While it’s best to weed out bad clients before a contract is signed and the project begins, often times it doesn’t happen that way. I recently shed the weight, stress and hassle of a “bad client”, so I want to share that experience and five warning signs of a client you should avoid at all costs.
So how do you identify a bad client?

Going it alone as a web designer will quickly lead to the discovery that your accounting skills are as important as your design skills. If you’ve ever done any freelancing you know exactly what I mean. When should I bill? How much should I charge? What kind of pricing structure should I use? These are questions I’ve wrestled with more than once over my eight year tenure as a freelance web designer. But fortunately, out of the heap of triumphs and failures, a refined set of principles has emerged. I’m sure these rules will keep you out of some sticky situations.

An analysis of common mistakes in the portfolios of web designers. Learning from our mistakes.

What I am getting at and what I have been struggling with is the question of whether we as designers should spend time educating these clients. In my research of some solution to this question, I have found two distinct opinions on the circumstance.

1. We have a responsibility to solve our client’s needs even when they themselves do not realize what those needs are.
2. These clients will only be a drag on our creativity and force us to produce a piece unworthy of our portfolio and will churn up endless hours of nonsensical revisions, so we should fire them as soon as possible.

As a web designer you may be faced with the challenge of getting your work and your abilities in front of others. If this is the case, here is a list of 11 different things you can do to get noticed.

Before we share some of the necessary steps used to create a professional web design and website, the following question must be addressed: What constitutes a “professional web design”? More often than not, a web designer or web design company claims to offer professional web design services for their clients. However, should they be promoting “web design services” rather than “professional web design services”? When measuring the professionalism of a web design and website, one must take into consideration a number of factors/steps…

If you’re a designer looking for a job—whether of the freelance or permanent variety—then an online portfolio is pretty much mandatory. In many instances, your portfolio will be looked at without you present, without any other information about you, and probably by a person who has never spoken to or seen you in person. If your portfolio has to stand alone in a critical situation like hiring, it’s worth spending some time making sure it’s going to get the job done!