This book is a step-by-step overview to how to build a 100k and flexible career in graphic design. It was written by a group of people who actually do it, and is loaded with practical information.

1. realdesignschool.com
Creating a flexible, 100k design career
Precisely how to build a lucrative & flexible
career from people who actually do it.

2. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING A
GREAT DESIGNER, AND HAVING A GREAT
DESIGN CAREER.
DESIGN SKILLS ARE ONLY 20% OF IT.

3. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT THE
OTHER 80%

4. About this book:
It is possible for anyone, regardless of their skillset, to make $100k+ as a designer, work flexibly, and travel.
I know because I do this myself and know hundreds of others who do as well. This is the dream isn’t it?
A high paying job and the flexibility to be anywhere you want. This used to be very difficult, but with the
unbelievable technological advances, you can become indispensable to companies with less of your time. I
am 100% certain you can make this a reality, and I’m going to show you how.
Why do some extremely talented designers struggle to make $60,000 a year
and hate their job? While others, with the same or even less design skills, make
over $150,000 a year? Why is it that some designers can work flexibly, travel,
while still influencing their companies? What’s the difference?
I assure you it’s not random. These people are doing something different. They learn to become
indispensable to their companies. How? In this book you’re going to get a brief overview and some key
steps to move your career in this direction.
I’m going to share with you the specific secrets I have observed that help designers go from struggling
to make meager salaries, to making 6-figure+ salaries with work-life balance. And it’s simpler than
you think. This book is just an overview. Later on, I will tell you about a course I’ve created that will go
into the depth of it, and help you make it a reality in your career. This is the stuff you can’t learn in any
conventional design school.
This system really works, and I can’t wait to share it with you. For the last 5 years, I have hired and trained
dozens of designers with these same principles. Most of them had little design experience when they
started. Every single one of them has gone on to get high paying jobs, or launching extremely successful
freelance careers while traveling the world. I remain close friends with each of them to this day, many of
them now work for me with on companies I invest in or creative direct for.

5. THIS COURSE IS NOT ABOUT:
Technical design skills
Utilizing software, photoshop,
illustrator, indesign, etc.
Design process.
THIS COURSE IS ABOUT:
Increasing your salary dramatically
and consistently.
Reducing conflict and wasted time
in the workflow.
Learn how to arrange high-paying
flexible and remote working
situations.
Having stability, flexiblity, and a sense
of empowerment in your career is one
of the greatest gifts in life, one that no
one can take away from you. I want in
my heart to share that gift with you.
A Quick Note:
This course is not about how to learn
design. There are plenty of great
resources available to help you with
that, including lynda.com, which is
how I learned the basics. I won’t spend
any time on the technical aspects of
photoshop, color theory, typography, user
experience, etc. I am going to be sharing
with you the profound secrets of making
your career really work for you. The things
that will truly make a difference in your
career.

6. **In the interest of full disclosure,
this dog does not belong to me :(
Adam Carney (founder)
Los Angeles, CA

7. About Me:
My name is Adam Carney and I live in Santa Monica, California (LA). When I started my design career 7 years ago,
I had no design degree or formal training. My design obsession began with online tutorials and thumbing through
design annuals at Barnes and Nobel (how I cherish these years!) To this day I have no design degree and have
never needed one. I became a designer because I loved creative work, but I also wanted the opportunity to build
my career on my own terms, enjoy life, and travel.
I wanted the best of both worlds: the career, and the freedom, and I
thought design would allow me to do this. Fortunately, I was right.
I started designing websites for a few hundred dollars out of my parents basement. In fact, my mother was my
first client (love you mom!) I have since gone on to lead creative work for fortune 500 companies, celebrities,
revolutionary startups, and just about everything in between, without ever having to lift a finger to secure new
work. I have been personally mentored by some of the true design & advertising masters, including Creative
Director of the Decade Alex Bogusky of CP&B, and design legend Milton Glaser. It’s been a really fun ride.
Many people told me this wasn’t possible, that it was one or the other. I went from struggling to make a few
hundred dollars a month, to 3 years later making anywhere from $10-20k/month, leading teams of up to 10
people, while enjoying a balanced schedule of 3-4 hours of work a day. I’m not saying this to brag. I’m saying this
to show you that I have lived it myself, and know the very specific steps it takes for anyone to get to this point as
well.

