The words graphic designer, architect, or industrial designer stick in my throat. This inadequate set of terms reveals only partially the still undefined nature of the designer. —Alvin Lustig

At the dawn of 2010, a new breed of freelance designer is emerging. It's a designer who does more than *gasp* simply design things. This is a change driven not only by necessity but also by a desire to gain relevance and influence in today's increasingly globalized and ever more connected world. Opportunities that were out of reach just a few years ago are now becoming accessible and those who fail to embrace them will certainly be left in the dust.

So what are the characteristics of a "New Designer"? To understand the New Designer, we'll first need to define the Old, which is very easily done. The Old Designer does one thing - design. They may be good at it or bad at it, but their primary job and source of income is design. Sound familiar? A New Designer goes beyond one simple skill set. While being a great designer is the cornerstone of a New Designer, I've identified 3 key skills that New Designers also possess.

They Have Influence

First, and foremost, a New Designer possesses influence. Old Designers have extremely limited influence; they influence clients by doing great work and maybe influence the design community if their work is good enough to imitate. New Designers are also bloggers and authors whose opinions and insights are absorbed throughout the community. Through blogging, the New Designer increases their audience and importance as people subscribe not only to their RSS feed, but also to their unique train of thought. When people are willing to pay for your knowledge in the form of buying your books (or ebooks) you have gained a whole new level of authority and relevance. New Designers especially make good use of gaining and seeding knowledge on Twitter. In turn, being more influential can have an impact on your original design business and increase the level of demand for your services if that's what you are after.

They Are Business People and Entrepreneurs

Old Designers don't know much about running a business, or just know the basics. They just want to design. But to be a freelance designer, you must have a business that is sustainable. New Designers recognize that customer service, marketing, using solid contracts, cash flow, profit and loss statements and networking are important. They also recognize that there's more to it than that. They are already planning for retirement and have a solid health insurance plan. Importantly, they recognize the fact that every single freelancer is also an entrepreneur, and being such, they tend to also develop profitable side projects that bring in additional income. For some this may include blogging and for others it may include developing Web and/or iPhone apps, all of which increase their influence and their bottom line.

They Are Well Informed and Adaptable

Old Designers are stuck in their ways. New Designers are constantly consuming the latest news, learning new techniques and reading the latest books. As business people, they know that to tread water is to eventually tire and drown and to stay afloat they must continue moving in a new direction. New Designers are learning to design for new mediums, such as mobile phone specific ads, apps and sites. They are increasingly crossing over into the world of programming, going beyond simple HTML and CSS to at least get a basic understanding of how J-Query, Ruby and Ajax work.

Conclusion

See where you fit in to the chart above. If you are moving up, you are a New Designer. If you are moving straight up, you are perfectly positioned to gain more influence and make more money. If you are moving down, you are an Old Designer, losing relevance. If you find yourself in the second category but want to move to the first...

Stick With Us

If you want to become a New Designer, or remain ahead of the pack, make sure to subscribe to our RSS feed or visit us often because equipping New Designers will be one of our major focuses here at Freelance Review this coming year. Or, if you are simply tired of the "same old thing" getting re-hashed over and over again on other blogs, you'll find that our new commitment to Fresh Design Content in 2010 will be, well, refreshing. We have some really cool articles in the works for the new year that you won't want to miss - you'll especially want to keep an eye out for the brand new HD Inspiration galleries that will be appearing soon... Thanks for reading and Happy New Year!