Congratulations! You moved to Portland to start your career as a graphic designer. You’ve just joined the ranks of the young, gifted and under-employed. Before you thrown in your organic cotton towel and head to the barista stand, try these foolproof tips to achieving creative success in the weirdest city in America.

Forget all the portfolio rules and marketing guidelines you learned at that Midwestern state school. In Portland, we do things differently. We value the obscure, the weird, the artisan, and the independent. So ditch that insurance brochure from your portfolio and re-vamp your image Portland-style.

Design a Hipster Logo

You pretty much have to do this first thing. Stop what you are doing right now, get out your protractor and get to work on a hipster logo. Portlanders LOVE those all-black logos that are rough around the edges with rugged type and text on a curve. Your logo should be contained in a seal shape or oriented around an “x”. Stuck? Visit any number of artisan coffee shops for inspiration.