When working with a designer to create spec ads and build your portfolio it’s intended that the copywriter and designer trade services and it won’t cost either party any money to do so. As far as editing and other parts of copywriting, that’s what the CCA is for, we cover all the bases of copywriting so you won’t need to hire someone else!

You won’t hire a designer – you’ll barter copy work for design work with a designer that also needs to build their portfolio. You can get all of the details and steps when you get to the Create Spec Ads course. Try not to worry about it – just keep moving forward, step by step.

I have read some of these posts/questions, and so far I’m questioning spec ad process. I may be jumping the gun with myself but one tid bit of information has me concerned.

?How do I afford a designer to create my spec ads when I’m not officially in the copywriting business yet?

Until now, when I heard(read) you mention our spec ads I assumed the copywriter was creating their own ads as a suggestion for the client but the company would take my copy and design their own ad. I’m afraid hiring a designer will create financial strain, the very thing I’m trying to get myself out of.

In another life I was a graphic designer(I have a BFA in graphic design).

Hi Susan,

Yep! There’s nothing wrong with working with designers in other countries. And “through the use of words” doesn’t necessarily mean that they write the words; only that they use words in their pieces. Sounds like they could be a great pool of potential design partners. 🙂

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki

Hi Lisa,

Yep, you’d be an exception — but don’t forget that there’s also a huge benefit to you to expand your network *and* show that you can collaborate with other designers. 🙂

Thanks for commenting!
Nicki

Many of the people who are students or new graphic designers are posting work on their social media platforms or websites that seems overwhelming to me: Crazy wild graphics that distract or obscure any text on the page! Their words are in unreadable fonts. Color combinations that give me a slight headache or even emotional distress.

Someone from a business group offered to help me with my design and logo. I looked at her own website and FB professional pages. They have the same problem. She used more than 8 colors in her FB cover image. I was looking at it on my mobile, and I could not read much of the text because it looked like tiny cursive letters.

I found a 2014 article about mistakes that beginning designers make. In a nutshell, each mistake in the article hit upon what upsets me about MOST of the design work I keep seeing. That article reassured me that MAYBE I am not hopelessly behind the times. But it was published SIX YEARS ago.

I have found two designers who are new and building their businesses (so parts of their portfolios say “coming soon”). One is in South Africa and one is in Kenya. I love their work.

What is your perspective upon working with someone in another nation? My biggest concern would be exchange rates for my clients when they pay my designers. Clients might ONLY want to pay in U.S. dollars. Both designers I liked were obviously fluent in writing English for their own websites, but I could do some editing for them.

Are there issues above and beyond exchange rates that might be problematic with working a graphic designer from another nation? Have CCA students found any national or cultural norms that could slow down or even halt such a collaboration? Perhaps compatible technology might even be an issue?

My other path to locating a designer has been exploration of graphic design schools near me. There is a local graphic designer whose work I love! She does not have the time or equipment to design for me now. (She does all her work in-house for a newspaper.) She graduated with an Associate degree in graphic design. So I researched the community college that trained her. It NO LONGER offers a degree in “graphic design”! Here is how they describe what they now call “Visual Communications”:

“Visual communications students learn to communicate messages, emotions, and ideas through the use of images and words.”

WORDS?! Nicki, could they be teaching Copywriting AND Design so that their graduates don’t learn to collaborate with a copywriter? The degree does require English Composition and Interpersonal Communications.

The website goes on to add:
“Students gain experience with computer illustration, design, interactivity and photography. Visual communications courses emphasize both the technical and aesthetic aspects of good design. Students also have the opportunity to participate in field study to experience first-hand the daily operations and organizations of a successful studio. Students also develop an exit portfolio which they present verbally to a jury.”

What are your thoughts about reaching out to designers in other nations or to students studying “Visual Communications”. The majority of schools in my state have renamed their graphic design programs “Visual Communications.”

Thanks in advance for your advice! Susan Burton