Flash is pretty common now-a-days, I’m sure you’ve all been to a website that’s had a great flash introduction or menu that you’ve been really impressed with. You’ve also however probably used an office / friends / other computer to visit the same webpage and been greeted by a decidedly less impressive blank box.

Flash can have a great visual impact, but does carry its share of restrictions, this articles explains a few things to consider and hopefully help you decide if your website design should incorporate flash.

Will your visitors have the flash plugin?

I read that around 80% of users have the flash plug-in, it also comes installed by default with any modern browsers, this still leaves 20% of users without the flash plug-in. Are these people your target audience?

Chances are if someone doesn’t have flash by now, they aren’t going to get it. This may include anyone using older computer equipment, someone who is not very internet-savvy or anyone using there workplace internet. Many company’s have security in place to stop users downloading anything to avoid potential problems. If any of these sound like your potential customers flash may not be the best for your website.

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Getting started as a freelance graphic designer takes time and as with everything there are a few hurdles to overcome.

Listed below are a few tips to help get you started.

Settting your price

Everyone has trouble with this to start, working out your price can be difficult, and talking about it even worse. Everyone deserves a fair price for there work, the higher quality of your work is, the higher your rate is.

Obviously the amount of time required to complete a design is a factor, but try not to get trapped by quoting by the hour. There’s nothing worse then rushing a job to complete it within X amount of hours, or worst yet, turning in an in-complete job after forcing yourself to stop at the finish mark.

Personally I prefer establishing the clients budget and expectations, and quoting for a completed job rather then hour by hour. One might fear quoting this way in case a client ends up wanting endless revisions on a project blowing out the time frame completely, though using a contract (explained more later) to clearly define the scope of the project and addition costs for changing the project brief significantly should prevent this.

To start you’re likely to be nervous when talking money with potential clients, but a few successful jobs and you’ll have the confidence you need.

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Below are a few great digital paintings from Blackeri over at deviantART featuring the 7 deadly sins. Onto my wish-list they go. Thanks to wikipedia for the sin definitions.

Lust

“Lust (or lechery) is usually thought of as excessive thoughts or desires of a sexual nature. Giving in to lusts can lead to sexual or sociological compulsions and/or transgressions including (but not limited to) sexual addiction, fornication, adultery… Dante’s criterion was “excessive love of others,” which therefore rendered love and devotion to God as secondary. In “Purgatorio”, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful/sexual thoughts and feelings.” Continue reading...

Onsite Insight is a Sydney based IT company offering on-site computer service and repair. Above is the final logo, a modern sans typeface ( Futura ) in a simple 2 colour design.

As always, here is a page of alternate ideas. Various plays on screen. power and both on-site and sight based themes. As well as some “handy man” style illustrations that were finally ruled out.

In order to have some similarity with the existing branding the illuminated power symbol logo type was selected by Onsites director Ewan Williams.

What do you think?

Comments are always appreciated.

You might have caught some months back David Pache’s great blog post 100 brands of interest, a collection of over 100 brand identities from fellow graphic designers. The time has come again, with the second installment of the series.

In this second collection we see again the basic elements of design from geometry and linear imaging to the more creative and flamboyant techniques. Below are a few of my personal favorites, be sure to stop by the Dacheboard and see the rest.

The Greater Good.

Hache Creatives.

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