Sometimes freelance commercial writing projects involve drafting copy and handing it off to the client for further design work. Other times, you might be asked to do a little extra. How would you handle it if you were asked to take on some graphic design aspects of a project?
Here’s a question a freelance commercial writer was curious about:
Is a commercial writer responsible for doing the layout and graphic design as well?
Peter Bowerman on Writers Needing to do Graphic Design
Only the writing. As I tell people all the time, I’m living proof that you really need to know very little about design to make it as a writer. In my nearly 13 years in the business, I’ve run into, maybe, two people, who did both well. Clients don’t expect it.
Sure, if you know you’re only going to be dealing with small and relatively undemanding (aesthetically speaking) clients, and you want to learn some basic design to be able to lay out simple brochures, newsletters, and ads, fine. Knock yourself out. If, however, you’re planning on playing in a larger market, with bigger clients, don’t bother. You’d be much better off forging alliances with good, established graphic designers, and working together to bring “turnkey” (a.k.a. “end-to-end”) solutions to your prospects than trying (futilely, I might add…) to compete with these often-20-year-plus veterans.
I recently mentored a couple starting a commercial writing business and they excitedly told me that were planning on getting up to speed on graphic design (which they‘d be learning from scratch) so they could be a total solution for their clients. And my response was, “Why? Why would you want to put yourself through this?”
Jenn Mattern on Design Skills for Commercial Writers
Yes, and no. While it’s true you don’t have to pick up design skills to succeed as a freelance commercial writer, having no basic skills in this area will rule you out of working for some client types, and having those skills can dramatically increase the value you provide.
For example, let’s say you want to ghostwrite blog posts for business leaders in small-to-mid-sized companies (which can sometimes pay more than working for much larger corporate clients). You’re going to be expected to know how to handle more than writing drafts as they’re less likely to have their own design teams. You might need to source images and do minor editing. You’ll have to understand things like ALT text (an accessibility issue) as well as SEO fundamentals. In gigs like these, you’re rarely “just” writing. And not being able to handle these minor design and optimization elements will cost you lucrative work.
For print marketing collateral like brochures, it doesn’t hurt to have design skills, especially if you want to market yourself as a more full-service operation rather than solely as a commercial writer (think micro-agency). But it’s absolutely not necessary. Same for longer digital copy like white papers and reports. A client might occasionally ask you for basic formatting or design, but for the most part they’ll have someone do this in-house to maintain brand consistency.
Think about the non-commercial side of freelance writing. There’s a big difference between targeting a national publication that has its own photographers versus a local newspaper where you might be expected to handle basic photography to accompany your copy. But in commercial writing, you don’t always have the same pay discrepancies that you’ll find in freelance journalism.
I’ve long believed writers should pick up supplementary skills. Not doing so is why I see so many colleagues struggle with design and technology for their own businesses. The earlier you do this in your career, the better. Things are not the same now as they were when some of us got started. A lot of commercial writing work stays digital, and things are expected to move quickly. If you want to target clients in this area (web copy, blogging, social media content, etc.), having at least some design fundamentals will do nothing but help you (even if it’s as simple as some drag-and-drop basic designs in Canva). But you certainly don’t need to study design to the degree of being a professional designer (unless, of course, you want to).
Just remember, if you do choose to pick up design skills and offer them as part of your services, charge accordingly.