For anyone seeking to become a freelance graphic designer, the first thing you need to know is that it takes hard work and commitment. To get ahead in the field, you truly have to be not just talented but also driven to be the best. Graphic design is a highly competitive field, and you cannot get ahead if you are not willing to work hard.
But with those caveats out of the way, graphic design is a huge area of growth right now, and even with the thousands of freelance professionals offering their services, companies often have difficulty finding the right designers for their projects. So if you work hard, have talent, and possess a strong collaborative spirit, you can work toward making graphic design a full-time and highly rewarding career.
Breaking into the business is not always easy, though. To help you get started on your path, here’s some advice that you might want to think about.
Why degree is important for a freelance graphic designer
It is easy for anyone to download a few graphic design programs, develop a basic familiarity with them, and call oneself a freelance graphic designer. Unfortunately, the freelance graphic design field is full of people looking to make a quick buck off shoddy or even plagiarized work. Of course, it must be said that there are plenty of talented and very qualified graphic designers who do not have formal educations in the field, but what sets them apart are their proven track records.
Graphic designers without degrees, with little work experience, and with unprofessional portfolios are unlikely to go far, and potential clients are typically very wary of these people. As a result, they tend to be guarded when it comes to first-time hiring.
Your degree does not have to be from a top-notch institution. As long as it’s a good school with a full program that offers training in all the latest techniques and technologies relevant to today’s graphic designers, then it is fine. When prospective clients see that you have this degree, they will feel safer working with you and will know that you have at least a basic foundation of technical skill.Why degrees are not so important
A few years ago, if you had a graphic design degree from a reputable educational institution, this was usually enough to earn you entry into the field. This has changed. With the rise in demand for graphic design degrees, a large number of companies have sprung up to cater to people who want their degrees cheaply and fast. As a result, those who are familiar with the business are aware that not all degrees are equal. And sometimes it’s hard to tell.
So while it’s always a good idea to have a degree to demonstrate to prospective employers that you are at least technically qualified, it’s important to place a much greater emphasis on other elements of your presentation. Most important, you need to have a great portfolio. If what you have in your portfolio is fantastic, potential clients won’t even bother to look at all your official credentials. They’ll just know that they want you to do stuff like that for them.
Take the time to put together a top-notch portfolio. Bring together all of your past work, consider which pieces are most impressive, and display them on your website. Don’t include pieces that you are less than proud of, as these will just drag down the presentation. And if you worry that you are short on pieces to present in your portfolio, take the time to create some new ones.
Presenting yourself online
Speaking of websites, you need to have a great one. Other types of freelancers can get away with having shoddily constructed, bland-looking professional websites, but your field is graphic design. It doesn’t even matter if your specific area of expertise is not website design. Prospective employees may not understand the ins and outs of the business and all its sub-fields.
There’s just no getting around the fact that they will evaluate you based on your website. So even if you have to pay someone else to put together an aesthetically pleasing site for you, it is worth it.
It is also important to make sure that your website is not just well designed but also simple and easy to navigate. People want to be able to get a quick glimpse of who you are and what you do, and if they have to dig for this information they will likely look no further. Include a brief bio that includes professional information and a few tidbits about your background.
When it comes to presenting all this information, it is important for the text to be well written and free of grammar and spelling errors. If you will be catering primarily to a clientele whose language is not your first, you might want to have a native speaker edit your text before it goes live. Otherwise, you risk looking unprofessional.
Elevate your standards
These days, people seeking entry into the freelance graphic design business must go up against other freelance graphic designers from all over the world. And no matter where you live, it’s a safe bet that there are people somewhere else in the world who can do similar work at a much lower rate than you’re willing to offer. This is a simple fact of life for all types of freelancers in this globalized age, and it can be an endless source of frustration for those who are seeking simply to make enough money to live on. But there are ways to get beyond this problem.
