Although art and design have been slower suring the current economic downturn, here are six trends you can take advantage of to boost your income now:
1. The web just keeps on growing! And with that growth has come a need for more sophisticated visuals. Companies are learning that programmers are NOT visual designers, art directors, or illustrators. Good Photoshop and Illustrator skills are key here, and a decent knowledge of HTML doesn’t hurt. Take advantage of this trend by increasing your marketing to those companies.
2. Manufacturers are getting busy again. Increased sales means a greater need for packaging design. If you have solid Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop skills, you’ll find plenty of work in this area right now, both fulltime and contract. Take advantage of this trend by marketing directly to the manufacturers’ creative directors and to package design firms. More about Diamond Painting
3. Everyone is shopping smarter. When there’s not a lot of extra money out there, businesses and consumers actively look to make smarter choices when they spend. Although this can result in less spending on art and design, it’s also an excellent opportunity to make new sales by showing how your work is better, more economical and gets better results.
4. Construction is up. Office and government buildings offer excellent sales opportunities in almost all disciplines, from signage to decorative art to government set-asides for the arts. Take advantage of this trend by contacting architects, contract art buyers and state, federal and local governments.
5. Use downtime to prepare for the next boom. If work, assignments and sales are slow, use some of that unused time to prepare for the future. Learn new software, make new contacts, send out press releases, add to yuor portfolio, have an exhibit. Even though these efforts might not show immediate results, the cumulative effect will garner long-term gains.
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6. Business presentations are growing more sophisticated. In fact, it’s become almost a competitive sport at some companies, and businesspeople are calling in artists and designers to create better-looking slideshows. Powerpoint is very much in demand, Director and Flash are even better-paid skills. You’ll also need Photoshop skills. Take advantage of this trend by marketing to ad agencies as well as directly to banks, manufacturers and service organizations.
No matter what the economic conditions, it’s important to get out there, talk to as many people as possible and get your work seen as often as you can.
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