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Clearly Green Design, Canada,
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Podcasts

FGDO Podcast 204 - 4 Keys to Building a Vibrant Design Business. With Special Guest - Kit Hinrichs of Pentagram.

This podcast…
Were going to talk about – How to Build A Vibrant Design Business – featuring a special interview with Kit Hinrichs; Principal and partner of Pentagram.

Building a design firm is no easy task. Building one that works for you rather than the other way around is even trickier.

In fact, building a successful design business has less to do with actual designing than you may think. If you’ve been in the business for a few years, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. It takes many different hats, or personas to be successful.

You have to be part Market Analyst
Find where the biggest opportunities are for your business.

You have to be part Social Butterfly
Connecting and networking with others to create future business opportunities.

You have to be part Sales Person
Finding those businesses with the greatest needs and convincing them you are the
best choice.

You have to be part Dr. Phil, a Psychologist
You need to learn how to deal with many different types of clients and their personalities, quirks, idiosyncrasies. And you have to do it well so you continue working with them.

You have to be part Detective
Discovering what your clients are really asking for and give them what they really need – not always just what they want.

You have to be part Accountant
You need to know how to be profitable on every project you do. Not only for yourself but also for your client.

You have to be part General
It’s your job to forge ahead into the great ‘unknown’. Breaking new ground, leading you and your company forward with confidence and conviction.

And this is only the tip of the ice burg. I’m sure there’s many more personas you can think of that have pushed, pulled and stretched you to new limits.

In this podcast I want to talk about 5 key roles I’ve identified in my own business that I think are critical if you are going to create a successful and highly profitable business for yourself. These roles go beyond designing and incorporate 5 very important mindsets into your business. Those 5 roles are:

1. Designer as Entrepreneur

2. Designer as Sales Person

3. Designer as Trusted Advisor

4. Designer as Consultant

5. Designer as Marketing Expert

In the next few weeks I’m going to be talking about some of these in more detail to help you improve your performance as you conduct business day to day. And so that you can create greater profitability in your business.

This week, I want to focus on 4 of these 5 roles and discuss them in more detail.

To help me do that, I’ve asked a very successful and very recognizable icon within the design industry to help me unpack these roles.

His name is Kit Hinrichs.

Kit is an icon in the design industry; with over 30 years of experience.

Kit studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and worked in several New York design offices before forming his own independent design firm.

Kit has been an instructor at the School of Visual Arts in New York and at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. He has lectured at the Stanford Design Conference and is a frequent speaker at numerous other design associations and universities across the country. And he is also the co-author of four books.

Kit’s work has been honored and published widely, and several of his pieces can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

He was awarded our profession’s highest honor – the AIGA Medal, in recognition of his distinguished achievements and contributions to our industry.

Now, Kit is a partner in the infamous and highly successful firm Pentagram, and is based in San Francisco.

At Pentagram he leads a graphic design team that focuses on corporate communications, promotion, packaging, editorial and exhibit design.

I think you’re not only going to enjoy this episode but you’ll be able to pull-out some very interesting insights that you can apply to your own business.

So sit back and enjoy! …

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