STEPHANIE ORMA :: travel, arts, & design writer

I recently went to a design lecture at Sacramento State University in which renowned graphic designer Kit Hinrichs discussed his 40+ year career including working at the prestigious design firm,Pentagram. During the question and answer period, a young designer working as an “in-house designer” (a.k.a. working in the design department of a particular company rather than for a design agency itself) asked Kit’s advice on the best way to grow and improve as a designer. Kit’s (rather blunt) answer was “don’t do it [in-house design].” He elaborated that, in his opinion, working for a top-notch design firm surrounded by the best of the best, learning, absorbing, and working your tail off is the optimum means to hone and refine your skills.

That’s all well and great, but how exactly does one go about working side-by-side with the most talented people in the design industry? And do you really need to give up your right arm or first-born child to get in the door? To help shed some light on the subject, I interviewed some of my favorite San Francisco graphic design firms (selectively chosen for producing a body of work that is at once conceptually brilliant, typographically amazing, and aesthetically gorgeous): Joel Templin and Katie Jain of Hatch Design; the current president of AIGA SF, Brian Singer of Altitude; and president emeritus of AIGA SF, Christopher Simmons of MINE™. Moderated by San Francisco graphic designer and copywriter Stephanie Orma of Orma Design and She’s SO Creative, the three design firms share insightful tips and advice for newbie design grads to seasoned professional alike seeking to get in the doors of the most prestigious design firms in the country.

What are the top qualities you look for when hiring a graphic designer?
Hatch Design: We look for designers whose talent it is to develop conceptual solutions to a problem all the way through to formal execution. So it’s not only big-picture thinking, but typography, illustration and knowledge of different production techniques that matter.

Altitude: Talent. Passion. Personality. Not necessarily in that order.

MINE™: In a portfolio I look for several things: First and foremost, I’m looking for a point of view. That is, I want to see a unique perspective in the work that distinguishes it from the work of others. Anyone can solve a problem formally, but if all you bring is style I’m not really that interested. The most compelling portfolios are those that demonstrate the designer’s unique thinking, as well as their technical skill. I also take particular note of typography skills — type is almost always the Achilles’ heal of the portfolio. Extraordinary type skills are essential to design, and are especially important in our studio. Because we do a lot of logo and identity design, I look for those projects as well. Identity projects tell me a lot about a designer’s thought process, drawing skills, color sense and typography. I look for designers who can write. I look for confidence, but I expect humility.

Other than the designer’s portfolio, what other things weigh heavily on your hiring decision?
Hatch Design: Our hiring decisions are based on 3 main components. The first being the portfolio and quality of work, which should demonstrate the qualities mentioned above. But being a small-sized studio, personalities also matter a lot! We have to know that a designer is a good fit within our studio and that they have a willingness to work hard and pitch in on any project. The interview is a very important way of discovering this fit. And finally, since designers often interact with clients directly, communication skills are very important–the ability to craft written communication and articulate the thinking behind a particular design solution are invaluable assets–not only for working at Hatch, but for a designer’s entire career.

Altitude: Strangely enough, many designers’ portfolios look the same. This is actually true of most design firms too. When it comes to making a hiring decision, the work needs to be excellent, but it comes down to many other factors. The ability to articulate concepts. Personality. Is this someone we want to spend 40+ hours a week with? Availability. Affordability. Timing is strangely important. We had an informational interview set up with a recent graduate for a Friday morning. Thursday afternoon, we landed a sizable project. Guess who started work on Monday?

MINE™: If there is one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s to hire on personality, not talent. Whoever I hire, we’re going to have to work together every day. We’re going to trust each other’s opinions, respect each other’s ideas, style and work ethic, etc. There are tons of talented designers out there, but only a handful that are suited to our work environment, the kinds of clients we have, the pace we keep up, and (frankly) my personality.

When you are seeking to hire a new designer would you post an ad on CraigsList, AIGA job board, or ask a colleague for word-of-mouth referral?
Hatch Design: We have the best luck finding a new designer either through word-of-mouth referral or from someone sending in their portfolio…we’re always looking for and open to hiring exceptionally talented designers, so waiting for a job posting wouldn’t be a good idea if you really want to work at Hatch.

