Tips How to Become a Freelance Graphic Designer

Tips How to Become a Freelance Graphic Designer?

1. Build your Portfolio

Becoming a freelance graphic designer is nearly impossible without having an effective online profile. It plays a crucial role in creating your online presence. Your portfolio will attract potential clients.
As we just mentioned, it is key for new freelancers to come to the table with a vast portfolio showcasing their work. So what do you do if your completed projects just aren’t that plentiful?

If your previous work is a little lacking, work on a selection of mock-ups to show just how good your design eye really is. And this task doesn’t have to be a daunting one. By using a more simple outlet like DesignBold, you can create a whole slew of images for all sorts of varying needs in a matter of moments. With tools like this available, there really is no need to have a skimpy portfolio.

2. Brand Your Skills

This is often considered a part of the first step. Any organization or brand may fall apart if they don’t have any established style. To put it simply, make an impactful logo that helps you create your brand identity.  

3. Make an Effective Resume and Business Card

It may seem a combination of the first two steps, but your resume or business card can do wonders for you when it comes to posting applications or approaching new clients. An impressive business card works as your tangible portfolio and can be given to clients who want to meet you in person.

4. Be a Professional and Bold

People will not know you until you allow them to explore your expertise. So, never hesitate to approach or call people and offer your graphic design services. Email them, send your samples, or post them on different freelancing websites to bring your work upfront.

5.  Know Your Target client

Know your target market by doing some research before getting started. Learn how brands like to be presented and conveyed. Don’t market yourself as a designer who wants to design anything. Show your expertise to clients whose work requirements match your skill set.

6. Leverage Word of Mouth

90% of your work reputation depends on word of mouth. No doubt it’s a powerful tool that can advertise your work and expertise. So, always try to go the extra mile to give what your clients are asking for.

7. Begin with Small Jobs

Famous graphic designer Paul Rand said, “The public is more familiar with bad design than good design.”

It is not wise to strive for a big project in the initial phase of your career. Always begin with small tasks, like logo designing, to gain confidence and understand the client’s psyche.

8. Do not Underestimate Yourself

Believing in yourself is the key to becoming a successful freelance graphic designer. Be sure to show this confidence when negotiating with clients, so that they can trust your creativity.

9. create your Network

The design world is dynamic. Every day there are new styles, ideas, and techniques, making designs trending or obsolete in no time. If you don’t want to lag in the design world, stay updated.

Build a network of graphic designers, participate in forums, and attend workshops to stay relevant with the latest ideas.

10. Use  Social Media platforms

Sign up for different social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, to make new clients. Start blogging and interacting with the public to create an identity in the design world.

11. Keep Practice, Practice, and Practice

If you agree with the statement “There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW” by Milton Glaser, you must know that only practice can lead you to perfection. Never stop giving a chance to innovative ideas in graphic designing. It will help you improve your designing skills.

12. Keep Your Eyes in Everywhere

You have to be good at observing things to leverage your creative thinking. Pay attention to new designs, trends, and ideas. Observe photographs, advertisements, and buildings to collect design pieces and find creative inspiration.

13. Read Your Client

As you bid for more and more jobs, you are going to come across a wide range of customers. Instead of forwarding the same, generic info to each potential opportunity, take some time to learn who you are vying to work for.

14. The Key to Success

We’ve already talked about potential problems that graphic designers face when building their own businesses, but you can do a lot more than simply avoid the common pitfalls of your peers. Below, we are going to delve into 15 steps to create a thriving freelance career in graphic design.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, graphic designing is a creative field with great freedom to express your thoughts and ideas. Whether you get a formal diploma or learn this skill online, graphic designing has a myriad of opportunities to run a successful freelance business.

Many professional studios allow designers to practice their creative skills. If you’re looking for a professional graphic designer, Markustudio, is a great option to give a boost to your graphic designing career

How To Get Started As A Freelance Graphic Designer

Have you ever wondered what it takes to get started out as a freelance graphic designer? If you are thinking about venturing into the field of graphic design for yourself, then this article should prove to help you tremendously!

I will be giving you a look at how I got started out in the freelancing world, provide you with some excellent learning resources many of which I use again and again, as well as educate you on how you can begin your own graphic design career as a freelancer!

