inappropriate before. How like me.
There was also an offer of advice.
He easily agreed to letting me take two repeating projects I have been doing for years. And while I didn’t ‘ask’ to take other clients, we did talk about it. I had no intention of asking, but it cannot hurt to make it known. Likewise, when he asked for a list of clients I wished to take with me, I see no reason not to oblige. If it’s less stressful to give them to me, then why not.
It’s very difficult in there, sometimes. There are times where he bounces around with a child’s joy and energy. There are times where you can see him trying every way he knows how to fight off everything closing in around him. And there are times when he seems too worn out — too tired — to even raise his eyelids. It’s very hard to see someone’s dream — someone’s very nature — to be wearing down on them so harshly, after so long.