Life as a Freelancer

What are your concerns :

My ability to find work consistently.

Time management and my overall organization of funds, lifestyle etc.

Having a consistently high level of motivation to complete work and continue to produce work.

Putting myself as an illustrator out there is always a daunting prospect.

What is the shape of your working day/week :

I aim to be up, out of bed and ready to start working at 10am. I think it’s important to start the day early with a big old breakfast. I have lunch around 1pm but feel it is important to have regular breaks throughout the day, this helps my motivation levels maintain on a high level. I try and get as much work during the weekdays so I have the weekend a time to relax and see friends/relax.

What are your strengths – practical skills/ management / people skills etc:

I feel I am quite a speedy worker. I am still a bit of a perfectionist which I guess can also be my downfall as I spend a lot of time perfecting outcomes which I guess can be a little time consuming at times.

I feel I am a great visual thinker. My work is striking and really captures the audience. Working with shape and colour and high contrast imagery are definitely my strengths.

I am a very sociable guy and enjoy meeting new people from different disciplines. Collaboration is something I plan to do more of as I feel it is extremely useful to combine contrasting strengths to create an ambitious outcome.

What do you feel you need to develop :

My organisation skills and time management.

Procrastination is sometimes a real issue as I get distracted way too easily.

More research into the creative industries and participate in external opportunities to help networking/portfolio/cv etc.

Creating a good balance between work and life.

Start learning to work on more than 3 briefs at one time.

Networking : identify and contact a minimum of 10 people who will potentially be useful to you in the future:

Sharon Heleine – Penguin Random House

Harper Collins Book companies

Bloomsbury publishing

Hachette publishing – look into applying for internships (unpaid)

Penguin Random house

Leeds Arts uni alumni– ones who have worked with penguin/book publishing companies

DK publishing

It’s Nice that

Where are you going to be working and what do you need to buy / prepare for a future career:

Hopefully I’ll be working for inhouse publishing either for penguin or other publishing companies. If not, I will be working in my own studio at home – this way I am close to London so can commute potentially. I need a scanner and adobe suite. Save up for a desktop?  I see myself in a few years’ time working somewhere abroad – either Europe New York or Australia. I don’t see myself living in England.

Keeping sane: develop your wider support network and skill swap

Keep living a healthy lifestyle – eating well and exercising regularly – try and walk most places. Taking regular breaks from the computer. Get some eye protection! Socialising is key and staying in contact with friends/designers (especially from other disciplines for future collaborations).

Get Linked in and start networking!