Reader’s Poll! Are You a Freelancer or a Studio Web Designer?

Reader’s Poll! Are You a Freelancer or a Studio Web Designer?

on Dec 21st 2010 with 44 comments

This week’s poll is all about who you work for… or rather, whether you’re a freelance web designer or you work for a design agency, studio, or any other company that pays you to stick around the same place. Post your own answer at the poll, and then join the discussion!

Who Do You Work For?

I’m sure there are a thousand shades of gray between hardcore work-from-home freelancers and purebred design agency designers, so let’s simplify this just a bit for the sake of the poll: Who do you work for? Does a company issue you a pay check on a regular basis?… Or do you work as you please and send out invoices when it’s time to get paid? Chances are good that if you don’t have to clock in and out of a company 5 days a week, you’re some shade of freelance designer, but feel free to discuss it down below!

Let the Discussion Begin!

Perhaps a more interesting question for the discussion section (now that you’ve answered the poll) is who you actually want to be working for. Lots of freelancers dream of working for a big agency, and lots of agency designers dream of owning their own studio… what’s your own dream job?

  • If you work for a design agency, do you like it? What parts?
  • If you work as a freelancer, what made you decide on this direction?
  • What aspects of your job-style do you wish you could change?

So far these weekly reader’s polls have been turning up hundreds of excellent comments and discussions… so let’s dive into the good stuff. Oh, and don’t forget to post answers on the other open poll questions!

Brandon Jones is MDNW on Themeforest
 
Enjoyed this Post?

Subscribe to our RSS Feed, Follow us on Twitter or simply recommend us to friends and colleagues!

By

Rollover to read this author's bio or click through to see a full list of posts by this author.

Brandon Jones is the old Wptuts+ Editor. From sunny Southern California, Brandon has been designing, drawing, photographing, and coding the world around him for the past several years. Not content to pick one media and stick with it has left Brandon with a broad range of talents that have allowed him to work on projects ranging from grungy digital art kits to Fortune 500 software prototyping. He loves design, but even more, he loves the passion and creative spirit that embodies the design community. Check out Brandon's work at ThemeForest.  

Plus Premium
 
 
Note: Want to add some source code? Type <pre><code> before it and </code></pre> after it. Find out more
  • http://twitter.com/w3_ninja Joe Cochran

    Full time in house designer/developer for an ecom site, though I would like to move into freelancing.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks for sharing Joe – what interests you in freelancing the most?

  • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
    Author

    I’ll fire up the discussion by saying that I’m a full-time freelancer, and I’ve pretty much been that way since I started out in web design nearly a decade ago. In fact, I did remote freelancing (working for a group up in Santa Cruz, CA while I lived in Los Angeles) for about 3 years, which was fantastic.

    The funny thing is that for the first 5 or 6 years of freelancing, I would always dream of working out for a big design agency like TBWA\Chiat\Day or Tolleson Design (just two studios that I love)… but now that I’ve been freelancing successfully for this long, I can hardly think about the notion of having to clock in and out of a studio.

    There are days that I honestly wish that working from home had a little more structure (it takes discipline!), but for the most part, I enjoy the flexibility and freedom that it gives me. For instance, I do a ton of work on Webdesigntuts+ right now, but I still have plenty of time to take on projects when I want, which rocks.

    If I were to change anything, it would be to find a “shared workspace” with other freelancers in my neighborhood so that I could get the benefits of an office (chatting with people, having a place away from home to work, etc) as well as the flexibility of freelancing.

    • http://pippinspages.com Pippin

      If I were to change anything, it would be to find a “shared workspace” with other freelancers in my neighborhood so that I could get the benefits of an office (chatting with people, having a place away from home to work, etc) as well as the flexibility of freelancing.

      That’s exactly how I feel about my free lancing career. I contemplate the benefits of working for a studio at times, but mostly I would really like to join in with other freelancers to create a communal work environment.

    • vlasnn

      Just a though, instead of “shared workspace” why not an online office, I know with internet a lot of people is conected but having a group who can be online at the same time and make a feedback of ideas is a way to grow up more friendly than doing it alone.

