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Creative Networking Tips for Designers

by Theresa Christine Johnson on 04/25/2017 | 5 Minute Read

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When the topic of networking comes up, it’s enough to make even the most outgoing, talkative person cringe. All too often, it can feel gross, inauthentic, or just totally awkward, even though it’s such an important part of any job. But with The Dieline Conference at HOW Design Live coming up soon, we’ve rounded up a couple creative ways you can network that don’t involve elevator pitches or swanky business cards.

Conference Selectively

The biggest mistake you can make is attending any old conference you find online. Not all are created equal—and even if they were, attending every single one that comes your way would only result in burnout. You’ll get far more from attending two conferences in a year that you can truly dedicate yourself to rather than ten that spread you thin.

Dorie Clark mentioned in Harvard Business Review, “The best conference experiences don’t happen by accident; you make them great with planning and effort.” Select conferences based on where you’re at in your career, what speakers inspire you, and which ones work into your schedule. Lay out a plan for each and every conference and what you hope to gain from it so that you attend to truly accomplish goals for your career.

Use Social Media

Whether we’ll see you at The Dieline Conference or not, it shouldn’t stop you from hopping on Instagram or Twitter to connect with others who are. Take a look and see who’s speaking (Ximena O'Reilly, Brian Collins, and Tosh Hall—just to name a few) and follow them on your favorite social media platforms. Keep up with hashtags (#HOWLive) during events like this to get organic conversations going with people you admire and might hope to work with or for one day. You could even put a private Twitter list to good use, making it easy to access to these people and can warm up your relationship with them—so when an opportunity does come up in the future, they’ll feel more confident working with you since they’ll feel like they already know you.

Alex Golick, CEO of Intensify, a Los Angeles advertising agency also highly recommends personalizing your outreach, too, with eye-catching comments. “There is no point in leaving generic comments, like ‘Great Post!’ on Instagram. There are many bots making similar comments and it will not garner any attention,” he mentioned.

Additionally, Golick suggests designers set themselves apart from competitors by offering something that benefits prospective clients. For example, “if you work with primarily spirits companies, generate a well-designed creative about the state of the spirits industry and then offer it to companies for free for them to use on their website or in their next blog or social media post,” he advised. “Direct message spirits companies and comment on their posts about your offer. You’ll be shocked at how many people want to do you a favor in return. In addition, this will jumpstart your relationship with prospective customers resulting in a targeted, engaged community.”

Volunteer

Donating your time and skills to organizations you believe in will instantly get you connected with others who share the same passion. Not only do you get to give back to the community, but you can also get your name out there to people who will see your designs in action and can vouch for your work ethic, too.

Matt Manos of verynice has seen how volunteering can be the best form of networking, operating his agency on a give-half model. “Many of the organizations we work with are so small that their entire staff is volunteer. This means that they have a full-time day job elsewhere. As a result, after we do a great job for them, many of these individuals refer business for us at their primary place of work,” he mentioned.

Manos added, “On the flip side, many of the large non-profit organizations that we work with have incredibly accomplished people on their board. Working with these organizations has allowed us to get our foot in the door at many large companies that would otherwise be very difficult to reach.”

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Start a Side Project

If you want to get direct access to other amazing designers and agencies, then consider starting your own project and collaborate with others on it. Networking so often can feel like you’re treating yourself as a walking, talking billboard. However, curating a design blog or having guests on a podcast gives you the chance to connect on a common topic that generates interest and enthusiasm in your work, naturally.

“Ironically, I started Design Matters when I felt like I was in a bit of a creative slump. All of my work at the time had veered to the commercial and I felt my creative spirit was dying. I thought the opportunity to create a little internet radio show with Voice America, if nothing more, could be a fun, creative experience,” Debbie Millman, founder and host of the well-known design podcast explained. “I decided that interviewing designers who I revered would be an inventive way to ask my heroes everything I wanted to know about them.” Not only was Millman able to ask some of the greatest designers in the world questions about how they became who they are, but she broadcast the work and shared it freely with others. Now, twelve years and 300 guests later, she confessed it’s probably the biggest and most important thing she’s known for, highlighting not only the industry but also how creative people design their lives.

It ended up profoundly changing my life. For anyone out there that is looking for their creative spark to come back, start now. Now’s the time to make the things you’ve always said you wanted to make. Create your own self-generated work with the work you can’t create for your clients. You never know where it is going to take you.”


Networking isn’t just about selling yourself—it’s a give and take. These tips are definitely effective ways to reach out to others, but to reap any benefits from your networking efforts, you’ll actually have to show genuine interest in what other people are doing, too. Find designers, agencies, brands, businesses, and other creatives who inspire you to get honest conversations going. By doing so, you won’t come off as desperate for the next big opportunity, but instead as a sincere and honest person who will make a memorable impression.