So what is a graphic designer?

The graphic designer’s job is to effectively communicate the intended message of the project at hand visually to a specified audience. Designers do this through arranging type, symbols, color, and imagery to create a brand “feel” related to the business they are working with for the project at hand.

Typical projects graphic designers work on often are: visual brand identity which includes: logo designs, business cards, brochures, flyers, folders, print advertisements, postcards, company letterhead & envelopes, booklets, catalogs, packaging design, greeting cards and invitations, social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, as well as web advertisements, and web graphic elements. Designers can also create simple, beautiful websites in Adobe Muse and can customize WordPress website templates for their clients as well.

Learn the skills

So, you may ask yourself: What type of education do I need to become a graphic designer? Well, for me, I chose to obtain an associates degree in graphic design. You can choose to go after a bachelors, or a certificate, or even solely do your own self-study.

I highly recommend having the foundation that formal education provides, however it is not 100% mandatory, especially if you have an excellent eye for design to begin with and are a go-getter when it comes to seeking out the known experts in the field and going through their books or online courses to learn everything you need to know and set you on the path for success.

What you choose really depends on your lifestyle and how much time and monetary investment you can put towards building your all-essential portfolio of work samples.

You can invest in college

Choosing the college route is a fantastic starting place if your time and your finances allow you to partake in this option. There are so many great college options to choose between. You could work towards a certificate or associates degree at your local community college, or you can opt for an online college such as Full Sail University.

The benefits of obtaining a degree in the field are great because you will be provided with a well-rounded education that will cover all areas of graphic design. You will learn the crucial design principles, learn how to meet deadlines, and learn how to take critiques on your many design projects.

By going through formal education, you will come out with a great grasp on all of the foundational fundamentals that you will need to know as a graphic designer so that you can be confident that you will be able to provide nothing but the best service for your ideal soon-to-come clients. You could opt for only taking a couple of college classes if you wanted and then pursue the rest of your education through your own self-study.

However, even if you do decide to pursue a degree, I would also definitely recommend supplementing what you learn in school with your own self-study. By doing so, your work and your clients will only benefit!

You can do your own self-study

Sometimes, the finances just aren’t available or you simply don’t have that much time to dedicate outside of your home to go to your local community college. If this is your situation, then you must know that you don’t need to have a diploma sitting on your desk to become a freelance graphic designer!

The most crucial thing that I have found potential clients are looking for is not a degree, but a quality work portfolio for them to see. I have experienced this to be the number one element that they base their decision on. If you put together a great portfolio full of at least 4-6 beautiful, solid samples of design work you have done – then that is enough to get started.

So, how do you learn from your own self-study? With the wealth of information available at your fingertips, it is now easier than ever to learn everything you need to know by just knowing where to go to educate yourself.

I suggest that you put together your own learning course by getting a hold of every design book you can, soak up design inspiration from great and successful designers and emulate their work for your own personal practice. Start an online learning track on Treehouse and begin taking a set list of courses on Lynda.com and learn all you can for the specific work you want to focus on at SkillShare. There is also a wealth of courses you can choose between at Udemy on the topic of graphic design.

After you have a general overview of the design fundamentals and a good grasp of the basics of each of the Adobe design programs (see the list below), it would be my suggestion to start out by defining the one area of focus that you want to concentrate on. Decide if you want that area to be logo design, business card design, brochure design, simple website design, WordPress design, etc and then learn everything you can about your area of concentrated study.

Once you know all that you can about the subject, work on designing four to six solid samples for your portfolio so that you will be able to use this portfolio on different work sites. Or, you can concentrate on that one area of study and create templates or graphic packs to sell on Etsy through your own online shop.

If you want to learn how to create your own stunning portfolio website (or even learn how to create informational websites for clients of your own), feel free to check out my online training course Designing Websites in Adobe Muse CC . (Use the Special 10% OFF Discount Code: NUSCHOOL10) This course is a valuable resource to anyone who is interested in pursuing a career in this field.

Recommended tools

A Reliable Computer:: I own both a MacBook Pro for work on the go and an iMac for when I’m working at home and sitting down at my desk. However, you can easily work on either a Mac or a PC, as the design programs can be downloaded and used on both of these platforms.

