As an employed graphic & web designer I am always looking for inspiration and avenues to increase my creative juices and for this reason have collated 6 useful websites for freelance designers. I feel very fortunate to be working with a team of people that are very down to earth and are easy to get along with but for some, especially at the moment, getting that job is a little more difficult with the current economic climate. If this is your case ( or even if you are just after a little bit more work to boost your CV or keep you afloat ) here are a few useful websites for freelance designers that might help you to increase your sales as well as build your brand awareness.
Hexi Design
Hexi Design is an online community of talented designers from around the world thriving in one creative hive – Providing small and large businesses with logo, stationery and website design! When I visited this site it seemed that there were not many jobs available, plus, I think as a designer because you have to design something to compete the emphasis is on the client rather than the hard work of the designer so use only if wanting to improve your cv or have a bit of a creative rush.
Freelancer
Freelancer connect over 7,160,499 employers and freelancers globally from over 234 countries & regions. Through their website, employers can hire freelancers to do work in areas such as software, writing, data entry and design right through to engineering and the sciences, sales and marketing, and accounting & legal services. The Problem with this site is that jobs can charge very little in wages ( due to the Indian market being very competitive, but if you are Indian then no problemo! ). Saying that though, just because the currency is a little different over there doesn’t guarantee them the work, lower rates doesn’t always mean better solution to the job. The old saying you get what you pay for is still very true…
TalentHouse
Finding the right platform to express yourself as a designer and to meet the right people to work with are essential elements of every artist’s success story. Talenthouse is the bridge between emerging talent and established professionals, and helps you get your own projects off the ground. This is not just for artists and designers but all variety’s of arts.
Build a following, find new collaborators and earn amazing rewards by taking part in our life-changing opportunities!
Etsy
Etsy is the marketplace for artists and crafters to sell art works. Its a place where buyers value craftsmanship in all we make. Sometimes its difficult finding the customer basis for your products and setting up your own e-commerce site can be expensive or quite difficult to learn how to do it, Etsy is simply a type of e-commerces site for artists.
A great way to network with people you have worked with, join groups and share your knowledge with people in your industry. A great way to improve your reputation. Not only this but Linkedin will tell you of jobs coming up in your area that are suitable for your skills. You may never need to go the job centre ever again!
Learnable
Good Designers always advance themselves. Its a never ending quest to learn more, improve skills & keep ahead. When it comes to web and app design new coding languages are always being created. Learnable aims to make learning web design and development easy and fun. They want students to gain practical and usable skills on topics they are passionate about. Or alternatively if you feel you are a guru in an area you can deliver training that you believe in. Helping others is surely the best thing we can do with our time?
If you know of any other useful sites please feel free to share and I will add it to the list.