blog 5.0 rfp

The RFP, request for proposal is a idea of holding everyone to the same standards regardless of any other bias so that everyone has a fair and equal chance at winning a bid for a job. I do not think these so much hinder the designing community as much as it hinders clientele from seeing the true potential of their prospective designing firms. I agree with A List Apart's article on RFPs in that there should be a lot more creative freedom seeing as that's what you're hiring for, a creative group for a creative goal. Don't restrict the receivers of RFPs to a specific font, spacing, and format, but rather give them guidelines on what you want to see overall. The idea of a USP is another interesting concept. The idea of an elevator pitch has been around in the "finding a job market" for years but the effectiveness is what can be drawn into question. Can someone truly sell themselves in a 20-30 second window? Can one have a two-liner that can be effective enough to capture someones attention to want more? I think it can if that is what the person is looking for. If they want that, "proficient in photoshop, aftereffects, dreamweave, illustrator and skill in logo work, and business identity" guy, then ya, your 1 line just hooked that client instantly. But if that same client is looking for someone more in web, you wasted your breath even for one sentence. As to attempt to make one for myself, I will place myself in my current home town knowing full well what the clientele will want, I would say something along the lines of, "I'm comfortable working on Website Designs, Business identities, and advertisements for your company." If that works, awesome, if not, well he wasn't looking for me anyway.