Freelance work is not exactly easy; there is no guarantee you’re going to get a client next week, or the week after that. All of the work you get you have to go out there and look for, it takes a lot of experience and knowledge before a freelance worker becomes popular and well-known enough to have business coming to them.
Naturally, as a designer, you have an industry you specialise in, you might love logo designing, graphic designing, web design or something a bit different, but what can you do to keep the money coming in even while those industries aren’t as productive as they could be. What options are available that will make use of your skills and provide you with the income you need to get through life? Well, there are lot of jobs a designer can undertake, some of which are better for providing a quick solution to low income than others.
Web Design
This is a popular option for designers as every company, organisation, freelancer and hobby group these days want a website and plenty of them are looking for a unique, professional and attractive design for it. You don’t need much experience of web development or programming; just an understanding of how a website is expected to look and function and the ability to provide an effective design. If you make a name for yourself in this industry it is possible you could gain contracts with web development companies who might be looking for more designers without having to hire them full time, which could mean a more reliable source of income for you without having to leave freelance work.
Logo Design
Start-up companies and re-branding companies always like to have a new logo to give them that fresh, clean-cut look. Of course a logo designer will need to be imaginative, clients can often be very selective but for something that will be used to represent their business for years to come they’re usually happy to pay fairly well. You’re going to have to use a lot of what you know about design; the use of colours, symbols, fonts, positioning, shapes and much more are often scrutinised intently in logo design, but it could be greatly beneficial to you.
Infographic Design
This isn’t something people often think of, but for a designer looking for some easier work this could be ideal. Infographics are an increasingly popular way of presenting information using images and brief sentences, they are becoming more widely used in social media campaigns, particularly by SEO companies. However; as most of the people in these companies are better at content writing and statistics analysis they are often looking for freelance designers to deal with their Infographic needs, there’s no harm in contacting them to find out.
Tattoo Design
This is another one that people don’t often associate with their design abilities, however a good design is essential to most tattoos and it comes with a wide selection of possibilities for a graphic designer. You can of course sell ‘flash’ tattoos to your local tattoo shops, which might just be basic, generic designs, but they are still likely to gather some form of interest if they are well drawn and nicely designed. Other options include selling ‘flash’ online, selling custom tattoo designs and even submitting your designs to companies that produce and sell temporary tattoos.
Product Design
There are plenty of options for anyone with a little design skill, particularly with services like printmojo and cafepress that allow you to produce products printed with your own graphics and sell them online. Some of these services do, naturally, require a little bit of investment and you will be paying a commission to the site, however this still provides you with a little extra income that can be highly beneficial to you if you’re a freelance designer looking for ways to supplement your income.
Kate Critchlow is an enthusiastic young writer with an increasing passion for art and design orientated work, particularly in the tattoo industry. It is this interest that has led to researching and writing about topics such as symbolism and meaning in design and most artistic tattoo supplies.
Infographics are decaying slowly, Animographics are getting more popular, and in turn – provide more earning capabilities for designers. Thanks for the post!