 |
LaVon Lewis, Founder of Pencilworx Design Group, Shares 4 Tips For Graphic Designers To Grow Their Business
LaVon
Lewis founded Pencilworx Design Group when he was still in college. He
started out drawing posters and fliers on campus, but now Lewis helms a
company that has received over 40 industry awards. Lewis’ success
didn’t come overnight, and he wants to educate other designers and
entrepreneurs as to how they can turn their talents into a profitable
and prosperous career. –todd williams
Be Ambitious, But Realistic
“What I try to do is set a goal and put a deadline with it and make
sure we can achieve those deadlines in a certain amount of time. That’s
more important than setting wild ambitious goals that you’re never
going to meet. And when you do one thing well, you’re allowed to do
many things well over time.”
Understand Branding
“Branding adds credibility to any company. I hid the fact that I was so
young but I let the work speak for itself. [The] colors you give your
brand are important, so I chose the colors black and red — black is a
very serious color, red is a well-respected color and if you bring the
two together you have a very nice respectable looking company. I always
make sure I have sharp business cards and a sharp Web site. People
actually thought we had a 30–40 person staff when it was just me at the
time.”
Develop Good Customer Service Skills
“The mind of a graphic designer is that we’re artists; and we don’t
often think business. We don’t know how to talk to people and sometimes
we don’t even know how to market ourselves. Dress professionally and
present yourself professionally … A designer has to be able to
communicate how this design will help [a client’s] bottom line and
credibility and help [their] brand grow.”
Develop a Business Plan
“Have a business plan. I don’t see a lot of designers with business
plans and we just tend to go out here and do one design at a time. Do
you plan on having an ad agency? Do you plan on having a studio? We
just have to be more business savvy as designers.”