      As example some Linux groups have IRC channels where always is people in, more than an office i would say is a home, where everyone is working in his own bussiness but can ask for an opinion or sugerence to others.

      By the way I have no way to say how helpfull nettuts have been for me and I do thanks to you guys.

  • http://edumicro.deviantart.com Eduardo Santos

    I don’t consider myself a fulltime freelancer since I don’t do freelancing as a full-time job. I study, so freelancing is a kind of complement to earn some extra bucks in the end of the month. :)

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks for the comment Eduardo – I freelanced my way through school as well :)

  • http://www.simpleteestudios.com Bob

    I’m just half a year out of college, and I’m working as a full time designer as well as taking on some jobs and trying to build a name for myself through freelance work. I have no free time, but I think it will be worth it in the end.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Nice Bob! I worked my tail off for a year or two until things began to get a little easier (clients started to find me instead of me hunting them, studio gigs became more consistent)… hang in there :) Once you begin to develop a reputation, things start to fall into place.

  • http://bennny.com Benny

    Part-time freelancing; I’m still in school.

    • http://pippinspages.com Pippin

      That is probably one of the best ways to get into freelancing. Learning to balance your time between work and school is a hugely valuable skill. If you manage it, by the time you’re out of school, freelancing full time will be much easier for you.

  • anon

    Other => Student.

    But I try to do some stuff for small companies etc… on the side.

    • http://pippinspages.com Pippin

      That’s how I did it for my first three years of school. Keep at it.

  • http://mixmo-anime.blogspot.com kankuro

    I’m a full-time programmer and designer in one of the ISP Company in our city. But I want to do some extra works like freelancing to earn some extra income.

    Freelancer is a nice job, you can earn an extra income and also it gives you “flexibility and freedom”, just like Mr. Jones said.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Good point Kankuro – one of the other reasons I chose to freelance primarily is that I have the ability (in theory) to work harder and make more money simply by taking on more projects at once. Likewise, I (in theory) have the ability to slow things down and relax if I want (although I haven’t really seen that side of things for a while now, lol).

      Cheers!

  • Art DeGuzman

    Full time freelancer for a year now.

    Working freelance for almost a year now, I guess I have to deal with a lot of distractions and my availability to them seems to be a long way ahead.

    Earnings still depends, not regular income in my case. Probably next month, I’m looking to do both, working as a regular employee and doing some freelance work as well.

    • http://themeforest.net/user/epicera/portfolio?ref=epicera Brandon Jones
      Author

      Thanks for sharing Art – I was in the same place for a while – seriously debating taking a studio gig to supplement the instability of a freelance paycheck. I ended up finding a way to make it happen as a fulltime freelancer, but I know lots of designers that really enjoy working for studios because they are free to be creative (rather than splitting their time on finding clients).

  • Michael Bryan

    Full time freelancer. Started out doing as extra money and eventually got into doing it as my career. The freelance lifestyle works well for me but I feel like a studio environment would be a great asset as it would provide a group of like-minded people to interact with as well as help me grow my skills by giving me a new challenge. Having others around would inspire me to learn more and be better as my job as opposed to playing it safe in order to produce faster.

  • http://www.eskimirza.com Eski Mirza

    I’m a full-time in house designer + front-end developer & freelance whenever I feel like I could handle both at the same time. Definitely looking towards creating my own startup. That would be fun :)

  • http://www.jameswburke.com James Burke

    Student here as well. I do freelancing on the side while working 10 hours a week part-time on my University’s website (basically a 2 year internship at this point).

    Once I graduate though, who knows which route I’ll go, I’d really love to start a full fledged media company and expand.

  • http://www.wunderman.com Anthony

    I have been working on the Agency side now for the last 3 months. Before that I was client side for 3 years and freelance for one year in total. I have to say the Agency life is great. Freedom of expression is sort after; new skills can be learnt every day. The autonomy of client side has now become a thing of the past. Group discussions seem to provoke a wider array of idea conception and everyone is willing to grab a coffee and discuss the possibilities for new campaigns and drive your work forward.