Altitude: Our first approach is to use our network (word-of-mouth) and there is nothing better than a personal referral. After that, we’d use the AIGA job board or Creative Hotlist.

MINE™: It’s almost always word of mouth. On average, we also get a 2-3 inquiries a day from people interested in designing or interning for us. I personally look at every portfolio we receive. Many of them are pretty poor or just not a good fit for us. Many, though, are really impressive. When we need to hire a designer or intern or freelancer, I’ll refer to the books we’ve already seen, and put the word out to a few trusted colleagues. I think its better to focus the search on a narrow selection of pre-qualified people then to cast the net indiscriminately wide.

If you did post an ad on CraigsList seeking a designer, what are some immediate cover letter indicators that the designer is or is not right for your firm?
Hatch Design: Honestly, we evaluate the typography of the cover letter first! Then, we’ll want to make sure that the candidate has an understanding of us and our work – that it is not just a form letter sent to hundreds of firms.

Altitude: A form letter or generic response is the first indication that a person isn’t serious. If you expect us to take the time to review your work, formulate an opinion, and be able to discuss it with you in an interview, please have the same consideration for our work. With the number of people sending us their work (even when we’re not hiring), a form letter is a sure way to disqualify yourself.

MINE™: I recently received an email “cover letter” from a young designer who was eager to work at our firm. I noticed in the “to” that he had CCed 55 other designers. I wrote him back stating simply that if he wanted to stand out from the crowd he should begin by not addressing prospective employers as a herd. I also CCed the group. I’m sure that was an embarrassing lesson for him, but hopefully one he’ll take to heart. A good cover letter is personal. It’s brief, but it takes the time to demonstrate that the prospect is hoping to work for/with one specific firm. It can be as simple as saying, “I really admire the work you did for ________.” For extra credit, you might go on to say why. We all know that you’re sending very similar letters to other firms as well, but everyone likes to be treated as though they are special. The letter should also state your ambition with the firm (i.e. what you hope to contribute and what you hope to learn). It should be professional, but demonstrate some personality, without being gimmicky. It should be spelled correctly (we are MINE™, not MineSF) and it should be addressed to someone (not “Dear Hiring Manager”). It should be well typeset.

What are some things designers do during the interview process that turn you off?
Hatch Design: The only thing that could be a real turn-off is, going back to it, lack of communication skills. If someone sends in a great portfolio then isn’t able to explain and articulate the thinking behind their work, once we meet in person, it can be a bit of a let-down!

Altitude: Being late. Chewing gum. Knowing it all.

MINE™: Chewing gum. Not turning of a cell phone. Checking a text message. Not listening. Making disparaging remarks about anyone. Also, we don’t wear shoes in our office. I think it’s pretty obvious when a person comes in and sees all the shoes lined up that that’s our custom. I wouldn’t say it’s a turn off when a visitor doesn’t remove their shoes, but I like people who are perceptive.

Do you look for designers that have web programming skills as well as design skills?
Hatch Design: Yes. Web skills are not a must-have, but certainly could be the deciding factor between two equally talented designers.

Altitude: When we hire designers, it’s great if they have some experience with the web, but we don’t expect them to be programmers. Just like when we hire programmers, it’s great if they’ve got a good design sense, but we’re usually not hiring them to do design. It’s hard to find people who can both design and program well, though, they’re out there.

MINE™: No. But I wish I did. Usually we sub out the programming phase of our more complex web projects.

How important is it for your selection whether the prospective designer has been featured in design annuals, won awards, etc.?
Hatch Design: This is not very important to us – we base our decisions on the quality of someone’s work, whether publicly recognized or not.

Altitude: An award or annual may create an awareness of a prospective designer, so in that respect, it’s important for increasing visibility. But, if it comes down to winning an award, or being able to articulate your design solutions, We’ll take the articulate designer every time.

