need help on How to tackle projects

#1

hey everyone, i would like to ask you guys about how to handle and go about doing work projects. i’m given a project and expected to finish it in a short amount of time (maybe a day or two), what should be my approach? Should i stick with artistic elements or just common designs? what should i care about when doing the projects? Thanks in advance

#2

Put the client’s need first, and your own creative need second. There is always time to do your own personal projects where you have 100% freedom to do what you waht.

#3

Make sure you have a plan before you start. An hour or so of planning can make the difference between a couple of days work and a week.

#4

After that stick firmly to your plan, and wor it out til the end. You’ll be able to do a lot if it’s planned well and with good sense. After you can always tweak if you have time left. :slight_smile:

#5

Thanks for the replys guys. However, I need more information. What I wish to know is how to do a more professional job, not that kind of meaningless work that just look cool or trendy. I want to learn to be professional in my work, not just do it for the sake of meeting the deadline and money, or do professinal designers do that some times?

#6

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#7

It doesn’t work like that. A job and your personal artistic ascension do not always go together. Sometimes you get to inject your personal vision and emotions into a job, but most times you don’t get to because you are just a hired gun–there to turn someone ELSE’S vision into reality.

Being a professional commercial artist in most cases only means having the skill and the knowledge to turn other people’s vision to reality. You do not have a say in the actual content of that vision–unless you are explicitly asked to contribute in that manner. Think about it–just how would a modeler, texture artist, rigger…etc do “meaningful work”? Production artists are more like artisans, as they do not usually have a say in things outside of their job description. They are assigned tasks that cater to the vision of a game designer, writer, director…etc, and if they can find ways to inject their personal vision, that’s fine–but if that personal vision disagrees with the project, then they will have to turn on “slave mode” and do what they are told. If you really want to do meaningful work that places an emphasis on your personal vision, you should probably be a writer, director, composer, animator, or a fine artist instead of commercial artist. Otherwise, you will have to be satisfied with injecting your personal vision into your personal works in your freetime. You could always try to convince your clients to listen to your “meaningful” ideas, but if they don’t like it, your creativity will have to take a backseat to their needs. If you really don’t like the project/client, you could always not take on the job.

#8

This is what I did.

  1. Give the cilent what they want or something similar to what they want.
  2. They may want you to do some revisions so do it.
  3. make sure that you project stays on target.
  4. Get that money. Lol.
#9

I see… But what happen when the client does not know what he wants and just give you a very general ideal, like " I want something trendy, appealing to age group people from 20 - 30 " for a package design. How can I go about doing it? My meaning of trendy and the clients meaning of tredy could be different. Maybe the client thinking that bright colours and cool shapes like the plus shapes that HP cammercial are using. What are the process from beginning till the end in the project. What are the guide lines or check list in producing the design. (How do you come about to get this design?)

How can I decide on a idea to do? How should I choose which style and softwares to use that will create a better outcome? Sometimes, they are just too many ideas and I don’t know which will have the best outcome and I end up spending alot of time just deciding which direction to start. Sometimes half way through the work, the outcome does not seen to click and it make me feel like changing the style. Please give some advice.

#10

No one can really give you a straight answer because most of these questions are answered by your expereince. Right now it sounds like you have no experience at all in whatever you do (no offense). If you don’t, start practicing; if you do, just rely on your experience.

And about the client giving you a general idea…just make a bunch of designs you think the clinet thinks is trendy, and show the client the best ones so they can chose; you can also ask the client questions about what they mean by trendy, would they like something in particular to be incorporated, etc.

#11

DAiShO_BLuE - Well, if we answered your questions, then we’re pretty much doing a big part of your job, and we ought to get paid. :smiley:

The truth is, you have been approached by a client because that client believes you have the answers–probably because at some point you have given people the impression that you are a professional and know what you’re doing. Now, this is the moment of truth–you have to walk the walk not only talk the talk.

To come up with ideas and designs that the client will like is what you’re getting paid for. If you can’t do it, then you should pass the gig to another professional that knows what he’s doing. If you want to give it a shot, then buckle down and start doing your homework. Research the works of your competitors. Research the market for the type of products you’ll be designing for. Learn about what is the current trend. Ask your client to give you examples of designs they are fond of. Use all that information and try to come up with ideas that fit the market, but is still original enough to call your own. If you are brilliant, then you’ll come up with something that’ll blow people away, and STILL be appropriate for the market. But if you’re not brilliant, then you’ll have to settle for just earning your fee. Either way, you’re the one that has to answer your own questions–that’s what you are charging your client money for. We can’t help you with that.

#12

Thanks Guys… I just started my first job and I just using that project as an exempla. You right I don’t have any really experiences in the field, that is why I want to get some advice from the professional here. Thanks again guys… can anyone give me some word of wisdom and tips on building my skill or something I should learn that will help me in my long road ahead. Throughly…Thanks alot.

#13

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