Things I need to concider in order to become a freelance designer working from home. Issues and Practices.

During my time at University I have had a dramatic change of heart, when I first started on the course I was interested in making one offs for the boutique market, and I was practicing the techniques of screen printing onto fabric however I think it was new found confidence in my drawing and photo shop that led me to realise that I was actually passionate about working in the commercial environment working towards trend predictions to exhibit at trade shows.  I began to research how this could come into being and since then I have decided that I want to leave university and be a freelance fashion surface designer, I will create pattern surface using the process of drawing, scanning into the computer and digitally printing my designs using photo shop. 

I have lots of questions that must be addressed in order for me to leave University and start from home, I want to do this immediately but firstly how do I make this happen?

I have read lots of websites that all talk about the motivation needed in order to succeed as a freelancer.  This involves matters of self-motivation, good organisation skills and a professional working environment.  In order to start my freelance work I would need to make a space within my home where I can go and work, separating it from the other areas of home that are related to relaxing and spending time with family. 

The second priority for me is making sure I have the correct equipment in order to do the job, I already have a Mac which is in very good condition although I have considered buying a bigger one for design purposes, I am using photo shop at the moment but will spend time learning how to use Illustrator because I am aware that this software is also very good to use.  Once I have made my designs I will source a printers, I am currently looking around for a local printer that has the necessary machine to print them onto a3 sheets of paper for my portfolio, the reason for this is that if I was to buy one of my own it may be very expensive to maintain and also because I am just starting out it may not be cost effective, I can always think about buying one further down the line. 

The most worrying thing on my mind at the moment is once I have made my designs, where and how do I sell them? I have been using View Magazine which is a trend future forecast magazine, I am quite confident in working from it for my design work as this is a much cheaper option than subscribing online for it.  I know that David Shah who publishes this magazine has a very good reputation and I can trust that this is a safe option.  What I need to address is how to get myself to the trade shows.  I am mostly interested in going to Indigo Paris that happens twice yearly, it is much closer than print Source in New York and I can always exhibit there in the future if it seems cost effective.  Indigo Paris take your design work through a screening process before they decide whether you can exhibit their or not, I think the most important thing for me to do is actually go and visit the stands and get a feel of what type of print is exhibited their.  In order to visit the trade show I need to register online with them and buy an entrance ticket.  Many successful freelance designers such as Alex Russell have really emphasised the fact that trade shows are the best way to meet contacts and potential clients. 

I think that the next important thing to think about is finding an agent, it might be that with an agent I could actually have my work displayed at Indigo New York or Print Source a lot sooner because obviously I wouldn’t incur the travel and accommodation costs.  Again the trade shows are a great way to meet agents or people that could put me on to a really good one. 

I think the first year of leaving University will be my time to build contacts because many Freelance designer have stated that its who you know that opens doors and I can understand this due to the competitive nature of surface design. 

I have purchased a business name from Reg123 and called myself terrashell.co.uk.  I think creating a website would be another good way of promoting my designs and getting them out there.  I have not fully investigated how go about making a website yet but it is something I will investigate when I leave University.  I have however found a link from Alex Russell’s website and he has recommended a website called HTML Goodies which gives tutorials and information on how to create a good website. 

I think it is important for me to constantly look at the list of exhibitors at the up and coming trade shows, this may lead me to future portfolio visits and maybe even work.  I also think business cards are a good idea, I can always take them to the trade shows with me and if I get talking to someone in the same field as me it would be a good way of promoting myself.  

I have decided to work with another person two days per week because I know that working completely alone does not really suit me, working with someone else gives the chance to bounce ideas around and have critiques which I have always found extremely useful at university.  We have been discussing ideas such as visiting the next Trade show at Indigo Paris in February next year and in the meantime find places where we can exhibit our work and find contacts. 

Jessica Williams

Both images by Jessica Williams.

I was looking on a blog today called print and Pattern and came across a freelance print, graphic and textile designer called Jessica Williams who graduated from Manchester Metropolitan in 2006. She appears to be having great success designing for many high street shops such as Topshop, Next, Miss Selfridges as well as doing illustration work for places around Manchester like Retro Rehab and Trof. I was instantly attracted to the nature of her style, her use of scale and color is really interesting and exciting to look at. She has a fantastic website showing her sketchbooks, designs and prints. The unfortunate thing is that there is no contact information anywhere for her, she is based in Manchester and works both in Manchester and London, I have read on the Print and Pattern blog that she works as a senior print designer in house for different fashion suppliers, she has just recently gone fully freelance. I will research more about Jessica Williams and try and find contact information because I would really like to visit her for a portfolio visit and ask her questions about trade shows and working as a freelancer.

