Opus raised an interesting point on my last thread about reasons for turning freelance. The prospect of a higher income seems attractive to people sitting in an agency job earning less than say, 20k, particularly if they feel they are more talented than their salary would suggest. I suppose we all see the potential for more money being a long term prospect when we go solo, but how many of us actually achieve it? I suppose then it comes down to business savvy as well as creative talent. I was chatting to a local freelance copywriter the other day who used to work for a major PR company on a very good salary but decided to go freelance. Now he is struggling purely because he is, by his own admission, bad at self-marketing. I think the whole business/salesman side of things can really be what makes or breaks a freelancer, and why there are incredibly talented people earning peanuts while horrifically bad designers are getting a ton of work.
Without discussing exact figures (due partly to the rules of this forum and partly to us being terribly British and frowing upon discussing ones salary) how many of you freelancers have found that you're earning more than you were/would be if you had stuck with an agency job?
Hi all. I was just wondering what everyone's reasons are/were for deciding to pursue a freelance career. For me it has always been the prospect of self management/my difficulties with answering to a 'boss' and the sense of pride and achievement that comes from running your own show. I can add another reason to that list now though - the outrageous demands made by prospective employers. I was idly browsing through job ads on the net and I can't believe the pathetic level of pay being offered for supposedly entry level jobs. Entry level jobs that require 1-3 years experience(!) Makes you sick eh. :mad:
I know it's a bit of a no-brainer, but start by looking at music posters etc. I know it's not strictly contemporary, but rock posters from the 90s tended to be big silk-screened creations that drew heavily from psychadelia. I strongly advise you read a book called 'Rock Posters of the 90s.' I forget who it's by, and off the top of my head I can't remember the individual artists' names. I'll give you more details this evening - I'm at work at the mo, not sure my boss would appreciate me researching hippy-influenced design work when I should be... ok I'm not even sure what I should be doing right now... 😃
I found that just reading was enough, as long as you use a range of sources. I went through every book I could find, every website, every archived magazine etc. Of course, in reality I did a lot of skim-reading and got most of the information I needed from several books, but it's all about giving the impression of a well-rounded study. Also, if I came across an article from, say, Eye magazine on a google search, I listed it as coming from the magazine, not the website. This will look a lot more impressive in the eyes of tutors as it takes a whole lot more effort to go out and look through magazines than it does to just run a search on the web.
When it comes to actually writing the dissertation, I found it easiest to hammer through it in a short time. (Well, I actually didn't have much choice, - I left it all to the last minute!) Keeping to a tight deadline helps to keep things concise and stops you from repeating yourself. Divide your piece into distinct chapters, and although cross-referencing is important make sure you tackle a new aspect of the subject in each one.
If you need any help then PM me. As you might have seen in the other post I left for you, I kinda messed up my course from a design perspective, but managed to save it with a strong dissertation. I got a first (82) and did the whole thing in just over a week ;)
I think that was more than a little harsh! I graduated from a degree course in Graphic Design last summer and I felt exactly the same way during my time at uni. There is something very demoralizing about having tutors slating your work and feeling like you'll never stand up to the competition once you get out. Don't worry Rachael, I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine. My course actually depressed me to the point of virtually giving up. I stuck at it but the quality of my design work totally slipped and I only managed to graduate with a 2:2 because I aced my dissertation. The beauty of graphic design (especially in a freelance capacity) is that it can be done in conjunction with something else. Once I had graduated I was in no position at all to approach a design studio or anything, so I took up a regular boring old office job and have kept up freelancing in my spare time. I'm building up a portfolio of work across a broad range of clients which I can use to bulk up my few decent uni projects. I'm now either considering setting up a full-time freelance business or maybe pursuing a career in marketing. Either way, the skills that you learn in uni will stay with you no matter how well you actually perform on the course, and are extremely applicable once you leave. I do whole-heartedly believe that it's perfectly acceptable to become a graphic designer without going down the further education route, but these people do seem to have a habit of berating us students!
Just relax, enjoy the rest of your time at uni, and you'll be fine once you leave.
Hey. I won't endeavour to answer your question as I don't have enough knowledge about the legality of the situation. I do sympathise however. It's a minefield out there, with many clients thinking they can screw over designers as they don't see us as 'proper' businesspeople. It's up to us to change this. Stand firm, make sure all new projects are negotiated professionally with the use of contracts (provided both by you, and if necessary by the client) and you should have more of a sway when negotiating. it goes without saying that you should never be forced into underselling yourself. This guy sounds like a complete **** so best of luck with it.
Of course you could do what 90% of other young designers do and toddle over to a torrent client and (completely by accident of course) end up with a spanking new version of Creative Suite rather than that freeware program you obviously thought you were downloading. Then you think to yourself "right, I suppose now I've accidentally ended up with this it'd be a crying shame not to use it. I just need to make sure that as soon as I get a bit of money together I go out and buy the real thing."
If you can't justify this to yourself ethically then hats off to you! You're a bigger man than I was when I first started out.
Absolutely, it's some kind of 'reverse mode' induced by impending crisis.
How true is that! All designers seem to suffer from the same condition. The nearer you get to that deadline you've been dreading the more fascinating that book you've been putting off reading seems...
I always find myself link hopping through youtube etc then suddenly realising that 4 hours have passed. 😃
I'm working on it. I had originally intended to focus on print work, but I'm now learning flash and web design applications and techniques to try and offer a more competitive service.
xlogic - thank you for leaving any dissagreements we might have in the other thread 🙂
Hi, my name's Rob and I'm a graphic design student in my final year at the University of Lincoln. I'm currently going through the inevitable stages of self-doubt, fear and confusion before embarking on my professional career!
I have always planned to spend at least a few months post-uni playing with my band (who are doing pretty well at the moment) and generally enjoying life a little before plunging myself into a proper career. The problem I have is that I can't decide whether to go for a job within a larger design company or go straight into freelance. Freelance work has always been my ultimate aim, and I hope to one day set up my own studio by linking up with one or two fellow designers. In the meantime however, I can see the benefits of working as a junior designer within a company as I'll receive on the job training, a close level of support and a reliable wage. My current idea is to set myself up with a strong website and business name and work freelance while I persue my endeavours with the band (which only takes up my evenings), then use the resultant work to bulk out my existing university portfolio and look for work within an established design agency. Does this sound sensible? The problem with my current portfolio is that the work it contains is centred around zany university-set graphic design projects and very little work that directly relates to branding etc. The other worry I have is that I consider myself a strong writer and I'm confident in the field of advertising. I've been thinking about copywriting work. Are there designers who also offer a copywriting service?
Sorry about the long-winded nature of this post, but its my first one and I'm eager to explain myself! It seems like you guys have a nice little community here and I look forward to joining it. 🙂
