Out of all the various jobs and fields of business that the Internet has created, one of the most well-known and highly sought after is that of graphic design. While it is definitely a young type of occupation, it has nonetheless become a major factor in the business world. There are tons of different specialties and niches ranging from logo design to banner ad creation to full on web development (which actually requires about equal parts graphic design and programming skills).
One of the great wonders about graphic design, however, is that it is one of those fields of employment where it can be quite simple to avoid working for a large company. In fact, working as a freelancer is one of the main reasons many people choose to enter the field. Being able to work for yourself on your own time at your own pace is a very enticing prospect. And as long as you have the skills and the drive to do so, working as a freelance graphic designer can be very lucrative. If you’re interested in working as a freelancer, then here are five ways you can make money online you should consider; though by no means are these all the methods for making money as a freelance designer.
1. Stock Graphics
You’ve probably seen stock graphics and stock photos on plenty of sites all across the Internet. Well, if you haven’t ever thought about where all those graphics and images come from, now’s the time to begin. Someone has to make those stock graphics, and that person can be you. If you happen to have a love of photography as well, you can combine it with your graphic design skills to create stock photos as well. After you’ve created some potential stock images, it’s time to sell them. Hongkiat suggests using either a stock marketplace or creating your own website to sell your images. If you’re looking to sell stock photos you’ve made, Tricky-Photoshop suggests taking a look at sites like fotolia.com, shutterstock.com, and istockphoto.com.
2. Creative Marketplaces
If you’ve never explored an online, creative marketplace such as Designhill before, then now is definitely a good time to begin. Creative marketplaces are great websites to use to begin getting your name as a graphic designer out there. In most cases, they basically work as a place for designers to upload their work for others to view and purchase for whatever projects they may need them. And while Layer form states that Graphic River, Audio Jungle, and Themeforest are some of the more popular sites, there are plenty of others to choose from. Plus, each site works differently from the others, so some may just post your work for purchase while giving you a cut, while you can use others, like Designhill, to find freelancing design jobs and actual clients though systems like contests and project bidding.
3. Create a Co-Op
Becoming a freelance designer doesn’t mean you need to work all on your own. But that also doesn’t mean you need to find some design agency to hire you either. It’s totally possible to find other freelancers and partner up in some sort of cooperative agreement to tackle larger projects and orders. It’s debatable whether it’s an advantage or disadvantage, but the fact is that if you’re working as a freelancer, there will be times when you’re jam packed and others when you have nothing to do. Design Shack states that forming a partnership with other freelancers can help smooth out both extremes.
4. Consultation
If you become an absolute master of a particular design program, technique, or niche, then you may want to look into offering your services and knowledge to newer folks as a consultant. While this method invariably requires you to have some serious experience, it can still be lucrative and engaging work. If consultation interests you, Graphic Design Blender suggests a few different options including;
• Helping businesses hire designers
• Assisting designers run their own business
• Helping businesses with rebranding work
5. Create Custom Brushes and Tools
Like consultation, this method of earning income requires you to be experienced and well-versed in the programs of your design trade. Using Photoshop as an example, if you know what you’re doing, you can work to create new, custom brushes, patterns, textures, and other tools that you can sell to other designers and websites. When looking into brush or tool creation, however, you need to spend some time doing preliminary research. You’re not going to make any money if you create a brush or tool that already has a better, higher quality version out there. So check out the competition and see what may be missing, or what you can improve on by offering a higher quality, better resolution version of. When looking to sell your tools and brushes, Photoshop Roadmap suggests looking into payment processing options like ShareIt, PayPal, and Payloadz.
Great article. I also started working as a freelancer at first and later went on to make a site which listed all these design platforms where freelancers can make a lot of money.