    At times in the freelance world I felt like a king of a hidden world that only existed in my home studio. Don’t get me wrong the idea of many practices that are part of living the freelance life are a great incentive to work for yourself. Working 18 hours a day for four days and then having a three day weekend cannot be beaten. However I truly believe that working in close proximity with people (especially in your first years in the business) is paramount to becoming one of the great freelancers of the world. As Brandon mentioned, discipline is seriously needed when working for yourself.

    I may get looked at strangely for saying this but I actually enjoy getting up, leaving the house, catching a train to work and getting stuck in foot traffic on my way through Sydney ( bizarre I know ).
    All I say is good luck, enjoy what you’re doing wherever that may be and love the life that our work creates.

  • http://fajarsylvana.com Fajar Sylvana

    I’m a full-time freelancer for about a year now, doing a web site and web apps. before that I was working for design house and Local TV station in Jakarta. My dream is to have my own web studio or have a remote freelancing job for big design agency in Europe or US. Can’t wait till that happens :)

  • http://www.pedrolucas.orgfree.com/ Pedro Lucas Porcellis Branco

    I am a Web designer Freelancer from Brazil, but my dream always will be work for a big studio, like Lightmaker (International), or W3Haus (Brazilian), or the Box3 or even the Studio73. :)

    PS: The last is International too.

  • Pingback: My Stream » Reader’s Poll! Are You a Freelancer or a Studio Web Designer?

  • http://www.narendrakeshkar.com/blog Narendra

    I am a full time freelancer, graphic designer and web designer work from my home. However I love freelancing because it gives more freedom but also I am planning to launch my own design studio in 2011.

  • Lukasz

    I started as a freelancer, did that for 2 years, straight after uni. Liked the flexibility and freedom, but disliked managing customers and rather poor earnings.

    Then I started to work for companies (5 years now). I hate beeing chained to my chair for 8h but.. my skills improved drastically fast in comparison to freelancing. You gain more feedback and share with co-workers successful website launches. Its far more social and educational.

    Now Im on my way to get back to freelancing (I do a little of both) to get more money.

    I think my advice to new designers is – start with agency, you will learn a lot of stuff. Not only in design, but you will see how things work. Talk to people on other teams, marketing , sales they can teach you a lot. Gain some work related contacts. Then if you fancy go freelance.

    You can obviously start freelancing and be very successful without working for agency. I just think this is slightly easier route.

  • http://designfromwithin.com DESIGNfromWITHIN

    I do both at the moment…

    I’m actually a constructional engineer (was studying to be an architect) but after working for 2,5 years with architects and doing non-creative work with AutoCAD, I decided to change my work and become a webdesigner.

    I have not regretted this decision for one minute!

    For now i have a nice full time job at a medium sized IT company and I try to develop my skills (SEO, HTML, CSS, jQuery, MODx, Magento and WordPress).
    In weekends and evenings I do some freelance jobs and i’m working hard to get more clients as a freelancer. In 1 or 2 years I hope to be working 100% for myself and from my home.

  • Windo

    I work as a sound designer in a company, sometimes submitting design to crowdsourcing contests (is this included in freelancing category ? ahaha ) , at this moment i’m managing a team for a project in the company I work with and developing a theme in my “freelancing” time =)

    Cheers

  • http://www.bwhiting.co.cc Brian Whiting

    I am a full time freelancer and its a pain sometimes but its worth it. I choose this because I am my own boss. Plus the chance to work with others like me makes it even better and worthwhile as well. The only thing I wish to change would be the fact that I have to deal with other freelancers that don’t give starting freelancers a real chance that only know how to use premade templates that they bought from others for a client.

    See to many of them on twitter as is.

  • Rafael Alencar

    I’m a full-time webdesigner/seo analyst :D

  • Brett

    Little bit of both. I work part time for a web design company and then I’m also going to school for graphic design and working on some freelance stuff on the side.

    Lots of stuff but it’s fun :)

  • http://ccpmultimedia.com Connor Crosby

    I am not really sure what I would be considered. I have my own business, however it is not registered. I guess I work for a business but I am also a freelancer.