MINE™: It’s not really important. Even our own awards we just keep in a drawer.

How important is where the designer went to school or if they’ve worked for other prestigious firms?
Hatch Design: Again, it’s all about the design work – not the name on the diploma or resume. We believe you can create outstanding work at a relatively unknown studio or school and still be very successful in your career.

Altitude: The school doesn’t really matter. That said, some of the better schools graduate a higher percentage of students with talent, and, some have wider ranging connections for placement upon graduating. As for previous experience at prestigious firms, I think that helps in two ways. First, it shows that you come to the table with some experience (hopefully good experience) under your belt. Second, it almost pre-qualifies you. It shouldn’t, but it does. It’s hard to look at a resume with internships at Volume and Office, and not want to interview the person.

MINE™: This depends. I teach at the California College of the Arts (CCA) and I studied there too, so I’m very familiar with the curriculum there. I happen to prefer the philosophy at CCA, and if an applicant graduated from CCA I know what it means that they studied under Bob Aufuldish or Jeremy Mende, Emily McVarish, or whomever. Similarly, if an applicant worked at SVA or for Cahan orMichael Vanderbyl, I know what that means. Ultimately, though, it’s about the individual and how they fit into our small, tightly knit team.

How do you like designers to follow up with you after the interview process?
Hatch Design: The follow-up can be very important. As we get busy and move on to other projects, a polite reminder from a designer is sometimes what we need. And it shows great initiative on behalf of the designer.

Altitude: Gentle persistence.

MINE™: I think a handwritten note goes a long way. A follow up email is ok too. The Thank You note is a dying art and one which I still appreciate.

What advice do you have for designers that want to work for your firm?
Hatch Design: Put together a beautiful portfolio – PDF is fine – which clearly shows your work and send it in.

Altitude: Bring it. Other options include: Fix the economy and we’ll talk. And bring something besides design to the table. One of our last hires wasn’t a designer at all, but an artist with a lot of printmaking experience.

MINE™: It depends why they want to work for us, but in general I’d suggest the same for us as for anyone: Get to know our work, our thinking, our clients. It’s easy to find our work in annuals, and you can Google up interviews and features, etc. pretty easily too. I speak a few places a year, so it wouldn’t hurt to show up to one of those events and introduce yourself. I’m still in contact with a number of people I’ve met at a lecture or portfolio review. We haven’t hired any of them yet, but I’ve recommended some of them for freelance work from time to time. The point is, we have a relationship. We’re getting to know each other over time and if something opens up they’ll be top of mind. Of course, they’ll probably be settled in great jobs someplace else by then.

What is the best way you have found to hone and refine your own design skills?
Hatch Design: We believe in a very collaborative work environment – often everyone in the studio will help brainstorm solutions for a new project, so we’re always learning from each other and building off one another. We also continually search for and collect interesting design ephemera, which goes to our ever-expanding design library and serves as inspiration for our design projects.

Altitude: By exploring things other than design.

MINE™: Work. Look. Read. Listen. Discuss. Share. Repeat.

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  4/15/09)

With 13,297 Twitter followers combined, the following graphic designers know a thing or two about using Twitter to effectively promote their design businesses: Lawrence Anderson(twitter.com/hellolawrence), a San Francisco graphic designer at Designed By Anderson; Jacob Cass(twitter.com/justcreative), an Australian freelance graphic, web, and logo designer at Just Creative Design; and Grace Smith (twitter.com/gracesmith), a United Kingdom freelance web and blog designer at Postscript5. Moderated by San Francisco copywriter and graphic designer Stephanie Orma (twitter.com/stephanieorma) of Orma Design, the three designers share their personal Twitter experience, tips, and advice including how to get Twitter followers and land design jobs.

READ FULL ARTICLE: SF EXAMINER

When running a one-man show as a self-employed creative (artist, graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, writer, etc.), how we prioritize our time is of the utmost importance to the success of our business. When the economy is good, our days are spent juggling “the creative side” with all the other tasks of keeping the company afloat. But when times are slow, like now, an imbalanced portion of our time is spent on promotion. This, of course, is an absolute necessity. But with a significant portion of time spent marketing via Twitter, FaceBook, LinkedIn, blogs, online discussion groups, sending out direct mailers, emails, and the like, at what point do we take a break from all this promoting and start creating again?

