{"id":507,"date":"2022-05-13T18:58:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T18:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/?p=507"},"modified":"2022-05-10T19:06:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T19:06:16","slug":"an-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/an-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander","title":{"rendered":"An Ugly Design Career &#8211; Trevor Alexander"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"shariff shariff-align-flex-start shariff-widget-align-flex-start\" data-services=\"pinterest%7Cfacebook%7Creddit\" data-url=\"https%3A%2F%2Findiebooknook.co.uk%2Fhome%2Fan-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander\" data-timestamp=\"1652209576\" data-hidezero=\"1\" data-backendurl=\"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/shariff\/v1\/share_counts?\"><ul class=\"shariff-buttons theme-round orientation-horizontal buttonsize-small\"><li class=\"shariff-button twitter shariff-nocustomcolor\" style=\"background-color:#32bbf5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Findiebooknook.co.uk%2Fhome%2Fan-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander&text=An%20Ugly%20Design%20Career%20%E2%80%93%20Trevor%20Alexander\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" aria-label=\"Share on Twitter\" role=\"button\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"shariff-link\" style=\"; 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background-color:#3b5998; color:#fff\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"shariff-icon\" style=\"\"><svg width=\"32px\" height=\"20px\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 18 32\"><path fill=\"#3b5998\" d=\"M17.1 0.2v4.7h-2.8q-1.5 0-2.1 0.6t-0.5 1.9v3.4h5.2l-0.7 5.3h-4.5v13.6h-5.5v-13.6h-4.5v-5.3h4.5v-3.9q0-3.3 1.9-5.2t5-1.8q2.6 0 4.1 0.2z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"shariff-button reddit shariff-nocustomcolor\" style=\"background-color:#ff5700\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Findiebooknook.co.uk%2Fhome%2Fan-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander\" title=\"Share on Reddit\" aria-label=\"Share on Reddit\" role=\"button\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"shariff-link\" style=\"; background-color:#ff4500; color:#fff\" target=\"_blank\"><span class=\"shariff-icon\" style=\"\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\"><path fill=\"#ff4500\" d=\"M440.3 203.5c-15 0-28.2 6.2-37.9 15.9-35.7-24.7-83.8-40.6-137.1-42.3L293 52.3l88.2 19.8c0 21.6 17.6 39.2 39.2 39.2 22 0 39.7-18.1 39.7-39.7s-17.6-39.7-39.7-39.7c-15.4 0-28.7 9.3-35.3 22l-97.4-21.6c-4.9-1.3-9.7 2.2-11 7.1L246.3 177c-52.9 2.2-100.5 18.1-136.3 42.8-9.7-10.1-23.4-16.3-38.4-16.3-55.6 0-73.8 74.6-22.9 100.1-1.8 7.9-2.6 16.3-2.6 24.7 0 83.8 94.4 151.7 210.3 151.7 116.4 0 210.8-67.9 210.8-151.7 0-8.4-.9-17.2-3.1-25.1 49.9-25.6 31.5-99.7-23.8-99.7zM129.4 308.9c0-22 17.6-39.7 39.7-39.7 21.6 0 39.2 17.6 39.2 39.7 0 21.6-17.6 39.2-39.2 39.2-22 .1-39.7-17.6-39.7-39.2zm214.3 93.5c-36.4 36.4-139.1 36.4-175.5 0-4-3.5-4-9.7 0-13.7 3.5-3.5 9.7-3.5 13.2 0 27.8 28.5 120 29 149 0 3.5-3.5 9.7-3.5 13.2 0 4.1 4 4.1 10.2.1 13.7zm-.8-54.2c-21.6 0-39.2-17.6-39.2-39.2 0-22 17.6-39.7 39.2-39.7 22 0 39.7 17.6 39.7 39.7-.1 21.5-17.7 39.2-39.7 39.2z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<p>\ud83c\udf15\ud83c\udf15\ud83c\udf15\ud83c\udf15\ud83c\udf15<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I didn&#8217;t really know what to expect from this design self-help manual; tips on coding maybe? What I got was a manual which not only did suggest learning code, but also offered strategies on how to cope in what is fast becoming a competitive and overly saturated market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the title suggests, <em>An Ugly Design Career <\/em>pushes the reader&#8217;s (and future designer&#8217;s) focus away from creating purely beautiful and aesthetically pleasing designs. Trevor Alexander waxes lyrical about listening to your clients, working with other people and being open to suggestions. He repeatedly makes the point that just because you might not find the design your client wants, it doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s not actually great work. He suggests focussing less on going viral on Twitter, getting likes on Instagram or getting saves on Pinterest, and focusing on what your client actually wants. In other words, swallow your pride and do what you&#8217;ve been paid to do, rather than what you think is pretty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In another chapter, Alexander discusses the phenomenon that is Fiverr &#8211; the market place for jobbing designers who can turn around a specific job in a matter of hours for a relatively low price. He warns against complaining about the cheapness of the competition and argues that they&#8217;re not pricing you out of the market. Yes, they do charge at a lower rate, but the work reflects it. If you think that you can only pitch your work against them, then you&#8217;re not in the right place for the freelance work to make a serious career. The Fiverr jobbers aren&#8217;t in it for the long run and neither are the people that purchase their services. You are. Simply put, you&#8217;re pitching not only your design knowhow to perspective clients, you&#8217;re pitching yourself. You&#8217;re aiming to become their go-to for all design work, from the logo on a pen to the brochures or website. Someone on Fiverr can&#8217;t compete with you when you&#8217;re offering competence, bespoke designs and your own special skill of working <em>with <\/em>the clients needs, rather than for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In all, if you&#8217;re a budding designer, Trevor Alexander&#8217;s <em>An Ugly Design Career<\/em> is an absolute must read. It will instil a confidence in you, as well as prepare you for how to speak to clients and ensure they retain your services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>S. A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Originally reviewed on<a href=\"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/reedsy-discovery\" data-type=\"post\" data-id=\"277\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Reedsy Discovery <\/a>as part of their ARC program.  You can read the original review <a href=\"https:\/\/reedsy.com\/discovery\/book\/an-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander#review\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">here:<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can buy <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uglydesigncareer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">An Ugly Design Career<\/a> <\/em>by clicking on the name.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"shariff shariff-align-flex-start shariff-widget-align-flex-start\" data-services=\"pinterest%7Cfacebook%7Creddit\" data-url=\"https%3A%2F%2Findiebooknook.co.uk%2Fhome%2Fan-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander\" data-timestamp=\"1652209576\" data-hidezero=\"1\" data-backendurl=\"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/shariff\/v1\/share_counts?\"><ul class=\"shariff-buttons theme-round orientation-horizontal buttonsize-small\"><li class=\"shariff-button twitter shariff-nocustomcolor\" style=\"background-color:#32bbf5\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Findiebooknook.co.uk%2Fhome%2Fan-ugly-design-career-trevor-alexander&text=An%20Ugly%20Design%20Career%20%E2%80%93%20Trevor%20Alexander\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" aria-label=\"Share on Twitter\" role=\"button\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"shariff-link\" style=\"; 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tips on coding maybe? What I got was a manual which not only did suggest learning code, but also&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[408,409,261,262,120,9,256,67,4,407,410],"tags":[413,415,149,416,11,14,412,68,70,411,414],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=507"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":509,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/507\/revisions\/509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=507"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=507"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indiebooknook.co.uk\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=507"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}