Marketing Hat for Graphic Designers or Wannabe’s
Do you have your eye on a new career as a graphic designer? If so, the first thing you should do is invest in an appropriate marketing hat.
The amount of technical knowledge required to succeed at design these days warrants more than just having Photoshop and some strong opinions. Designers are expected to understand their audience and how to promote themselves. This post hopes to pass along this wisdom, as well as offer up some tips for what marketing hats can be used for outside of professional work.
The biggest marketing hat to invest in is a logo-branded trucker’s hat. At the very least, it should be a branded band hat with an iron on patch. The reason for this is that everyone knows you can't drive anything without a trucker’s hat. It’s an unspoken rule and one you need to be prepared for if your dream job suddenly becomes reality.
Your customers will be able to identify you from further away because of your trucker hat (an extra bonus if you drive a delivery or postal vehicle). You will also be able to more easily lend a hand to your fellow truckers who may require services that your company offers.
Whether you are the owner of a family-owned business, or a single independent designer, having a trucker hat is the best way to get noticed wherever you go.
Do not invest in just any old trucker’s hat though. A cheap one is worse than no trucker’s hat at all because it sends the message that you plan on being poor forever and don’t care about success. We can all agree there is nothing worse than looking down on someone who has worked hard for years for just enough money to buy an average quality trucker hat.
I personally prefer a trucker’s hat with the logo of my business and the colors of my choice. For anyone who wants to get more specific, you can add additional logos and colors in different patterns to make your hat even more interesting. The possibilities are endless, as long as you have a trucker's hat.
There is another problem when it comes to judging others by their trucker’s hats however, and that is the possibility of having inferior quality hats. Unless you are willing to invest in high-end quality leather or do extensive research into materials for making trucker hats, you will have trouble finding a good one at an affordable price.