Alex Russell Vs Tracy Kendall

I have chosen to write about Alex Russell who works from a freelance studio called Creative services, he is a surface designer for fashion, furnishing, interior, editorial and trend forecaster. I will compare his work with Tracey Kendal who is a freelance wallpaper designer.

I have been to a lecture held by both of these designers and found that I related to certain aspects of their work and found there knowledge and insight very useful and inspiring.

Alex Russell talked about his experience and explained that as well as working as a freelance designer he also lectures at Manchester School of Art where he teaches design and fabric printing. He showed lots of images of his work, which I saw to be quite illustrative and in some cases very hand drawn using lots of line and sometimes with a child like appearance. In many cases he just uses a pen to draw but also uses mixed media and then takes them through a digital process in order to add colour and add extra effects. He talked about how drawing was a constant part of his work but finding the time to do that becomes a bit more tricky whilst he has lots of work on so he finds the time for this while he is outdoors or stuck in a traffic jam! He will doodle ideas that come to him and be inspired by his surroundings. He talked about the importance of building an archive of drawings and found images to inspire ideas when he can’t find the time to draw something new because most of the time a job will come to him and he will only have a day or so to complete the work, he talked about how jobs are fast paced and have to get used to working quickly and how in time he has developed the knack of trusting his instinct and making a design look good in a short pace of time, I was impressed by his enthusiasm for his work and confidence in his own ability and style.

He shows his work twice a year at indigo Paris through an agency called Amsterstampa, his work is also featured with other businesses such as Manuva who sell limited edition prints.

He discussed his passion for travelling to different places and the importance for this was the diversity in culture’s, which can trigger a mixture of influences and ideas.

Tracy Kendall held a lecture and here she discussed her background, which was fine art, and also lectures at a University, she tends to work with elements that she finds in order to make a print rather than actually draw, however she will draw occasionally.

Kendal spoke about the fact that men dominate the interior trade, for this reason she chooses to create masculine colour schemes and minimalistic themes such as single elements that are strong and charismatic. This works well for her as her work sells at trade shows and stands out amongst the male designers.

They both gather their inspiration in a similar way even though the outcomes are much different. Inspiration is sourced through eclectic findings when they are going about normal day-to-day life. Both artists enjoy spontaneity and I think that this comes through in their work. Kendal collects random findings and stores them away for a rainy day where she will look through and pull out things she may find as a useful source of inspiration for that particular time. When she spoke about doing this it reminded me that it's something I should do more of because I like working in this kind of way. I like the spontaneous nature of it; you could also link random found objects together and come up with something you would never have thought of.

They both work for themselves and totally depend on their own motivation in order to get work. Kendal worked in a school first before setting out independently. They both much prefer being self-employed, being there own boss. Now that they have both become quite successful they are able to generate regular work and both have built in confidence within themselves as practitioners. Both artists emphasised that it takes time to build a good profile and you have to work hard to keep up a good reputation and consistent body of work, this strengthens your ability to seek and find good relationships with people and keep involved with regular work, also once you make a good impression with someone they will always remember you.

I think above all both practitioners proved that no matter where you start off, gaining contacts is the best way to open new doors and lead you to other opportunity’s, even though Tracy Kendal started off as a fine artist and a teacher, she ended up being a very successful freelance wallpaper designer and Russell started off working for someone else before he started his very own freelance business. They both made a point of saying that work seems to come to them quite naturally; all of a sudden it just began to happen naturally. Maybe this is because after all their hard work they are becoming much more noticed by professionals around them and they are just being modest! But putting this comment into perspective I can see how a positive outlook can create a good impact in your work and make it attractive to the outside world. I suppose confidence is the key.

Kendall made it very clear that it is very important as a designer to constantly ask questions and this way you can continue to push your ideas to the limit.

Tracy Kendall

Tracy Kendall came to talk about her work. In the lecture she discussed her educational background and working experience so far.

She studied a BA in Fine Arts and specialized in screen printing. She then worked in technical support at the Royal college for 18 years and practiced digital printing during that time. In 1996 she left the Royal College to design wallpaper and went to the contemporary fair in New York.

Tracy Kendall gets her inspirations from magazines, photographs and random findings in the street. She is constantly with a camera and takes photographs of things she finds interesting, she said it could be a stack of books or a pavement. She keeps all of her inspirational findings in a large bag and when she feels like it she will have a rummage through and be sure to find something exciting to help her with a design or idea. She is inspired by fashion all of the time, this continues to be her main inspiration.

