Creative Spotlight: Alanna Cervenak on Working Remotely
Alanna Cervenak's top billing on her resume reads, "Graphic Designer. Gamer." She's currently the senior graphic designer for table-top favorite Asmadi Games, located in Boston, MA. Alanna lives in Brooklyn, New York. Since her career began over 7 years ago, she's crafted layouts, icons, and illustrations for print, and also designed the UX for Asmadi's iOS Game Jinro, all from her own workstation. We asked Alanna to talk about the ways working remotely shapes her role as a designer:
"Your home is your work and your work is your home."
Logo illustration and design by Alanna for Asmadi's OS game
Being able to make your own schedule is always a massive benefit of telecommuting. I happen to be very fortunate in which my current work has a pretty free-flowing schedule, so if I want to move my regular 9-5 hours to 12-8, that's a viable option. Morning and evening commutes, especially in NYC are a grind, so being able to skip that option entirely (my commute consists of walking from my bed to my home office) is definitely a plus. Skype makes conference calls between the project team members a breeze, and GChat always has an employee's questions and concerns just a few clicks of the keyboard away.
I'd be lying if I said it wasn't great to eat cereal in my PJs while editing designs, but it definitely isn't always a perfect world. It can be hard to separate yourself from your email, even in your "off hours", which almost cease to exist. Because I tend to work with other employees that are also on their own schedules, it's not unusual for my gchat to go off at 11pm with another artist looking for feedback and critique. This can become a bit wearing some days, because any artistic discipline requires you to step back once in a while and give yourself time to refresh and recharge.
I've worked office jobs where 5pm was my punch out time, and nothing that I was working on mattered until the next morning at 9AM. That's not applicable as much in a freelance world, as you're expected to be more frequently available
"Often times it's the expectation from clients that a freelancer is available to them at anytime, and often if a freelancer isn't ready to commit to that, a client will find someone else who WILL be available 24/7."
It's become somewhat of a necessity for a freelancer to be "on call" if you will, it comes with the territory of that aforementioned "make your own schedule!" benefit. The employee gets to make their own schedule, but in a way, so does the client. It can be a tough balance, especially in a world where we're already highly committed to our work. I think there are a lot of instances where a freelancer has downtime, but the very next day can be hit with a sudden deadline. I've had days where I casually work a regular day, sipping tea and creating assets. There are also times where I've had 15 hour days, due to a deadline of needing to get files to a printer for production. These days are unavoidable whether you're a freelancer or not, due to the overall nature of the industry.
"I think it's extremely important for clients to hire a designer who can eloquently communicate with the rest of the members of a team, and has a positive attitude."
Communication between employees is so vital to complete your projects in an efficient manner, as is the ability to look at a piece and sum up what can be adjusted in a single email, as opposed to five of them. The positive attitude comes into play because we lose the tone of speech through typing, so it's very easy to accidentally break down an artist's confidence by simply sending the dreaded "this doesn't work for these reasons, scrap it and start over" email. It's all about balancing the ability to critique, with the tone of "part A works, part B doesn't, but can we incorporate it with part C?"
Often times because I'm working with other artists, we're communicating purely through text. When you don't have the luxury to sit down at a table together and point out what's working with a project and what's not, it becomes imperative to give proper critique in written form. Sending feedback of "this isn't working for me" with no other context is a huge time waster, as the recipient often has to come back with a "what can we do to make it better?".
"Open, honest communication with your boss or clients can make a world of difference, and is one of the most important aspects of the job."
A good artist can accept critique with grace and civility, and because your client doesn't have to look you in the eye when picking apart your hard work, get ready to hear a lot of it. However, you must always be confident in yourself. Be sure to learn new techniques and aspects about the software every day, which is even easier to do when you're in your own home, in your sweatpants.
"As an at-home freelancer, the most important item I have (more than my computer or software) is my notebook and calendar."
Deadlines can sneak up on you if you're unprepared, leaving you overwhelmed with work you could have spaced out 2 weeks prior. Sometimes I get quick-y gchat "can we add this into this component?" messages that can get lost in a sea of conversation, so I tend to physically write down important changes to be made. There are a lot of great apps available for scheduling your time, my favourite thus far has been Trello. Gmail has a great labeling system - it is imperative that you learn the ins and outs of using it.
The usual "perks" of a regular 9-5 often times aren't applicable for contract workers, like 401ks, health benefits, W2s, paid sick/vacation time. It becomes a lot more vital to carefully manage your work and finances to make up for the absence of those benefits. Learn about taxes and how a potential 1099 tax form will affect you. So many freelancers forget to take parts of their paycheck and set some aside for tax time, only to find themselves with an unpleasant audit when April rolls around.
We're in a time where it's incredible trying to secure a job, and more and more designers are turning to full time freelance. There's a steep learning curve to making at-home work your livelihood, it's one that I learn something new about every day. But, it's most important to remember that
"As long as you’re learning, you’re taking positive steps forward."
ABOUT ALANNA
I took some pretty basic entry level classes in Graphic Design my senior year of high school. Most students treated it as an easy elective class, but I felt really passionate about the work and found myself continuously looking at tutorials even outside of class. It really became the top option of what I wanted to continue studying in college. I had a wonderful time in college majoring in Graphic Design, learning the ins and outs of the Adobe Suit, in addition to other integral aspects of the career such as layout, color theory, etc. It's a field that's continually expanding and evolving, so I'm always looking to learn something new from each project I work on. When I walk away from a job with a happy client, and a new ability that I hadn't used prior, I consider the project a resounding success.