Clever new card created for my greeting card company She's SO Creative. Photo Courtesy Stephanie Orma / She's SO Creative.

For my greeting card business, She’s SO Creative, I certainly find myself struggling to justify time spent on creating new cards when business is slow. Do I create new products when I still have a fair amount of unsold inventory or do I just hold off and wait for the storm to subside? Retailers need fresh inventory in their stores because customers will stop coming if they see the same old products day in and day out. And retailers won’t buy from manufacturers if they having nothing new to offer.

Along the same lines, how do we as commercial artists grow our talents in a sluggish economy, if we’re not gaining new clients? Taking on new projects challenges us, keeps our skills sharp, and feeds our creative souls. And those entities are the bread and butter of our business. Plus, creating new work adds another project to our portfolio; an extremely vital element as it’s the actual tangible item that sells our services.

Whether we create a new project in a graphic design or illustration class, take on a non-for-profit client, or write a magazine article on spec, this is our livelihood and we need to keep moving forward. I absolutely believe we should be spending a large portion of our time promoting our services and drumming up new business. But I think it’s equally important to dedicate a certain portion of our day, our week, our lives to creating. In fact, I’m cutting this article short to start working on some new greeting cards right now!

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/30/09)

Businesses hire graphic designers to help them discover and cultivate what makes them better and different from their competition and communicate that message in beautiful, creative high-quality designs. But after all that effort (and money spent) super cheap printing can negate even the best graphic designer efforts.

Gorgeous letterpress printed business card designed by Stephanie Orma of Orma Design and printed by Jeff Towner of ThirdBay Letterpress in Petaluma, CA and Paragraphics in San Rafael, CA. Photo Courtesy of Stephanie Orma / Orma Design

I’ve seen this numerous times when clients invest their hard-earned time and money in a graphic designer to create and refine marketing materials so they are just right, only to complete the job themselves by taking the files to some local hole-in the-wall printer or worse, printing the designs off their home computer.
Here are just a few of the problems with printing on the super cheap:

Colors – Poor quality printing can throw off contrast in a design piece making important things like your business phone number hard to read. It can also distort photo colors, making skin-tone and other details appear odd or unsightly. Likewise, it can create inconsistency within your brand if the printed colors are far-off the spectrum from your website and other marketing initiatives.

Images – Poor quality printing can wreck havoc on images by making clear pictures appear blurry and smooth illustrations appear rough and unrefined.

Production - Doing the production yourself, if you’re unskilled, or hiring low a quality printer can result in design pieces that are sloppily scored, folded, and cut.

Using a professional printer can add a whole new level of quality and craftsmanship to design pieces, thus, bringing a whole new level of positive brand perception to your business. Unfortunately, using a low quality printer works in the same, but opposite way.

Through my experience as a graphic designer and dealing with countless print jobs, I’ve learned the importance of quality printing. But the point was never more hammered home then when I started my greeting card business last year. It was a disheartening experience dealing with poor customer service, poor quality printers, and poor quality production. I shed many a tear surrounded by thousands of unsellable greeting cards and wondering if the printing alone was going to crush my dream before it had even begun.

I’m happy to say I survived and so did She’s SO Creative, my thriving greeting card business, but not without an enormous amount of undue stress, plus time and money lost. Printing does not have to break the piggy bank. In fact, there are some excellent quality professional printers using digital machines like the Konica Minolta c6500 and the Xerox I-Gen that are quite cost-effective for low-volume print runs.

Bottom line: If you’re thinking of hiring a graphic designer make sure you have money left over in your budget to invest in professional printing. Otherwise, it could be a big ol’ waste of money.
(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/25/09)

In the beginning of my career, when I first started seeking graphic design jobs, I had a little paragraph on the top of my resume that talked about how passionate I was about graphic design. Likewise, if you look at the resumes and websites of many fresh graphic design grads today, they do the exact same thing. But as I got on in my career, I started questioning if it made any difference at all to my future employers whether I was passionate about graphic design or not.

