What’s In A Name?

This is a sort of follow-up to the aftermath post yesterday. Good thoughts all around from everybody, and many thanks for the feedback. A few of you touched on some very valid points, but I thought i’d talk it out some more here as opposed to the comments section.

Hynes said, “If… you envision yourself to grow beyond just yourself and morph into a firm one day, I say stick with HRTWRK.” So here’s my related thoughts based on some various conversations I had (or overheard) with a few of our cre824 speakers this weekend (mainly Elisabeth Prescott, Mike Jakab, and Bradley Grosh.)

I think what’s happening in the industry (and maybe has always been happening in the industry and i’m just realizing it after meeting more and more people doing high-end work) is that there are a few designers who do time working for a large design or broadcast firm (like Imaginary Forces) and then move on (or move back) to a freelance career, but they still do work for the same firms fairly consistently. In other words, the freelance life (for a select few) isn’t so much an “us versus them” situation. It’s more of a “a few people do a lot of work in major design hubs like SF and NYC.”

I say all that to say, so what if I have an industry job or I don’t? If I put out good work and continue to do so, I can hopefully get good work. And in my mind, having a brand name (especially a brand name i’m not exactly constantly trying to push to the forefront) in between me and the people who may want to use my services will only serve to cause confusion and put another party (even if that party is me) in the mix. I don’t have aspirations to run a studio or turn HRTWRK into anything of the sort. I’ve got some business knowledge, but i’d rather spend my time making art and serving clients than developing a business. I want to develop my portfolio by doing good work. That being said, I think it will be easier (and more natural) to brand/develop/upkeep marketing myself than marketing a brand.

As a sidenote, I think I need to lay off the parenthetical thoughts. It’s getting a bit out of hand.