8. “Making 6-figures as a designer is not a product
of skills, or even experience. It’s how you
approach your work.”

9. The keys to a 6-figure, flexible career:
What allows someone to make 6 figures while enjoying a work-life balance and traveling the world? It’s their
approach. Let me be very specific. They develop a specialty at something that is indispesable to growing businesses.
They have a sense of what type of design is valuable to GROWING
business, and they become masters at this, to the point where they cannot
be replaced.
This is a simple idea. Growing businesses pay a lot for creative work. If you are someone who specializes in design
for businesses like them, you will get high-paying contracts. This is so simple. When it clicks for you, you will wonder
how others have not seen it as well. Many young or inexperienced designers fall victim to one of the following:
1. Not knowing how to search for businesses that are growing and have huge design budgets.
2. Focusing on something, like print design, which businesses don’t value or pay for anymore.
3. Having no specialty and not knowing where they fit in.
4. Lacking basic professional skills that are essential to contributing to a team.
5. Not truly understanding the specific business marketing strategy and goals.
6. Not understanding the office dynamics they are working in.
In this book, I’m going to start to prepare you to figure out how you can become absolutely indispensible to
businesses with huge design budgets. So much that they will be willing to make special exeptions just to keep you
around. This is a simple idea, but there’s a lot of nuances to getting you there.

10. STEP 1: Build a portfolio that attracts big budgets.
STEP 2: Learn to properly value yourself.
STEP 3: Find & apply to companies that are growing.
STEP 4: Master the workflow.
STEP 5: Learn to successfully freelance.
STEP 6: Become a f*#!ing boss.
There’s a lot to cover.
I’ve simplified the process into 6 steps.

11. Build a portfolio that attracts big budgets.STEP 1:
Your portfolio is everything. This will 100%
determine your salary range, and the type of job
you get.
Design is fundamentally different than most careers. You won’t validate yourself with resume
accolades. With the dozens of designers I’ve hired, I’ve literally not once looked at a resume.
Don’t spend a bunch of time building a custom portfolio. The best employers
just look at your work, presented simply. Use squarespace.com to get a
portfolio up in a day, and focus on the quality of your work.
Use free photoshop mockup templates (see next page). In my course, I walk
you through this step-by-step.
Present a specialty that aligns with what growing industries are looking
for (more on this later).
Never post student work. It devalues you. Make student work seem as if it’s a
real project.

12. You can easily create design mockups
like this from pre-made photoshop
templates. Would you know that none
of these are real photos? It’s entirely
free and you can upload all your
designs in them to enhance how they
look in your portfolio.

13. Learn to value yourself.STEP 2:
I often get asked, what kind of salary should I ask for? How much should I quote a
job? Design salaries can range anywhere from $40,000 - $150,000 a year! I’ve seen
designers with more skills that make 50% less than they are worth because they
don’t know how to value themselves. You need to understand one important idea:
Nobody is ever going to value you more than
you value yourself.
Realize that there are no rules for how much a designer makes. It’s how well
you sell yourself and how confident you are.
You are not an “aspiring designer“ or a “student.“ No one wants to hire an
aspiring anything. Call yourself a “professional designer.” Right now. Just do
it.

14. Find companies that are growing.STEP 3:
You can instantly increase your salary potential by 30% or
more by learning to identify the right companies.
Most designers I meet apply randomly to companies, hoping to get hired. By learning the secrets of how
to find the companies that do pay better, and treat their designers better, you will make more money and
enjoy a more satisfying career. Your first job will lead to all your future jobs. It’s the most impotant part of
your process.
Apply to companies you know are growing, and having success. Some examples of the fastest growing
industries are: clean energy, financial technology, cannabis, organic food, just to name a few. Failing
or stagnant companies never have design budgets.
Look for companies that just raised money. They are almost always hiring designers. I have created a
course lesson that shows you exactly how to do this.
Never apply through the common application. You become 1 in 100. Always send your portfolio directly
to the person hiring. I walk you through in the course exactly how to know who that is and how to find
them.
For the love of god, keep emails short. I delete long application emails instantly. I am not
exaggerating.

