What do you do when you’re designs aren’t selling?

You’ve put in endless hours of work getting a portfolio of work together not to mention the hours researching and gathering a list of potential companies and clients to contact and then all you hear is crickets! At this point, I’m sure you’re feeling exhausted, disappointed and frustrated. You probably feel like giving up.

But, don’t give up just yet! There are a few things for you to think about and consider first.

Understand your target audience

Make sure you have a firm grasp on who you are creating your designs for and therefore you will know the right clients and customers to approach with your work. Research the style of work, the target market and product types they sell before you approach a company with your portfolio. This will save you time and effort not approaching companies where your style of work won’t fit.

Poor presentation

You want to make sure your portfolio is presented to a high standard. Don’t try and pad it out with lots of designs just for the sake of it. Make sure that everything that goes in your portfolio is of a high standard. So, before you send it review and cull anything that is not up to par. 

You want all of the designs within your portfolio to work together and flow nicely so think about the order of your designs and how your position them. Taking the time to create mock-ups of your designs can also really help sell them.

Create marketable designs

As a designer, it’s really important to have authenticity and to make sure you develop your own personal style and way of working rather than copying what others are doing. However, you still need to make sure there is a market for the style of work you are creating. There is a fine line between being authentic and ensuring that your work is still marketable. Make sure you keep your uniqueness but think about the market you are designing for also. 

Experiment

You can also try experimenting and changing up the way you work. It could be as simple as working with different colour palettes, themes or even trying a new type of media to work with. 

When your designs aren’t selling it can feel really disappointing but don’t give up. Take some time to reflect and consider why. It may even just be that you need to keep working and developing yourself as a designer and not giving up.