Her career took off quite naturally and out of the blue. It all came about through her wanting to redecorate her kitchen, all of the wallpapers she liked were much too expensive so she decided to design her own pattern since she had the printing skills! She designed a simple pattern where she enlarged a knife, fork and spoon. Her design soon became noticed by some of her friends who came to her home and where involved with the creative profession. Her designs began to be noticed by Habitat and they bought the rights to apply her design elements onto lampshades. She is now very much involved with dealing with the trade.

During her presentation she talked about the importance of asking questions all of the time when you are a designer, she works with organic things a lot of the time for instance, if she sees a feather she likes she wouldn't just pick one, she would pick hundreds of feathers because each one is different and unique in its own right. Then she would look at the feathers and ask questions about them. For a wallpaper that is white with a one single feather print on it, the feather needs to strong, it needs to be beautiful....

She is used to doing trade shows on a regular basis in Milan, London and new York, this is how she mainly promotes her work.

She raised an interesting point about the fact that male designers dominate the interior design and architect industry, the reason for this is they are attracted to a more masculine colour palette, she is very clever in the way that she uses black and white and minimalism most of the time in order to appeal to the male designers at the shows, and for that reason she does well. minimalism makes the impact in her designs.

Another good piece of information was regarding the quality of a photograph. If you give a journalist a really good quality photograph, they can use it in a magazine to help promote your work. She was also talking about the importance of editorial spreads because they can bring in serious money, you can receive thousands of pounds for just one spread! She never pays for advertising, so the quality is very important. Through these magazine spreads she gained a lot of interest a couple being Whistles and she designed the changing room interior for Frost French. Obviously this is just a small example.

As she has become more and more successful, this has enabled her to employ an agent in New York to sell her work.

Karen Little (Portfolio Contact)

I arranged to show my portfolio to Karen Little who is a freelance designer for mainly interiors. I had some older designs as well as recent drawings and digital designs that are in working progress.

The first advice that Karen gave me was to know exactly which market I am aiming for and to spend a lot of time researching this, as this insight can really help when showing design work to certain companies.

My a3 fridge and typewriter design was the first two to be looked at. She said that my fridge design would suit kitchen apron or kitchen wallpaper. When I designed it I had a tea towel in mind but now I can see how it would change the appearance of the design and applying it to the wall would be more fun and quirky, she also mentioned that in the design I have the word Lunch written on some of the fridges, she said the design could look more expensive if I wrote different words such as dinner, tea, lunch, supper ect.

My typewriter design, Karen couldn’t necessarily place where this would fit because of its graphic nature, however she said that it was very commercial and could be used in a magazine or advertising, as well as stationers or alongside some text like an editorial piece or something. She said that my drawing style had a very nice naivety and freshness to it.

She said that my repeat bike design was a nice thing, and said that it would suit the gift side of things; she said the drawing was pretty and had a lovely feeling to it.

I next showed her two Christmas gift-wraps that I designed for a Whittards project last year, she said that she really liked these because the goats were really well drawn and the concept of the goats discovering coffee beans added a nice humour to it.

She said the repeat pattern was perfect and some of the lines that were not completely straight within the repeat added a quirky sense of charm, she also said these designs were just the type of design Hallmark would be interested in and said that I should think about contacting them in the future. She said that from what shed seen so far, she thought I suited the gift market very well and said I had a very special drawing style. She told me about how at Christmas the gift market like shiny things and thought that this design would look good with flat colours on shiny, she felt that the gift wrap had a retro feel to the colour pallet I had chosen and thought it worked well.

Karen said that she thought my most previous work was more exciting because it has nice depth and decoration and I have used different scale and placement and as a lot of people are drawing floral I am not doing the obvious, she said my drawings were ornate, intricate and jewel like and gave her the feeling of being highly decorative like Klimt. She said that I should add Jewels and shiny things that are full in some areas and less in others. Some of my drawings made her think of threaded diamonds going up a dress. I will defiantly consider adding these types of embellishments to my digital printed designs in the future because I think it will give my design work something extra special.

Karen said that in design it’s becoming less and less floral and more geometric, she said that simple geometrics and leaves were an eternal source of inspiration.

I asked Karen if she thought my work suited the commercial market and she said that it did because I can draw and can use pattern and shape well, she said she thought I could be a good designer and to look at the general market high end to mass market and to be more confident in my own ability. She said I should look at how interiors are looking today and how creative I can be in all different areas.