15. Mastering the workflow.STEP 4:
Most designers have a lot of creative struggle
at work. It doesn’t need to be this way.
I hear designers often complaining about shitty clients. The truth is, it’s not the
clients that are shitty, it’s them. They have not yet mastered the workflow.
Learn the optimal way to use photoshop for web projects. I have a free video
online that walks you through exactly how to do this. This takes all the stress
off the whole process.
Find a few examples of sites to use as an example. Be incredibly specific.
What are they liking about it? Are they loving the copy? The photos? The
modernness? Be specific. I just repeated myself but you seriously need to be
very specific.
Eliminate all personal opinions about the work. Make it objective. You will
have more influence over the work process. I’ll explain this more later on.
Ask the company who is making the final decisions on design. Be EXTREMELY
clear on this. They will respect you for addressing this up front.

16. Learn to successfully freelance.STEP 5:
It’s easy getting freelance work. The real key
is to get freeelance work the pays well. I can
show you exactly how.
Freelance work has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. This is what has
allowed me to make more than any designer I know, while working less. With
freelance work, you are completely in control of your life. You can work from
anywhere, on your own hours.
Learn to identify companies who are in situations for freelance work. Look
for companies who are growing and doing well, but clearly struggling
with design.
Create a very, very clear scope of work. This is the #1 thing freelancers get
wrong, and it can lead to nightmares. I have included a template that
has worked for me, and video courses explaining exactly why it works.

17. Becoming a f*$#ing boss.STEP 6:
Most designers don’t know how to move their career in
this direction of being a creative director and leader.
You can. Regardless of where you are it’s important
that you get on this path.
Learn to see the business more holistically. Learn about the marketing strategy, ask more
questions about how the business runs and what their long term goals are.
Read Dale Carnegie’s book “How to win friends and influence people.“ Specifically the parts
about how to get people to change their minds about stuff. It’s genius.
Invest in leadership training for yourself. I recommend Tony Robbins, John C. Maxwell. This will
help you see yourself beyond being an employee, and more as a leader. Make this a regular
practice.
Start to notice the barriers to getting work done in the workplace and develop
unique solutions to these. Don’t complain about shit. Change it.

18. READY TO GET GOING?
This book is a broad overview. If you want to actually
make this real, I’ve created a comprehensive course that
will help you step-by-step. It is my 100% money-back
guarantee that you will get the job you are seeking, or
if you already have one, increase your salary by 30%
within 5 months (probably much less, but I don’t want to
overpromise.)
REALDESIGNSCHOOL.COM
At the end of the course, I will also offer you the option to personally edit
your design portfolio. This is exactly what I did for my students that almost
immediately got them high-paying jobs.

19. Set up a beautiful portfolio of work
that will put you in the higher-salary &
freelance project ranges.
How to identify companies that are
growing, with huge design budgets.
How to own the development process,
set up files properly, communicate with
engineers for web/mobile.
How to get your clients to see you as a
creative leader, rather than just a work-
slave designer.
In the course, I will walk you through EXACTLY how to:

20. How to cut down uneccessary work time by
managing the communication/feedback
process with clients.
Reduce stress by managing the revision
process.
Use photoshop ideally to eliminate hours of
unecessary work.

21. A design degree is what, like $120,000 or some shit like that? This
honestly makes me laugh because in 7 years no one has ever asked
for my degree. $79 is approximately the price for a sweatshirt at
Banana Republic. If the $79 for my course is not the best investment
you will ever make in your life, I am not doing my job. Consider the
following...
Design School: $120,000
Literally step-by-step how to get high
paying jobs in design: $79

22. It is my 100% money back guarantee that if you go through this program, and truly
invest yourself in the materials, you will get an awesome design job or see a 30% increase
on your salary within 5 months. Let’s do some math. And keep in mind that this is not even
taking into consideration future growth as well. So the real figure is much, much higher than
this. But you get the idea...
Current Salary:
$60,000
30% Increase in salary:
$78,000
Money earned over 10 years:
$180,000
Money earned over 20 years:
$360,000
Extra money you will earn over
40 year career:
$720,000+
(That could buy you this house.)

23. realdesignschool.com
Stop dreaming about doing cool shit. Make it happen.
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