Where do I start?

[SmilesDesigns]

Hi im new to the forum and are trying to make money out of my creativness and skills in photoshop. Me only being a teenager means I am not totally clear with how the graphics industry works, I am studying business at GCSE but I am not sure if this will be of help. I have an eye for art and have both photoshop and Illustrator as recources, I have built up skills developing graphics for friends and other people I have communicated through youtube. I am not earning a great deal amount of money at the moment and really want to built my own custom dekstop PC and be able to raise funds for my later life education so I have been thinking about ways of earning a steady amount of money and thought that I could combine something which I do now as a hobby as a job. I just need to be pointed in the right direction where to start finding people willing to pay to hire me and about how the money would be transfered to me, also would I need to know about protecting the graphics/logos I produce so they are not stolen?
Many thanks, Smiles

[Paul Murray]

Business will play a massive role in your design career, particularly if you decide to go freelance officially.

In terms of getting paid jobs, you're hindered slightly by the fact that as mentioned, you're a teenager studying at GCSE level. Whilst you no doubt have the ambition and drive to want to work a professional level, people will be put off by your lack of official experience and ultimately your age.

Word of mouth from family, friends, neighbours, etc will be your best bet. Try and think locally. Are there any businesses nearby that would benefit from your skills? What about advertising posters, flyers, etc, for local charity events.

Try and consider things that people are likely to attempt themselves and create poorly, then offer to do it for them for a fee that pleases both of you.

Building a reputation and examples of work are vitally important in convincing people that you're worth trusting and investing in. I'm not sure of any legal implications of working with someone your age though, so hopefully someone could shed some light on the subject.

[Esh]

^^^ As Paul has said ^^^

RE: your age, there's nothing stopping you from getting bits of work from local small businesses, family and friends. With a nice folio and smart marketing, you can gain clients. However the main issue with your age is that you can't legally carry out normal business activities i.e. business banking, entering contracts etc. It's these simple little things that may make things hard for you, and may make people not take you too seriously.

[SmilesDesigns]

Thank you very much for your input, I think first of all I should focus on developing my skills at a designer and then go on to trying to get known locally and eventually expand further. Im not looking for this to be a career (yet) but I definetly think your input has put me in a good position to start!

[Paul Murray]

Learning the fundamentals of good design is the main thing, since it's what will define you as a designers, as opposed to a Photoshop user.

A good designer could be given a pile of leaves and a dog turd to create it with and they'd still create something beautiful.

[SmilesDesigns]

My dads a proffesional photographer so I think I gain a creative touch from him. Ive noticed on our comupter we have the pictures of strange objects which have been made into beautiful pieces of art so I definatley see where your coming from Paul!

[Luke Wilde]

You could try Layered Photoshop, Vectors, Icons and Add-ons From $1 - GraphicRiver for a start, to try and get some money in. If you manage to create something unique that people want to buy you can earn a lot from it. Some people creating wordpress themes on themeforest.net are earning 5 figures a month just from that site so they don't need actual jobs :icon_crying:

[TimmyC]

Hi,

I think Paul hit it on the head..

Its good that you know what you want in life, what career, what you want to achieve etc. I think you need to focus on school. Keep working at your designing skills, but make sure you get a good education. It will help you in life. After school you have two options, 1) Try and find a company that are looking for traniee designers. 2) Go to college. I would encourage you too stay on in education, if this is something you want to do. Especially when you leave - you will be 18, the age of an adult, with qualifications.

Make sure your GCSE's go well though, English, Business, Art are all good subjects and are key in freelance graphic design. Employers and universities look for English GCSE for graphic design courses.