Above: The view from Airey’s home office in Northern Ireland.

You’ve undergone major changes in your worklife – first when you moved from working in an office to basing yourself out of your home and then again when you moved homes. Can you tell us about those transitions? The first change (switching from an office to working from home) was in 2005 when I chose to become self-employed. My past employer became my first retainer client, giving me two or three days of contracted work per week (for 18 months or so). Because of which, I can’t remember too many nerves about going it alone.

People ask if it’s hard to motivate myself. I mean, there are always plenty of distractions when your home doubles as your workspace. Thankfully, I’ve never had much trouble. Maybe it was my upbringing — my dad made me appreciate the value of hard work.

What do I miss? Walking to work. I used to walk through the centre of Edinburgh each morning and evening. Loved it. Nowadays my daily commute takes five seconds. 10 if you count both ways.

Moving house is something I’m used to. Since first leaving my parent’s home when I was 19 I’ve lived at about 15 different addresses. That’ll be why there’s not a lot in my office — you tend to shed the junk each time you move.

You’ve set up a home workspace twice now – what did you do differently the second time? It’s six times. Six house moves since 2005. Each time for the better, though, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be completely happy with how my workspace looks (typical designer).

How does working from home impact your work? It’s hard to say. The work I produce now is of a much higher standard to what I was doing in my office days, but I’ve learned a hell of a lot along the way. Maybe if I stayed in an office, with more ease of receiving feedback from others, I’d be doing better. I don’t know.

You’re not only running a successful design business you also manage regularly post insightful pieces on your blog. How do you manage your time? I just do one thing at a time, whether it’s working on a client project, publishing a blog post, replying to emails, spending time with friends and family. But I limit the number of clients I work with at once, and each of my three blogs are only updated once or twice a week, so I’m probably not as busy as it might seem.

What inspires you in your work? Inspiration isn’t easy to pin down. I don’t think it’s necessary for the work I do. For me, what’s more important is motivation, and there’s one main aspect that keeps me going: I hope that one day I can fully support a family of my own, and if I’m to do that, I know I need to keep improving, keep streamlining my process, keep learning new skills, new approaches. The fact that I love my job and have a passion for design is a big motivator, too.

“This month brought with it my five-year anniversary as a self-employed graphic designer, so I’m taking the opportunity to offer 15 pieces of advice to those thinking of “going it alone.

1. Look at the big picture Creating a modern business plan will help you think through the hard issues.

2. Tell your friends and family about your self-employment You never know what contacts they might have. Those close to you will want to help.

3. You will lose potential clients because your pricing is too high But also because it’s too low. Whether you like it or not, the rates you set will immediately give others a perception about the quality of your design work.

4. Don’t stress about pricing Design pricing is something independent graphic designers struggle with at some point. The best way to learn is through experience, and remember, you can always negotiate your price down from your initial quote, but never up, so if in doubt aim high.

5. You will make mistakes We all do. Learn from them, and move on.

6. When wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically Along similar lines, if you receive a complaint, allow the other person to do most of the talking. People want to be acknowledged, and the more you learn about a grievance, the more you can do to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

7. Compose your pitch Your pitch is a very brief description about how you will help your design clients, and is useful when describing your job to new acquaintances (without the risk of boring them into submission). The length should be somewhere between an elevator pitch and a dumbwaiter pitch.

8. Never stop learning Realise that in order to reach (and stay at) the top, you must never stop learning, whether it’s through recognised design courses, mentors, books, or other options. You’ll find a number of recommended reads here in my Amazon-powered design bookstore.

9. Publish a blog The readers you attract will prove to be an invaluable source of knowledge and help. My two blogs (this and that) are powered by the free-to-use WordPress. Here are some blog mistakes worth avoiding, and the WordPress plugins I use. An alternative to WordPress is MovableType.

10. Consider a partnership You and your clients can benefit when you work alongside those with differing skills — a web specialist or brand strategist, for instance. Just because you’re “going it alone” doesn’t mean you need to be the only person involved. When approaching a potential partner — be it for your entire business or for a one-off project — talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Would you say yes?

11. Encourage clients to talk about themselves A key element in all design projects lies in the information-gathering stage. Everything you learn can be used for the advantage of the project.

12. “A man without a smiling face must not open a shop.” A wise Chinese man once said that.

13. You will work with clients you don’t like Especially towards the start of your self-employment. With experience, you can learn how to spot troublesome clients before a project starts, and equally, how to spot the excellent ones.

14. Designing for committees isn’t a bad thing You can still achieve fantastic design results providing you know how to keep the process running smoothly. Chapter 8 of my book offers advice on dealing with committees.

15. Put the wheels in motion It’s time. People will tell you it’s not, but it is. The only thing stopping you? You.

Published on David Airey, graphic designer“

David Airey just did a great guide to DSLR cameras on his blog. Lots of good info in a really easy to navigate post. Well worth a look if you are in the market for a camera.

1. “I’m blogging” | David Airey He’s a graphic designer who creates visual identities for big corporations and little one-person start ups. He’s also smart and funny and his blog is a must-read for anyone trying to understand this weird online world we regularly find ourselves in. Look out for our interview with David next week. Best place to start: Check out his post on design agencies and studios who use Twitter well (and those who don’t).

2. Core 77 I know this wont come as a surprise to most of you. This online design mag has been around since 1995. Under the keen eye of editor-in-chief Allan Chochinov it just keeps getting better. Best place to start: The news sections are excellent but don’t overlook the photo galleries. Funnily enough I didn’t make it to Dutch Design Week last October but Core 77 did and they’ve got the pics to prove it.

3. Modern Tom Andersen and Gina Federico blog from their own modern home in Westchester, New York. While the design of the blog is a little rough around the edges, their obsession with all things modern plus a strong sense of style makes this a fun read. Best place to start: Check out the woodpile studio Piet Hein Eek designed for musician Hans Liberg.

4. Discovering Design OK, full disclaimer – this addition is slightly self-serving in that it is part of Herman Miller’s website. But I’ve seen the stats and I don’t think enough people know about this cool design source. Best place to start: Choose a product or designer and just click. I like George Nelson’s audio files – especially him talking about the origins of the wood slat bench.

5. Design Observer After you’ve looked at lots of pretty pictures it is time to get down to some smart writing and this is the place to be. The site was founded in October 2003 by Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, Jessica Helfand and Rick Poynor with design and technology by Ruby Studio. It’s one of the few places you can still read essays online. Best place to start: An excellent piece by ex-I.D. editor-in-chief Julie Lasky about the demise of that beloved design magazine.