Anyone do freelance graphic design?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
I'm thinking about taking up freelance design part-time, more for fun than anything else. Does anyone at AI do freelance work be it graphic or web design? I imagine it is nearly impossible to find work in these fields currently, but maybe not? I'm wondering if there is any market at all since software is a significant investment...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 15
    giaguaragiaguara Posts: 2,724member
    Find enough contacts as clients.



    learn to do useless flashs as many companies want flash only have sites in flash.



    i hope in US you have more chances than here.. <img src="graemlins/bugeye.gif" border="0" alt="[Skeptical]" />
  • Reply 2 of 15
    best place to start is by doing work for people you know. friends and family and what not. a lot of times this means doing it on the cheap or free which kind of sucks, but allows you to gain valuable experience on people that tend to be a little less demanding since, for the most part, your giving them a good deal. the more work you do, the easier it is to find new work. it can take some time, but if you're good, you'll do fine.



    [ 11-25-2002: Message edited by: running with scissors ]</p>
  • Reply 3 of 15
    powerdocpowerdoc Posts: 8,123member
    [quote]Originally posted by running with scissors:

    <strong>best place to start is by doing work for people you know. friends and family and what not. a lot of times this means doing it on the cheap or free which kind of sucks, but allows you to gain valuable experience on people that tend to be a little less demanding since, for the most part, your giving them a good deal. the more work you do, the easier it is to find new work. it can take some time, but if your good, you'll do fine.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    This is a really good advice. For whom who are interested by the job : follow it. The important point is to do the work for an another people and not only for your self. You have to learn to understand what an another people want and to realise his project. Making your own stuff will not give you this experience.
  • Reply 4 of 15
    Pretty good advise.



    The goals should be to:

    1. Build a portfolio. You must have work to show potential clients. If folks won't pay you something, then do it for free. This gives you experience. Keep track of your time on ALL projects so that when you do start bidding/pricing work you can make accurate estimates of your time. I break web work into 5 categories for this purpose. A) Consulting B) Design C) Creation of all graphics and templates D) Addition of content to the site E) project management, meetings, testing.



    2. Create a good visual identity for yourself. This builds trust with potential clients and sets you apart from others. Hand out those business cards to anyone that will take one!



    3. Tell people what you do. I don't actively market myself other than a yellow page listing and my web site but I do get involved in local activities and network.



    4. Make sure that you do the best work possible on all projects. Word-of-mouth is critical to your early success, don't spoil it with shoddy work.



    5. Find out what kind of businesses use designers in your area. I happen to live near a major universtiy and they publish tons of things to the web and often can't find employees to do the work - so they outsource it.



    6. Try to get a job at a place like this. I worked at the University when I first began doing Web work and made some terrific contacts that came in handy when I went solo.



    7. Do you have a Web site for yourself? If not, then start creating one today. Try to make it as professional as possible and keep personal stuff to a minimum. As with any portfolio, only show people work that you are proud of. The temptation early on is show everything that you've done to make it look as though you have experience. Be careful, that can backfire.



    8. Flash experience is a plus as long as you do it well. On the other hand, good clean design with good navigation will also win you Web jobs. People are desperate for someone that can clean up their mess of a site and make sense of what they do. Some design work might now be as much "fun" as Flash work but early on you shouldn't be picky - do any job that you can get your hands on.



    9. Find out what others with similar abiltiies are charging for that type of work and then do it cheaper, better, faster.



    Good luck,

    Chas
  • Reply 5 of 15
    leonisleonis Posts: 3,427member
    I agree with many people's advice here



    To start it's good to work for your friends, relatives....and then start to reach out to talk to more "strangers"
  • Reply 6 of 15
    It's very difficult right now,times are tough economically,and few people care about the difference between mediocre work and great work enough to pay for it.Things should pick up when the economy does.
  • Reply 7 of 15
    The freelance market is totally off. The impending war with Iraq isn't helping.



    Should you decide to do it, I'd suggest trying to get onto some freelance lists. A lot of companies, particularly smaller ones, will take on a large project and contract out to other people to work on it. I've done this for a number of firms and studios over the years.



    As people have said before, it's first and foremost about who you know and how well, how good your work is, and how much you charge... in that order in my experience.
  • Reply 8 of 15
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    wow, thank you for all of the advice, more than i expected, and very, very helpful. as a college student, I can get some great educational pricing on software, so I should be up and running for under $500 in software.
  • Reply 9 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by progmac:

    <strong>wow, thank you for all of the advice, more than i expected, and very, very helpful. as a college student, I can get some great educational pricing on software, so I should be up and running for under $500 in software.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Hate to burst your bubble, but if you read the license agreement on the educational versions of software, you are restricted to non-commercial academic use only. So if you plan to make money through using the software, it is prohibited by the license.
  • Reply 10 of 15
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    [quote]Originally posted by M3D Jack:

    <strong>



    Hate to burst your bubble, but if you read the license agreement on the educational versions of software, you are restricted to non-commercial academic use only. So if you plan to make money through using the software, it is prohibited by the license.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Oh. Well, crap. Thanks though.
  • Reply 11 of 15
    well, if you're not charging anybody to build anything for them, you can technically use the software for it. Using the software to bill time on is not allowed.



    Only ware I haven't seen an agreement like this on is with WebObjects Deployment. EDU price is $99 and it speaks nothing of EDU only limitations.



    Anyhow, I doubt there is some software police that will come around and monitor your license and use, but technically, that's the gig with EDU software.
  • Reply 12 of 15
    lucaluca Posts: 3,833member
    My mom is a freelance cartographer. She's had her own business, Parrot Graphics (www.parrotgraphics.com), for years and years now. Originally she just did tracing work but later on she got a IIcx to run Adobe Illustrator. Her first work on a Mac with Illustrator was a Mac II running Illustrator 88.



    The economy has been bad to her recently. She has good years and bad years, and this one is definitely a bad year. She's only made about half of what she normally makes. Meanwhile my dad is a FileMaker database developer for Advanced Respiratory. He's doing pretty well there.
  • Reply 13 of 15
    [quote]Originally posted by progmac:

    <strong>wow, thank you for all of the advice, more than i expected, and very, very helpful. as a college student, I can get some great educational pricing on software, so I should be up and running for under $500 in software.</strong><hr></blockquote>



    i'm not saying not to do freelance design work, but remember, just because you have a computer and some design software, does not a designer make. focus on learning how to design first and foremost. there are way to many people that have no skills and no talent passing shitty work off as "design". anyone can learn how to use photoshop and flash, however, it's a good understanding of how to effectively solve a clients problem that will separate you from the rest of the monkeys. and for the love of god ( or whatever religious or non religious thing or person you find important), don't be afraid to charge what you feel your time is worth. be realistic, but don't compromise to often or you will regret it down the road.
  • Reply 14 of 15
    giantgiant Posts: 6,041member
    Doing work for folks you know is the best way to get into it. If you do good and folks like working with you, they will tell others they know and eventually you will start hitting bigger jobs. Remember that there are many different kinds of freelance paths and many different sectors you could find yourself working in. It's pretty important that you think of it as a job, though, and not be too picky about what kind of work you are willing to do. If you don't get too involved with each job you will have more freedom than you think, just like anything in life.
  • Reply 15 of 15
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    The most important issue in the business is "relationships" .



    You can have all the talent in the world but won't get anywhere if you don't obtain the trust of clients.

    Build a relationship based on respect and trust. Instead of treating the client as a client, treat them as a partner and you'll go further and have longer lasting accounts.
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