I asked Karen about choosing colour pallets from trend predictions in magazines such as View; she said that it does not necessarily have to be chosen from a set pallet in the magazine. She said the colours being shown should influence me to set my own original palette. I was unsure about how strict the rule was regarding colour pallets so I am pleased to learn that it is freer than I first thought at the commercial trade shows. Karen said that there are no limitations with design and said they are even using half drawn motifs falling off the edge in pattern design now so there are even less boundary’s!

Karen said that New York is very interested in British design, I am already aware of Print Source trade show that is held in New York and will think more seriously about sending some of my work to be screened by them and find out as much as I can about exhibiting my work their. After speaking to Karen I realised that I do have potential and felt more confident about my own style. I also learnt that it pays off to push the boundaries in design because it’s those designs that turn heads and make people take notice.

Alex Russell questions and answers

Being Freelance

Q What would you say are the advantages of working freelance rather than working in a studio?

A I like being my own boss (although I'm a bit of a slave driver).  My ambitions have changed a little since i started (i used to do some fine art, plus illustration that wasn't fashion and textile related), but i like the variety of working for different clients, doing (say) contract furnishings one week and high street fashion the next.  I don't think you can be nearly as flexible in a studio setup.

Q Will i have to work hard if I'm freelance?

A Be prepared to work very hard, very hard.  Think run up a degree show, add an extra bit and imagine that the whole year round, especially when you first start.  You do need to be really self motivated, especially if things aren't selling.  This isn't meant to put you off; if you love doing it, it will be fine, but unless your very, very lucky, it is a lot of work. 

Q Is it important to hit deadlines and answer briefs?

A Being able to keep to deadlines and answer deadliness is completely important-if you produce something that is too late and isn't what the client wanted anyway, they are unlikely to use you again.  

Q What made you go freelance?

A I chose to go freelance because i thought it would give me more variety and challenges.  I like working in lots of different styles and really like being my own boss.  Doing this is definitely a vocation for me rather than just a Job, I'm very lucky.  I know what i want to do, i get to spend all day doing it, and people seem to want to pay me for doing it. 

Q What advise would you give to people getting started freelance?

A To a large degree, its not what you know but who you know.  this is a cliche, but is very true.  Your address book should be one of your most prized possessions and you should always be adding to it.  

Don't wait for people to  come to you, it vital you get your work seen.  Get out there, knock on doors.  Art and design is a worldwide business, don't be afraid of making contacts anywhere.  

Don't be scared, the worst that can happen is that someone can say no, if they do, be polite and ask them if there is anyone else they know that might be interested in what you do.  

Be patient, it can take months or even years for a client to get back to you.

  

Be prepared to work very hard.  

Never, ever be tempted to mess with copyright laws.  its a surprisingly small world and if you rip some people off, others won't touch you with a barge-pole.  

Be flexible, but not stupidly so.  You should try and say "yes, i can do that for you" to as many clients as possible (especially when you first set up), but you need to be realistic about what is physically possible.

Don't waste any time doing lots of research to find the best bank; they are all pretty much the same.  if ethical investment is important, go with a co-op.  You should have a business account, but if you trade in your own name and don't tell the bank, you can just make this a normal current account and not have to pay business account charges.  

Keep on top of your books (accounts), if you don't think you can do this, or if your just starting out, get a good accountant.

Self motivation is vital; you also need to be able to enjoy working under pressure and to have good time management skills.  Finally, if you enjoy doing the designs, it will show, don't forget to have fun.  

Q What's the biggest difference being a student and working freelance?

A The time factor, generally speaking, you have to work much, much faster than when your a student and you don't have the time to explore heaps of different ideas.  Its important to get good at quickly working out if an ideas has legs (or if it good, but not right in this particular context).  Of course, this is where past experience come in handy, and these skills start to grow as a student when you have got the time.  it's not unusual for me to out together 10 or so designs in a couple of days.  

Alex Russell

I have been on Alex Russell's website because he works from a freelance design studio and this is what I want to eventually do.  His current clients are in fashion and interior, he also predicts future trends.  He has a very useful link to the most popular questions he has been asked from students like myself who are thinking of becoming freelance designers.  At the moment i am researching into how agents can be found, how to find the best trend predictions, what equipment i should invest in, how to find a business partner, what grants i can apply for and the best way to execute my designs.  I have not found all the answers on the questions and answers link but he has answered a few and it has also made me think of other things that i hadn't thought of, like other ways in which i could show my designs (on a CD) and the fact that going to trade fairs (such as Indigo) is a very good way to start building relationships with agents and can lead to making appointments to go and show them your work. He has given very useful advise about the nature of being a freelance designer which has helped me gain a better understanding of how hard it is in the beginning when things might not be selling but it takes great motivation in order to succeed.  He also talks about the importance of building contacts.