The Dieline Conference
Tuesday, May 13
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm
35 Things to Avoid When Building a Design Firm
Ballroom A Level 3Join us for a humorous yet valuable journey through some of the biggest mistakes that budding design agencies make. In this session you’ll get not 5, not 10, but a whopping 35 things to avoid if you are thinking of starting your own gig—or even if you’re already an agency principal.
John Nunziato and his firm have seen it all when it comes to agencies shooting themselves in the foot—and they’ve committed a few blunders themselves. Sure, there are some no-brainers: choosing an office located over a greasy spoon diner, telling clients to F off, forgetting to spell-check that final design. And then there are the biggies—things that will fundamentally decide or change your place within the industry.
Things like who you choose to work with. You want to build a company full of the best designers money can buy, right? Not if you want to stay in business. John will talk about the optimal mix of roles and personalities for a design firm, and it just might surprise you.
How about designing for free to give clients a feel for your work? A good idea to get your foot in the door, or the fastest way to devalue yourself? (If you are still pondering the answer, please see the title of this session).
And by the way, think anyone’s buying that you have offices in Brazil and Japan? Think again. This session will get you on the fast track to Successville. Just don’t say you have an office there.
3 Main Take-Aways:
- Best practices for building or starting a design firm.
- Pitfalls to avoid when building or starting a design firm.
- Life lessons for successfully navigating the design industry
