One topic I never saw myself pursuing heavily was the business of design. After collaborating with some of my now partners I became open and interested by the idea. In college and specifically at NC State University we learn about what makes “good design”. When you take those skills to the public so many loopholes and needs become obvious.
Pricing is a large concern that is still difficult to balance. When you work for an established company everything has already been preset, while when you are the company you have to learn to balance worth of the design with the available assets of your area. I have extensive knowledge freelancing, but prices change when you design as a team.
Interdisciplinary work is key to success in an ever changing environment. With partners from different majors and backgrounds we each had to learn what the others could offer and how we can mesh those ideals and talents. Derek Ham gave us an enlightening intro to this in imaging last semester which is what led us to pursue a computer science partner so we could share knowledge and increase our capabilities as we merged the two fields.
We also find ourselves constantly teaching clients the value of and effort that good design takes. Almost no one understands design outside of the field and portfolios and examples are valued teaching tools. I think we could grow even stronger as a profession if a design business elective was added to help designers find their place and worth in the workforce.