Above: A greeting card created from my passion for creative words, images and ideas. Photo Courtesy Stephanie Orma / She's SO Creative

It seemed that when I went on interviews all they cared about was what my portfolio looked like and what software programs I knew. So eventually I removed the paragraph about passion and made the resume strictly about my work experience. I used to think that if an employer knew I was sincerely passionate about what I did, it would give me a slight edge over my competition because it somehow meant I was a better graphic designer.

But how could that be? Does having passion mean you’re better at what you do than an unimpassioned person doing the exact same thing?

All things being equal, I believe the answer is a resounding, yes, it absolutely does.

In fact, I think all businesses should seriously care whether the candidates they are hiring are passionate or not. A passionate employee will always go the extra mile. The graphic designer will pay more attention to the details, spend a little more time perfecting the letter spacing between the words, think longer about creative concepts, massage the layouts, stay up late, pull all-nighters, on their own dime, just because they truly care about the quality of work they produce. Thus, the passionate person creates better work than the unimpassioned person who does none of the above.

Of course, in business it’s not always that easy to put in that extra time because time means money. As the owner of a brand communications firm, I constantly have to keep a watchful eye on how many hours I dedicate to a project. But truth be told, I thoroughly enjoy graphic design and will always go above and beyond to make my work as good as possible.

Even when I worked at a marketing firm in the account management position, I spent my free, unpaid weekend hours brainstorming and coming up with successful taglines and slogans for our firm’s fortune 500 accounts. Although this was not at all part of my job description or responsibilities, I love words and thinking creatively. It didn’t even feel like work to me. Then it was just the biggest kick seeing my work presented to the clients. The client was happy, the marketing firm benefited by hiring a solid account manager that went above and beyond her primary functions to produce excellent work, and all this affects the bottom line.

I’ve also worked with unimpassioned people in my career. The people who have the “I don’t care attitude.” Of course they never show that face to the client, but try as they might to cover it up, it always shows through in the quality of work they produce and present.

But don’t take it from me. Here’s what Steve Jobs, a man equally notorious for his passion as he is for producing great work, had to say about it in his 2005 commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University, “…Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do…”

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/24/09)

When startups and established businesses alike are looking to cut corners and save money, graphic design is usually at the top of their chopping block. But what these companies fail to realize is that good website design can literally mean the difference between being in the red or being in the black – it’s that crucial.

A website is often the first point of contact consumers have with a company. And just like in life, the first impression really does matter. Consciously or subconsciously, consumers take everything they see into account before deciding where to invest their dollars and their loyalty: colors, logo, layout, quality of images, ease of navigation, style, tone, etc. And then make logical and/or emotional assumptions based on what they see: “This company’s website is just so-so quality. I don’t know if I can trust their products or services will be of quality too.” And if a company has consumers doubting, they’ve undoubtedly lost their business. Design matters to the bottom line.

A great example of a successful website redesign is the Pilates Studio Tiburon in Marin County. Their original website was not doing its part to bring in business and the branding was inconsistent with the actual studio space in terms of color, tone, messaging, etc. The new website needed to reflect the studio’s supportive, community atmosphere, whimsical, serene, new-agey vibe, and, of course, the organic nature of Pilates. In working with them, I designed a simple, easy to navigate site, with custom illustration. The result is a design that is at once strong, organic, whimsical, and undeniably imaginative.

And the investment was well worth it. The new Pilates Studio Tiburon website has successfully attracted and continues to attract new clients, even in our tough economy. The new design has also helped to secure brand loyalty with existing customers as they can now see the quality in everything the studio offers.

Good web design does not have to cost a fortune or be tricked out with bells and whistles, and tons of Flash. But it does mean investing in a quality, professional graphic designer who knows how to help businesses succeed in the visual realm.

(originally appeared in SF Examiner  3/17/09)