  • http://www.onyxsolution.com ONyX

    I do both full time.. I work from 9-5 at a studio as Creative Director and from 5 til I go sleep at home freelancing.. days are not long enough sometimes.. LOL

  • http://edward.pinoywebcentral.com Edwardson Sarenas

    I’m new to web industry. I have a full time day job and also accepting some freelance jobs.. the problem is i don’t really have a loaded plate at the office so I just can’t stop doing my freelance jobs there. Well I think this is better than caught doing nothing.. haha..

  • JayApp

    I’ve just in the beginner stages of web design and I would really like to get into freelancing as I get better…I know some html/css but have a tendency to jump around and suddenly be interested in javascript, jquery,or php…

    I also tend to focus too much on the aesthetics of the website I’m trying to design…which slows me down…

    Tips please?…

  • Andy

    I’m a full time in-houser. There’s benefits to either patch you choose. Freelancing gives you the freedom to work at your own schedule, with clients that you accept. It gives you a better sense of accomplishment when you’re able to manage a project start-to-finish on your own. The downside is having to jockey yourself to manage your time better, and the realization that slipping even the slightest bit could mean a drastic pay cut.

    Working at a studio/agency gives you a steady pay check, most times health insurance (US). It gives you the opportunity to work with others that might have influence on your work in a positive direction. The downside is having to answer to management, working for clients that you might not enjoy…or actually feel negatively against, and having to meet set office hours.

    No matter what you pick, you’ll see benefits down the other path that you wish you could consolidate into your current position. It’s about what works best for your situation. I completely agree with the suggestion of a shared workspace. My city has recently grown an area devoted towards freelancers and developers with cheap, yet interesting office space to work in. I’m currently ready to quit my full time job and take up a nest there.

  • http://www.twitter.com/andypoppins Andy

    I work in a studio at day.
    As a freelancer at night =]

  • Samia

    I’m still in school, so I’m a part time free-lancer. Freelancing gives a lot of freedom and flexibility, which is really good when you are still learning( my pov!). But working in a agency definitely enables one to get a lot of new idea, point of views and feedback, which really helps one to grow. I find myself scratching my hair out a lot of time thinking about ideas. But If I worked in a agency (I dream that someday I will), Then I would be able to talk with my co-workers and that would really help generating ideas.

  • http://www.kreativeking.com Kreative Mente

    During school I freelanced on projects here and there. Once I started to near the end of my schooling I wrote alot of articles for FlashTuts( ActiveTuts now ) and some other magazines and selling products on Active Den ( Love this place ), which actually paid the bills for a while.

    Then about a year and a half ago I started FullTime Freelancing at @radicalmedia ( http://www.radicalmedia.com ) where I was considered freelance ( not staff ) and had to clock in and out.

    I like doing both honestly. Working at home alone can get depressing at times and can easily get sidetracked. Best thing I like about working in a studio is the interactions with other people. Being a Fulltime Home Freelancer can sometimes turn you into an introvert lol.

    But I guess thats what Starbucks are for =/ lol

  • Vinay Bhat

    I’m in 9th grade. I have been designing from 8th, occasionaly making sites for my relatives. Although I do get happy that by the time I turn 18 I’ll have some nice chunk of experience.

    I’m also a graphic designer, I like to make tutorials and all my tutorials are published on http//:design.creativefan.com

  • http://www.flanisoft.at Daniel

    Full time developer/designer and part-time free-lancer.

  • Gee

    Full time developer & designer, mainly work with full cms and the 960 grid in photoshop then, html, css, jquery, some php here and there when needed.

  • http://www.ibrightdev.com Justin St. Germain

    i work full time as a web developer for a company, and have for several years, but, I still do some freelance on the side.

  • http://www.blackoutdesigns.net Jordon

    I have just started to get my own site up so that I can land some jobs of my own. I have done some freelance work in high school and just on my own. Now I am employed at waynorth web design (waynorth.com).

  • http://www.queueinspiration.com queueinspiration

    i’m full time freelance now, i will hope someday work full time for a company