Focus!

Since I went solo a few months ago, I’ve been having the following conversation quite a lot:

“So, what do you do?”
“I’m a designer.”
“Oh, cool. What do you design?”
“Uhm, everything?”
“…”

What follows is usually that I give a few examples of previous work; signage systems, an identity design, storage boxes, campaign posters, novel tealights… Luckily, this doesn’t seem to be putting off potential clients as I keep finding work through unexpected channels, but obviously at some point I need to decide on some sort of focus if I’m seriously going to grow my business.

The problem is: I really do think I can design everything… Or at least, for clients in any field. The furthest I usually got was to say I like to design things where “3D and 2D intersect,” still pretty vague. And then I realised what links the portfolio pieces I’m proud of (and enjoyed doing) is that they’re systems. Identity systems. Signage systems. A storage system. Systems of campaign material.

The distinction between graphic and product design always seemed somewhat forced to me. And although my skills don’t really extend to complex web work, I do often include web components in my concepts. And in terms of systems that makes sense. This is something different from the choice between 2D and 3D.

So there it is, I think I’ll be a systems designer. Probably not really something new, just something my industrial design education didn’t explicitly prepare me for. Step two: figuring out how the hell to sell this, being a relatively inexperienced freelance designer.