March 29, 2018
John Keats once said: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." And David Lange is doing his part to create lasting beauty through the creative services and unique images he provides to writers and businesses. Here he shares what a typical day is like and how he approaches his art.
Can you share with CWA readers a little about who you are and your professional background?
Thanks for the opportunity. Yes, I'd love to. I am a self taught graphic designer, artist & illustrator. I've always gravitated towards creative pastimes ever since I was young, but have been working professionally as a designer for the past 7 years both as a freelancer and for various agencies.
Tell us about a "typical day."
Having just taken the position of Senior Graphic Designer at a marketing agency, my responsibilities as both designer and creative director include designing collateral and web pages as well as developing and refining our design and development process.A typical day consists of a little of both. There are usually a handful of design projects in my queue, but my focus right now is facilitating the web design process across various compartmentalized departments.
I see on your site that you also specialize in branding. What are some of the most common errors you observe with creative artists and entrepreneurs, when it comes to branding efforts?
I'd say a lack of consistency in brand strategy and presentation is probably the biggest. It's tempting and easy to follow impulse but erratic branding dilutes your message and the unique value of your offering. It also hinders brand retention and trust among your audience. This usually occurs because there are no brand standards in place, because they haven't walked the company in question through some type of branding process.
My USP is the cross section between my passion as an artist and my hyper analytical instincts. I'm obsessed with making brands beautiful and am an advocate of being truly passionate about your personal brand, but I also appreciate the need to understand the "pain" driving the interest and desire for a particular product or service. I like to at least consider whatever data is available to understand the mindset of the customer and the particular buying process they go through.
A portfolio of quality work, relevant to the type of design you're hiring them for. The freelance market is mostly driven by cost though. Design is a complex discipline that's cheapened in the eyes of the average consumer by a lot of temptingly cheap options. Good designers know their worth so be prepared to pay for quality. Going the cheap route can be okay for some things but there are a lot of unseen pitfalls for those basing their decisions on price alone.
David Lange is a graphic designer, artist and illustrator.
Learn more at his site: http://www.art.bydavidlange.com/about/