For newcomers, the only way to subvert the overseas competition is to truly and fully earn your rates. This means always working hard, always giving your best effort in all your projects, and always treating your customers with a superlative level of professionalism and respect. Your work should be remarkably better than that of your competition, and your business practices should be top notch.
Of course, for those freelance graphic designers who live in countries with higher costs of living, this may not seem fair. But think of it this way: Don’t you want to be doing your best work anyway? There is no job satisfaction in cutting corners, cheating, or being dishonest with clients. When you give your work your all and truly do the best you can do, the job becomes infinitely more rewarding. Plus, with all this hard work you will be not only outshining the competition but also building a killer portfolio.
Give people what they want
Most people get into the graphic arts because they want to be able to make a living through their creativity. And while there will sometimes be room for creativity, try to set aside notions of self-expression, at least while you are working. There is time for personal work during your off hours. In your paid work, the most important thing is to give your clients what they ask for.
In the field of graphic design, sometimes creativity is not the greatest virtue. Some clients are just going to want you to create designs that serve a specific function, in which case creativity may even be a negative. Also keep in mind that many of your clients won’t have a strong eye for aesthetic value. All they want is for you to create what they envision in their minds. If what they envision is, by your own standards, not that creative or interesting, then you just have to create work that is uncreative and uninteresting. What matters is whether your client is pleased. And you are always free to turn down projects on which you don’t think you can see eye to eye with the client.
Challenge yourself
As you get into freelance graphic design work, you’ll find that you often come across projects that are within your comfort zone, and you may be tempted to rely on these. But it’s always a good idea to stretch yourself a little. This doesn’t mean that you should take on jobs that you can’t do. Rather, you should take on jobs that are difficult but which you certainly can do if you apply yourself and work hard. The more you do this, the easier these once-difficult jobs will become. You will diversify your skills, which will open up greater opportunity for you in the future.
If you are not comfortable taking on certain types of jobs, use some of your free time to practice that type of work. Give yourself assignments, and work on these projects as if they are actual paid jobs. Through repetition, you will begin to get more comfortable and hence expand your capabilities. This is the type of thing that today’s graphic designers must do if they wish to get a competitive edge.
Also keep in mind that many of the types of projects in which new graphic designers are most comfortable are the most common and straightforward projects. In other words, all the other new graphic designers out there are probably looking for the same types of jobs as you are. By expanding your skills and stretching your comfort level, you enable yourself to take on projects for which qualified designers are harder to find.
Find work
In today’s graphic design world, the best way to find work is to go through one of the many great websites designed to connect freelancers to clients. There are a few devoted specifically to the graphic design field, and there are other good ones that cover all types of freelance work. On these sites, you will likely find that it is hard to break through and land those first few jobs. Deeply entrenched freelancers with long track records and many good reviews tend to get work relatively easily, while the newcomers have to fight over scraps. But if you keep trying and do everything right, you will begin to pick up a few jobs, and things will build from there.
On these sites, how you present yourself is important. Your profile should be well written and professional. Think of it as a more condensed version of your website. And when you bid on projects, make sure your cover letters address the project directly. Boilerplate letters turn prospective clients away and make you look lazy. It does take time to write all these letters and submit all these bids, but think of it as an investment in the future of your career.
Be social
Today’s freelancers have to put themselves out there in the online social circles. There are a few outlets for this. Perhaps most importantly, get on all the major social networking sites. If you already have personal profiles on Facebook and Twitter, create a professional profile in which you can interact primarily with others in your field and prospective clients. There are many benefits to delving into the social world, but perhaps most important is that it’s a great way to network and keep up with trends. You may never get work directly through your social networking activities, but being plugged into the community will benefit you in numerous other ways.
Meanwhile, it’s also a good idea to have a blog attached to your professional website. This is tricky territory, though, because poorly thought out or badly written blog posts can actually drag your site down. But if you have interesting things to say and have a genuine interest in participating in the online discussion relating to graphic design, having a blog is a great way to connect with others. It also helps you advance your own thinking on your work, which makes you a better, more professional freelance graphic designer.