Adobe Creative Cloud Programs:: These programs are an absolute must and the industry standard for every graphic designer to have. I recommend to start by downloading Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, & Muse. Learn these programs back & forth and you’ll be able to provide your clients with great value in any area of their branding materials. Adobe Illustrator CC is used for creating vector graphics.

This is the program you would use for logos, scalable illustrations, 1-2 page advertisements, and icon sets. Adobe Photoshop CC is used for editing photographic imagery and building website mockups. Adobe InDesign CC is used for laying out booklets, books, eBooks, magazines & catalogs. Adobe Muse CC is used for designing simple websites without having to worry about writing complex website coding.

Pantone Color Matching System:: Owning color swatches from the Pantone Color Matching system is highly recommended to keep consistent color across both printed materials and the web. (I recommend the color fans)

A Scanner & Printer:: Having a good scanner and printer is essential for bringing your sketches to the computer and being able to test print your work so that you can be sure you are giving your clients the best.

A Sketchbook & Pen:: Having a sketchbook and pen nearby is a great time saver so that you can do quick sketches to determine the composition of your project or concept idea before you bring them to the computer for more concentrative work.

A Drawing Tablet:: This tool isn’t absolutely necessary, but can be a great help with illustration work and quick thumbnail sketches.

How to Work From Home As A Graphic Designer

So, how do you get started in your own graphic design business? I got my start in the freelancing world on oDesk.com (Read my post: Tips for Working on oDesk Successfully As An Independent Contractor). There are many other freelancing sites you can look into as well (see my list of recommended resources below).

Invest time and effort into making your online work profile shine with your brief work description, your portfolio of 4-6 samples, and any skills testing the work site might have available. I also recommend having your own website set up so that you will have an outside web presence to show your potential clients during the interview stage.

By having a well-designed website set up, you will be one step closer to gaining the trust of your potential client and turning them into a long-term business relationship. Once you have your profile and website set up, the next thing to do is to start submitting applications to the job postings that interest you for work directly related to your portfolio samples.

Tailor each cover letter you submit to address what you specifically propose to do for the client to meet and exceed their project needs. Then, once the client hires you, follow through with your promises!

Graphic design is a field that is ever growing and there is no cap to how far you can go in your business! If you are interested in becoming a graphic designer, I urge you to take the first step and start exploring your own area of concentrated study. You can even do this while still working your day job by dedicating an hour or two each evening towards your own self-study and building your portfolio.

For me, working from home (or literally anywhere) as a graphic designer is not only exciting, but also so rewarding. I get to do what I love, (create beautiful and effective designs), make a profitable income for my family, help others reach a high level of success in their businesses, and be there for my family all at the same time! I love it because there is just so much flexibility and there is always something new and exciting to learn.

To help you get started, check out my quick list of recommended resources below. These resources are the top sites and products I interact with on a daily basis in my work and I know you’ll find them helpful too as you begin your freelancing career!

Quick list of resources

Accredited Learning

Your Local College

Full Sail University

Non-Accredited Learning

Lynda

Treehouse

SkillShare

Udemy

Inspiration

Behance

Dribbble

LogoPond

LovelyPackage

DesignSeeds

Pinterest!

Finding Work

oDesk

Etsy

Elance

Freelancer

Design Resources

Free Stock Photos Websites

InkyDeals.com (Free)

SubtlePatterns.com (Free)

FontSquirrel.com (Free)

DaFont.com (Free)

WhatTheFont.com (Free Look-Ups)

MyFonts.com

Vecteezy.com (Free)

Shutterstock.com

CreativeMarket.com

DreamLaunch Hosting & Domains

Design Books

Creative Workshop: 80 Challenges to Sharpen Your Design Skills

Thinking with Type

Making and Breaking the Grid

Color Index

Design Basics Index

Layout Index

Type Idea Index

Logo Design Love

You’re on your way to becoming a freelance graphic designer

That’s all I’ve got for you today! But it’s my absolute best, most sincere, and proven advice for learning how to become a freelance graphic designer.

It won’t happen overnight. It won’t be easier than staying at your day job.

But if you want to become a freelance designer, you can do it. And hopefully today’s article will prove to be a huge help.

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