In several of my classes I have been asked questions from students interested in doing freelance work. There are any questions as to what to charge, how to do taxes, how to manage time, how to go about finding clients, etc. There are so many things I could talk about that I'd like some help narrowing it down. I'm happy to answer just about anything you can throw at me (granted it's about freelancing, design, grad school—you get the idea). I'll certainly take the time to answer questions in class but I thought this may be a good place to use as a future reference in case you forgot what I said. Also, for those who don't have me for class, it can be used as a resource.
Here's the deal. You put questions in the comments to this post and I'll answer them honestly and to the best of my ability. I'll wait until some have gathered and then I'll start creating new posts as a Q&A session. Sound good?
And go!
EDIT: For those of you who don't have me and question my qualifications to answer these questions, I am an assistant professor of communication design at a University, I have 8 years professional industry experience and more than 13 years freelance experience. I own my own design firm, an LLC, and have regional, national and international clients for whom I've done the full gamut of design, advertising, web and illustration work.
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8 comments:
Great blog here. I think it's cool you got your students comments on design things. It's good to have discussions.
I have a question. As a freelancer, how do you balance home life and work life if you work from your home. Doesn't it get hard to create that separation?
1) how much is ones time worth? how much do/can/ or are you supposed to charge a client?
2) where do your responsibilities begin and end when it comes to your design? example: lets say, you make a package design for a client, what is the process after the design is complete? is it your responsibility to get the packages printed? or do you just hand it to the client and its their responsibility after that?
3) where do you meet a client? do you have an office? do you go to their place of business? etc...
4) does a clients budget differentiate how much you charge?
5) do you treat a design like any other product? can it be returned? do you give discounts? what if the client changes their mind completely, in the middle of the design process and doesn't want it anymore?
have you ever approached a business, rather then the business approaching you?
How/can you go about getting an internship, other then through the college? do you recommend it?
during a presentation in graphics survey, a designer said that he includes a users manual with his logos... is this a common practice, or an old guy going above and beyond?
what are the differences between working for a firm and working for yourself?
How do you get started in the business? How do you get clients? Do you approach them? Do you take out ads? How do get your name out there so people will start to want to hire you?
What steps should I take to score the internship I want the most? How should my work be presented to the company I want to intern for?
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