Why I Don't Call Myself a Freelancer
How you market yourself matters.
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“So you’re freelancing now?”
This is a common question I get when I speak with others about what I’m doing for work these days.
For those of you unfamiliar, I spent the first 10 years of my industrial design career at Bould Design, starting as an intern on a team of three and leaving last year as a partner of an almost twenty person firm.
Our modern vocabulary of how industrial designers work seems to be restricted to working at a studio, being an in-house designer, or a freelancer.
But these days, I prefer to call myself an independent designer.
“But wait,” you say. “Isn’t that the same as freelancing?”
Not exactly.
In some ways, the differences between freelancing and being independent are largely semantic. Both are forms of self-employment. But those semantic differences can have a big effect on the kind of clients you can work with and how you get compensated, so it’s worth considering how you present yourself.
The term freelancer comes with associations of short-term work. A stopgap solution used to fill temporary demand. Freelancers are often contracted by agencies or firms who deal directly with the client and resource the work through their talent network. The work tends to be task-based and paid on an hourly basis.
This is not to say freelancing is an undesirable way to work. Freelancing can offer you a lot of flexibility, give you control over your workload, expose you to a wide variety of work, and be quite lucrative if you can price yourself right and keep demand up.
I prefer the term “independent designer” because it speaks more to how I work now. “Independent” signifies autonomy and self-direction. I own the entire client journey from discovery, to sales, to delivery.
Framing my work this way self-selects out clients that are simply looking for a task worker. The clients I tend to work with are looking for a creative partner. I don’t simply take on tasks and execute them. I aim to form deep relationships with my clients where I can understand their needs, strategize design solutions, and execute them together.
Working directly with my clients on whole engagements (rather than piecemeal work where they simply need a designer to do some renderings), and engaging with them on a more strategic level also enables me to price my work for the value that the design provides to their business, rather than have them see me as an hourly resource to be paid based on time spent.
Though I don’t see many people calling themselves independent designers on LinkedIn these days, it’s worth noting this is not a novel way of working.
Many famous designers have had a phase of working independently. The founder of the now well-known firm Layer, Benjamin Hubert, worked independently for a time before expanding into a studio. Paul Rand, graphic designer for many iconic corporate logos, worked independently when he did the work he was most well known for.
So while it might seem pedantic to some, I don’t call myself a freelancer, and take every opportunity to correct that assumption (in a nice way 🙂).
Have a great week!
Design Things of the Week
Each week I share a few design-related things I’ve encountered.
✨ An article that explores how beauty and timeless design can be an important part of sustainable design.
Can a product last forever? People often discuss design for disassembly, recycling, upcycling, and other now well known methodologies. But rarely is beauty and timelessness discussed as a sustainable design strategy. Extending a products useful lifespan without it looking old and dated is one of the best ways to reduce its impact. This article mentions a book called “Aesthetic Sustainability” by Kristine H. Harper which I’m very interested in checking out now.
📺 An incredible interview with the real-life Most Interesting Man in the World.
Kevin Kelly — Excellent Advice for Living | The Tim Ferriss Show. Kevin Kelly is one of the most prescient voices in the technology world and Tim Ferriss is one of the best podcast interviewers. What more do you need? Check it out for a recap on the infamous 1,000 True Fans, how to use AI as interns, why a strong rest ethic is important for creativity, and many interesting tidbits of advice.
📝 An article that reminds you what really matters in a resume.
Content is what makes a resume great, not creativity. A good reminder not to get too fancy with your resume when looking for your next job.
🕰️ My LinkedIn post that shows how industrial design has evolved over 70 years in one picture.
Milwaukee power saw 1953 vs. 2023. One of my posts that went viral this week (actually had two!) that shows a beautiful old power tool I came across that still works. Contrasted with a brand new saw of a similar archetype, it was a great conversation starter for how design has changed over 70 years. A lot of great discussion in the comments about which design people prefer, and which might be more sustainable.
💬 A quote to think about
The idea you’re going to change something in the outside world, and that is going to bring you the peace, everlasting joy, and happiness you deserve, is a fundamental delusion we all suffer from, including me.
The Almanack of Naval Ravikant by Eric Jorgenson
Reader Q&A
No questions this week. But if you have one, leave it in the comments below and I will answer in the next issue!
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Just the ID Jobs - 14x Full-Time, 7x Internships
“Just the Industrial Design Jobs” is a segment of this newsletter that lists only industrial design jobs that were posted within the last week to various job board websites. US based only for now for my sanity (sorry!).
Please let me know if you find this useful, and if it is I encourage you to share or forward it onto your industrial design friends.
Steelcase - 2023 Industrial Design Fall Co-op or Intern
Grand Rapids MI
Furniture
0 years experience minimum
Feather Dynamics - CAD Intern
Marina CA
Aerospace
$15.50 - $18.00 an hour
0 years experience minimum
Stellantis - 2023 Product Design Office – Interior Automotive Design Intern
Auburn Hills MI
Automotive
0 years experience minimum
Movado Group Inc - Intern - Design MVMT
Los Angeles CA
Accessories
0 years experience minimum
Beacon Wellness Brands - Industrial Design Intern
Newton Center MA
Personal care products
$18 an hour
< 1 years experience minimum
JESPIONNE - Handbag / Shoe Design Intern
Remote
Accessories
$12 - $15 an hour
0 years experience minimum
CNH Industrial - Industrial Designer College Co-op
Pasadena CA
Equipment
ISLAND UNIVERSE HARDWARE INC - Product Designer
Costa Mesa CA
Furniture
From $60,000 a year
1 years experience minimum
Skechers - Sr. Footwear and CMF Designer
Manhattan Beach CA
Footwear
$145,000 - $175,000 a year
4-6 years experience minimum
Schylling - Design Lead/Toy Designer
Remote
Toys
$80,000 - $85,000 a year
8 years experience minimum
Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc. - Sr Industrial Designer
Glen Allen VA
Appliances
6 years experience minimum
Viper Tradeshow Services - Industrial Designer
Elgin IL
Retail displays
$45,000 - $55,000 a year
0-3 years experience minimum
Wilson Sporting Goods Co. - Senior Design Director - Footwear
Footwear
15 years experience minimum
Exyte GmbH - Industrial Designer I
Chandler AZ
Consulting
0 years experience minimum
Vanderbilt Home Products, LLC - Industrial Design Product Development Assistant - Home and Housewares
New York NY
Home goods
$60,000 - $90,000 a year
0 years experience minimum
Genesis Offroad LLC - Industrial Designer
Olive Branch MS
Automotive
$44,684 - $125,386 a year
Seville Classics - Industrial Designer
Torrance CA
Home goods
From $70,000 a year
Idea House & Co. - Industrial Designer
La Verne CA
Consulting
$65,413 - $75,876 a year
Santoki, LLC - Industrial Designer
Auburn Hills MI
Toys
$50,000 - $100,000 a year
Hamilton Beach Brands, Inc - Senior Industrial Designer
Richmond VA
Appliances
6 years experience minimum
Bosch Power Tools - UX Industrial Designer
Mount Prospect IL
Tools
5 years experience minimum
This is fantastic insight, I’d love to understand more about how you formalize this sort of relationship contractually.