Hi Water, welcome to the forum. Mostly if someone wants to find a designer they just go outside and throw a stick. It's bound to hit a graphic designer. [img]/emoticons/cool.gif[/img]



'You don't like your job, you don't strike. You go in every day and do it really half-assed. That's the American way.' H. J. Simpson

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAaaaaaaaaa.....


...*sigh*...



I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.

Douglas Adams

Wow.
I'm stunned at the question.
I'm just hoping I'm misunderstanding it.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

ROFLMAO at 'go outside and throw a stick'!!! You'd probably end up with a 'great' design in MS Publisher!

So I need to get a LOT BIGGER STICK... No phallic reference intended... Seriously though – I went to this luncheon were this guy from Crispin Porter + Bogusky talked about all of this great work they do for all of there fabulous clients like MINI, IKEA, Molson beer etc, etc. Just how on earth do these big advertising agencies get these clients? I hadn’t even heard of this agency until this luncheon.



[img]/emoticons/blink.gif[/img]

Jajajajajajaja!!! </font> </font>

That's good! Whew!!! Whoa! Sorry, sorry, sorry... Ho! Just let me catch my breath a minute...

Whew! Okay, okay, okay... Qualified Design Buyers... With Money! Jajajajaja! Lordy, Lordy... Woo! Hoo! Sorry, again. Really, really sorry. I'm not making fun of you. It's the industry, Jake... It's just Chinatown.

Now. What was the question?

Oh yeah, the big agencies get the big gigs for two reasons...

Number One! They're BIG! They're Big Time. They're the top o' the heap!

Number Two! They have the Cahones to go out and get the Big Dogs. They Demo them - They Sell 'em. They Rope 'em in...

They do not hang around here, that's for pancaking sure!!!

{obviously there are exceptions to the rule - as always. There will be someone with a shaky self-esteem that feels that they have to argue the point and mention the one time things turned out differently - usually for some friend who can't be reached in Botswana. The Point Is that the Big Guns are out there winning the awards, being written up in the trades and drawing blood to get those gigs... If you want 'em - Just Do It!}

You don't need no stinkin' badges!

Look! A stick!

[leaps]

Big companies with money probably have their own designers. Other companies probably use the yellow pages.



'Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.'
- Albert Einstein

Hi Water,

Big design agencies also struggle to find new work, but they have new biz departments scouring the press looking for an opportunity. Then they normally chase the design buyer/marketing dept of that company, not the other way round, and fight to get on the pitch list. New biz dept and the studio will often put an argument together after calling the prospective client, highlighting what they think are the good and bad points about the clients branding (I hate that word!), and send examples of their work that they think the client would be interested in.

Alt. the design buyer will put the job out to a proven number of agencies to pitch for the work.

It is less hassle for design buyers if they can find a design consultancy that covers more than one area of design (i.e. strategy, print, web, etc) otherwise it gets a bit complicated. Price is also a problem. But if you’re too cheap they think the quality of design might be cheap, and if your too expensive they use someone else.

Supermarkets/retail are normally consistent in using consultancy’s for regular work, but hard to break into.

Thanks MW Designer.

In doing some research into how to get good quality clients I've come to the same conclusions as you suggest. Our biggest problem has been not doing enough proactive looking and qualifying for clients.

I think the next big step is going to be hiring a sales person who can do some scouring for us...

Do winning design awards really help in getting clients? I know it's great for fellow designers to recognize your talents, but do clients REALLY care if you have a bunch of design awards?

Some graphic design reps, mostly in NY, supposedly help design studios get good projects. They tend to have some hefty fees to rep you however... Thoughts?

Make sure the sales rep you hire knows your business and the print industry. Also if they have a marketing background that can be extremely helpful to you. As long as you can both agree on the design of any collateral. LOL.

It's nice to have awards and they look great in your website and on the walls. Depends on the client as to whether they are impressed or not. The right kind of client will be. The others just don't care.

Your good bet as far as reps go is to get in REAL good with your printers. They are in a perfect position to aim work your way. If they like working with you, and you work with them instead of doing your own thing with file prep, they are very likely to steer work your way. Some of the agents'/brokers' finders fees can get hefty as you say. Usually as a courtesy, if the printer provides the reference you use him to do the work.

PrintDriver is a large format digital print dude. His advice/opinions may not apply to the 4color/offset/web world of printing

It's interesting that you suggest that we get in real good with our printers. I’ve been talking to some of our printers today about how we could do some type of partnering up... The business side of owning a studio can be a bit stressful.

Many jobs are captured by word of mouth, and you have to hit the pavement! , There is no way around finding work, buyers don't find you 99.9% of the time, you find them.

Coconut