Post: #1

I have been brushing up on my photoshop skills lately and I feel I can make some cool looking logo's and designs. I've always wanted to make some money online and figured graphic design is a good way to do it. Does anyone here have experience in working as a freelance graphic designer?

Post: #2

I have experiencing working with them and they all suck. If you can put out solid work and be reliable, you should be leagues ahead of the competition.

Post: #3

(10-03-2011 08:12 AM)Donald Duck Wrote:  I have been brushing up on my photoshop skills lately and I feel I can make some cool looking logo's and designs. I've always wanted to make some money online and figured graphic design is a good way to do it. Does anyone here have experience in working as a freelance graphic designer?

Yes. It's a field that is completely saturated with no-talent hacks, so just beware of what your competition is and figure out how to compete against them. Also, you are going to want to get to the point where you're working where the money is. This won't be doing band posters and cd labels.

You don't need a degree, but understand that you'll be competing against a plethora of unemployed recent graduate types.

If I were starting over from scratch, I'd throw up a solid website, get some cards printed, and network, network, network. Hopefully you have good people skills. If not, work on them.

Read books on business, marketing, and communication. This will set you apart from the competition.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Post: #4

A good way to start practising would be to post some things on 99designs.com - though to really start building a client base you're best off doing it locally so you're not competing with every other freelancer on the internet.

Post: #5

The 99designs site is great. The competition is very stiff though. But it's great to improve for a beginner like me.

Post: #6

I'm going to bump this post. Does anyone work as a graphic designer? I ask because I started doing some freelance graphic design work. I was trained a bit for graphic design in secondary school, but now I'm quickly getting a portfolio of work. The funny thing is I never really had any formal training. I've done billboards, newspaper ads, stuff for signs--some of which are pretty big, etc.

Is there money to be made in this profession? Will people hire me now that I'm getting a decent portfolio? Can someone talk about how to get going in the industry? Any possibility of doing this stuff over the internet? I had find graphic design to be pretty fun, and from what i understand is that you can charge hundreds for logos...

Post: #7

Depends on your personality type.

In doing graphic design, I work best with extrovert types (i.e. salespeople) because it complements my type (introvert, myers-briggs, yadda…).

So I loathe freelancing because in dealing directly with 95% of clients with bullshit ideas, I end up turning down 95% of the work.

On the flip side, I have no problem working small biz or corporate, aside from the dysfunctions they have on their own.

ymmv

Another cautionary reason:

NO SPEC

Post: #8

I recommend that you start a fiverr profile too, as it is a great site to generate business. Don't be afraid to offer a lot of add-ons that will boost your overall total average invoice price. Don't undersell yourself. Compare your pricing to others in the marketplace, and try to get some initial orders in to boost your profile ranking in the search.

Post: #9

(02-12-2018 10:58 PM)John Michael Kane Wrote:  I recommend that you start a fiverr profile too, as it is a great site to generate business. Don't be afraid to offer a lot of add-ons that will boost your overall total average invoice price. Don't undersell yourself. Compare your pricing to others in the marketplace, and try to get some initial orders in to boost your profile ranking in the search.

I've heard this before. Someone needs to put out a datasheet on how to succeed in the gig economy. I never bothered with it because i think the whole gig economy is a scam.

Post: #10

Fiverr is a great place to generate business! However, I suggest looking on facebook, youtube, etc for entrepreneurs and people who need logos and such. The reason as to why I say this is because that's exactly what I used to do and it generates A LOT of money. Also, YouTubers both big time and small time are willing to pay for you to create their thumbnails and such. Simply create a template and just change it around per person and per video (just make sure your template is better than others). Free work is great marketing. Do a big favor for a big name youtube and tell them to give you a shout out, watch as your emails blow up!

These ideas might not work for everybody however they help me generate around 1k-3k a month with very little work.

Networking and building your portfolio this way will create a lot of interest because business knows how powerful youtube is.

Create a small logo or signature that you watermark on all your creations. Make them small, transparent and pretty much invisible. You will be surprised by how many people will recognize your work from that minuscule watermark!

Pretty much every youtuber's email is located on their page. From my experience they ALL reply or at least read them! Also if you do a great job they tend to refer you to other people.

Post: #11

(02-12-2018 12:49 PM)Dragan Wrote:  I'm going to bump this post. Does anyone work as a graphic designer? I ask because I started doing some freelance graphic design work. I was trained a bit for graphic design in secondary school, but now I'm quickly getting a portfolio of work. The funny thing is I never really had any formal training. I've done billboards, newspaper ads, stuff for signs--some of which are pretty big, etc.

Is there money to be made in this profession? Will people hire me now that I'm getting a decent portfolio? Can someone talk about how to get going in the industry? Any possibility of doing this stuff over the internet? I had find graphic design to be pretty fun, and from what i understand is that you can charge hundreds for logos...

I personally charge $300 for logos but heard that was very cheap. Game developers, Kickstarter campaigns, gofundme's etc all of them need graphic designers for SOMETHING. CAD for 3d printing is a skill many people seek by the way

Some photographers and camera guys will pay big bucks to edit their footage. I was paid $650 just to edit a 2.5-minute music video

Post: #12

(02-12-2018 10:58 PM)John Michael Kane Wrote:  I recommend that you start a fiverr profile too, as it is a great site to generate business. Don't be afraid to offer a lot of add-ons that will boost your overall total average invoice price. Don't undersell yourself. Compare your pricing to others in the marketplace, and try to get some initial orders in to boost your profile ranking in the search.

How long to build up a customer base on fiverr? Do people get undercut on fiverr by people from india and the third world? Also, does fiverr take a cut of your fee?

Post: #13

(02-13-2018 10:48 AM)Keepiticy2 Wrote:  

(02-12-2018 12:49 PM)Dragan Wrote:  I'm going to bump this post. Does anyone work as a graphic designer? I ask because I started doing some freelance graphic design work. I was trained a bit for graphic design in secondary school, but now I'm quickly getting a portfolio of work. The funny thing is I never really had any formal training. I've done billboards, newspaper ads, stuff for signs--some of which are pretty big, etc.

Is there money to be made in this profession? Will people hire me now that I'm getting a decent portfolio? Can someone talk about how to get going in the industry? Any possibility of doing this stuff over the internet? I had find graphic design to be pretty fun, and from what i understand is that you can charge hundreds for logos...

I personally charge $300 for logos but heard that was very cheap. Game developers, Kickstarter campaigns, gofundme's etc all of them need graphic designers for SOMETHING. CAD for 3d printing is a skill many people seek by the way

Some photographers and camera guys will pay big bucks to edit their footage. I was paid $650 just to edit a 2.5-minute music video

Wow! That sounds like a good racket.