People are still not able to return to their jobs with complete safety. Work From Home (WFH) became the new normal for all the employees. Companies started adopting this new normal in their systems. Remote work is not the only thing that took a rise during this global pandemic. Companies even started looking more towards hiring freelancers and contract workers. The pandemic acted as the perfect catalyst for surging the freelance economy with plenty of quality freelancers out there in the market.
A surge in Freelancing Economy
During 2020, we saw the biggest surge of freelancers in the market. In the second quarter of 2020, approximately 400 million people lost their jobs. This was when millions of people decided to consider freelancing as a reliable alternative to their traditional 9-5 jobs. A major reason for the increased craze of freelancing is that more companies are hiring freelancers right now. According to a report, it is noticed that freelance job postings rose by 41% during the 2nd quarter of 2020 in the US. This shows that you can definitely make a decent living working as a full-time freelancer if you have good skills. Many people are seen switching from full-time jobs to freelancing or side businesses. Another reason behind this shift is that people are looking for a better work-life balance. So, freelancing is seeing a boost, and there are plenty of opportunities for every role in the market. For instance, we will talk about how you can start your own freelancing career as a graphic designer. There are plenty of freelance graphic design jobs out there on different platforms. Firstly, let us discuss more on the working and role of a graphic designer.
What does a Freelance Graphic Designer do?
The work of a graphic designer is to communicate any brand’s message through visuals like colors, symbols, and images. No business can survive without visual elements like logos and images. This is why graphic designers are always in demand. Some of the key roles of a freelance graphic designer are:
Creating a visual identity for the brand with the help of business cards, brochures, logos, and more.Designing images for social media platforms as well as print and web advertisements.A skilled graphic designer might even create websites and templates.
Companies often hire freelance graphic designers on a per-project basis to get the right talent for every requirement.
What skills do you need to become a Freelance Graphic Designer?
Graphic designers need to master various forms of technology and work on their hard skills and soft skills. Freelance Graphic Designers need to possess some key technical skills like typography, font selection, following branding guidelines, understanding of design principles, UI/UX designing, working on digital technology like HTML, CSS, and photo editing. These technical skills help a freelance graphic designer in grabbing quality projects. Other than that, you also need to possess various soft skills like emotional intelligence, collaboration skills, creativity, and storytelling. Storytelling is definitely a crucial skill because that helps every graphic designer connect with the customers through visual content. So, this is a necessary skill for every graphic designer out there.
How to learn graphic designing effectively?
Once you have all the skills to become a graphic designer, you need to build your portfolio. Some of the best ways to learn graphic designing are:
Take up online classesEnroll in a course (Coursera, Udemy, etc.)Find a graphic designing mentor (Join communities to connect with mentors)Work on developing self-initiated projects for building your portfolio
Now, let us move towards exploring some platforms that will help you boost your freelance graphic designing career. If you are beginning your graphic designing career as a freelancer and wish to have some freelance designer jobs, you should go through the below-mentioned platforms.
Upwork
Upwork is the best as well as the biggest place to start with your freelance graphic designing career. As a freelancer on Upwork, you will get to choose from plenty of job postings from different clients. Upwork is more about climbing up the ranks with more reviews. Clients on Upwork prefer hiring any freelancer based on their reviews and pricing. So, if you are beginning and wish to grab some graphic designer jobs, then this is the right place to be. Initially, you can charge a bit less and build credibility on the platform. To maintain the quality of freelancers, Upwork has a strict review process. If many graphic designers are already on the platform, they might even deny your application. But if you get selected, you can expect regular work from there as the competition is less fierce.
Toptal
Toptal is similar to Upwork, but the screening process here is pretty intense. If you are highly experienced and have a diverse portfolio, Toptal would welcome you to their platform. There will be multiple interview rounds, skill tests, and even reference checks on the platform. The process might seem a bit more initially, but it’s worth it. Once you get accepted, you will find some high-quality job postings with generous payouts. If you wish to find high-quality graphic design jobs online, this is the best platform for you.
Fiverr
Fiverr is another famous freelance platform. Even though there are plenty of services listed on Fiverr, the design services make up a huge chunk of them. Many freelance graphic designers are trying to land some gigs on Fiverr. You will find tons of graphic designer jobs on the platform. Earlier, Fiverr started with the intention to hire low-cost services at around $5. Right now, Fiverr is allowing users to list their services even for $995. You can optimize your Fiverr profile to get more gigs when you start. Once you land a gig, the reviews will help you build credibility. So, there’s no need to spend any time promoting your services because creating your profile on Fiverr can do it for you.
99designs
99designs is another freelancing platform focused more on designs. There are two different options for you to land gigs. You can either compete in various design contests to win new clients or start working one-to-one with different clients. If you create an attractive portfolio, you will find it pretty easy to land new graphic designing gigs as 99designs will match you up with new clients. You can be a part of 99designs with a level assigned to you based on your performance. After every 6 months, you can apply for bumping up your levels to showcase your skills. On top of that, you can even bring your existing clients onto this platform. This will help you out as the platform will handle project management and invoicing for you.
Dribble
Dribble is an excellent freelancing platform that is built especially for graphic designers. The platform is more like social media for building a designing community. But, you can also expect great work offers from the platform. As the platform is built especially for graphic designers, you will find plenty of new leads and projects every single month. You can start with the free plan, but you will have to eventually upgrade to the $15 per month Pro Business plan for better results and leads down the line. People looking for high-quality freelance graphic designers often come on Dribble to find the right talent. So, you can expect a good amount of work on your side every month.
PeoplePerHour
PeoplePerHour is another popular platform when it comes to hiring freelancers. There are plenty of freelancing gigs, including graphic designing jobs as well. To become a part of this platform, you will have to fill out an application form and get approved. Most freelancers who have used this site have given it high ratings. This is another reason people prefer this platform for landing graphic designing gigs. You can send up to 15 proposals every month for free. For additional credits, you will have to make a purchase. As soon as you get accepted to the platform, you can build your profile and showcase your skills by sharing your previous works. This will make it easy to land new clients.
Freelancer
If you are starting in the field of graphic designing, then Freelancer is worth checking out. The best thing about this platform is that there is no need to apply or get accepted. Even if you don’t have an existing portfolio, you will still be able to bid for projects and land a client. As you land more clients, you can portray yourself as an experienced and credible graphic designer. This will make it easy to land high-ticket clients down the line. With the free plan, you can put up 15 bids on different proposals in a single month. As there are plenty of projects posted every day on Freelancer, you will find it easy to land a gig after completely optimizing your profile.
Conclusion
Currently, there are plenty of freelance marketplaces for finding gigs. As a beginner, you should consider going through multiple platforms as per your experience and skills. This will help you land good-quality freelance graphic design jobs.
