Maria Emilia Palet – Industrial Designer

FREELANCER INSIDES
More interviews with freelancers on www.freelancermap.com...
© freelancermap.com
Maria Emilia Palet –
Industrial Designer
7/7/2015 info@freelancermap.com

Our freelancer of the week has the job a
lot of people dream about when
growing up. Maria Emilia Palet is a
designer. She has worked with
manufacturers of children's furniture,
lighting systems, outdoor clothing and
many more. She really enjoys her work
with companies whose values and
products she can believe in. Read more
about the fascinating Maria Emilia Palet
who among other things speaks four
different languages…

1) First off, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm a self-employed industrial designer who grew up in
Argentina and am currently living in Europe. For the last
decade, I have worked with small manufacturing
companies from various sectors including metalworking,
lighting devices, baby furniture, and others helping them
to add value to their products. I am a decidedly
experienced non-specialized designer who has a technical
& creative background. What I enjoy most about working
as a freelancer is having the chance to offer solutions to
businesses whose values and products I believe in.

2) If you would search for your profile on Google, which are
the three keywords you would type in the search bar?
Added-value, Cost-effective-solutions, Long-term-
professional-relationships

3) What was your inspiration and when did you actually decide to
become a freelancer?
When I was a student at college, while working on my thesis project I
met a freelance designer who inspired me. I love variety and was
quite fascinated by the idea of working on different projects
simultaneously. Taking responsibility for my projects, and the
decisions they entailed, was very attractive to me.
Shortly before I graduated I was invited to partner with an experienced
designer which gave me professional experience and an opportunity
to learn how to run and manage a business during the whole process,
from the schedule and quotation to the follow-up production and
project launch. I have been a full-time industrial freelance designer
ever since and am eager to learn and grow from each experience.

4) What kind of services have your clients asked you to provide?
• Product development: I provide professional design services to
companies who develop, manufacture and distribute mass consumer
products such as lighting devices, toys or bathroom accessories.
Sometimes we develop single products and some other times we
work on complete lines such as a cot, chiffonier, changing table,
dresser, drawer and toy chest for a baby’s room. I work together with
my clients to create the Brief including the requirements that
allow me to tailor the project to their particular needs. For
example, I take their target market, costs, suppliers, etc. into
account.
• Redesign. I update and make improvements to my clients’ existing
products for example in user/production/assembly aspects.

• 4) What kind of services have your clients asked you to provide?
(cont‘d)
• Idea into product. I can develop ideas provided by clients and create
products suitable for manufacturing and marketing.
• Concepts. I provide design concepts for specifics markets.
• Benchmarking. I analyse my clients’ products and compare them to
competitors and current market demands. Results of the analysis help
to evaluate potential start-points for new developments and provide
a fresh and objective perspective.
• Manuals. I create illustrated User Manuals. An example includes
creating instructions on how to assemble baby cots.

5) Do you use other freelancers or companies to provide skills that you
don’t possess?
I collaborate with a network of trusted contributors from different
disciplines such as photography, graphic design, web design and
illustration among others, depending on each project’s requirements.
Collaborating with fellow experts helps to create a flexible structure
and avoids fixed costs while providing a professional service for my
clients. I can count on professionals I have worked with before. When
I need to find other freelancers I ask for referrals. I also received
spontaneous candidatures via email that I take into consideration too.
I choose freelancers based on the quality of their portfolio as well as
their professionalism and attitudes toward work.

6) Now tell us, how do you find new clients that are
interested in your services?
Most of my projects came from direct referrals from clients
and colleagues. I also prospect clients via cold emails, cold
(paper) mails, cold calls and online networks among
others. I find attending trade fairs to be among my
favourite strategies as they provide not only work
opportunities but especially the chance to talk in person
with potential clients and find out more about their needs
and challenges.

7) What about freelancermap.com? Can you tell us a little
bit about your experience with our IT-network?
I have no experience with IT-network as of today. I subscribe
to the freelancermap newsletter and I find the information
very useful. I think the Freelance Insiders Section is a great
thing. We all know that networking is important, not only
for work opportunities but to gain new perspectives about
how others work, what their challenges are and how they
conquer them which is why I appreciate having the
opportunity to share my experience and the chance to
read about others.

8) How do you set yourself apart from your competitors? What makes you
special?
Because of low structural costs I work with a limited number of clients, which
allows me to devote quality time and attention to each client’s project. I also
strive to achieve simple and intelligent solutions that reduce costs and
increase profit margins while creating a product that captures the user’s
attention. Being multilingual provides a great advantage especially in Europe
where there are so many different languages. I speak four languages and this
provides me the opportunity to obtain information directly from foreign
bibliography sources and also to communicate directly with international
suppliers or prospective experts.
Lastly, having an international background and extensive experience in different
sectors allows me to offer a fresh perspective in finding solutions to my
clients’ challenges. In the words of a German prospect: “Variety is good!”

9) What are the top three books, blogs or magazines you
read to stay up to date in the IT-market?
TED talks are an infinite source of inspiration, providing
information about the latest news, what people are doing,
what solutions they’ve found, and what they have learned.
I also read weekly newsletters such as the freelancermap
newsletter and “99U” by Behance which are two of my
favourite publications.

10) Freestyle! Is there anything you would like to tell our
readers?
I would like to share a quote I read recently that appeared in
a book: “In today’s fast-changing world, it’s not so much
what you know anymore that counts, because often what
you know is old. It is how fast you learn. That skill is
priceless.” I pride myself on being a fast learner!

© freelancermap.com
Further freelancer interviews available on www.freelancermap.com/freelancer-insides
Contact
freelancermap.com
Contact person: Doreen Schollmeier - International Affairs
Mail: info@freelancermap.com
Skype: doreen.schollmeier
Phone: +49-911-37750286
facebook: www.facebook.com/freelancermapInternational
Twitter: freelancer_INT

Maria Emilia Palet – Industrial Designer

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Mehr von freelancermap team

Mehr von freelancermap team (20)

Maria Emilia Palet – Industrial Designer