Newly Minted Graphic Designers Find Hope In Freelancing

The United States economy, in terms of jobs growth, continues to rise at an anemic pace. In many areas of industry, the growth is non-existent with continued erosion with each passing year. Graphic designers in particular have had difficulty staying employed and finding work once laid off. For new graduates, the difficulty of finding employment is compounded by the fact that there are seemingly more applicants than positions available. With each graduation class, hundreds more try to enter the workplace even as the previous classes continue to struggle with finding work. Fortunately, many new graphic designers have found financial stability and happiness in working on a contract by contract basis or freelancing.

A search of any freelancing site will reveal that there are ample design jobs which can be filled right now by qualified candidates. The problem is that in the United States, the costs of hiring a professional employee have greatly increased in the last few years due to increasing regulations. So many companies have stopped hiring altogether, instead moving more towards using a contract labor system where designers are hired per project. New graduates can get in on this type of work rather easily, but it requires something which many of them don’t possess — a professional portfolio.

For those who’ve assessed new graphic design graduates in recent years, it doesn’t come as a shock to them that the educational system has deteriorated along with the economy. Many of these new graduates simply lack the basic skills that are to be expected not only of new hires but of freelancers and contractors as well. For the new graduate, having a portfolio of previous work to show interested clients is an absolute necessity. If the designer currently doesn’t have one, then completing tasks through a freelance site and building up one is a great decision. While they may have to initially work for less money than expected, building a reputation for quality work over time will allow for them to begin to charge higher rates, eventually moving towards a market rate for a professional design artist.

New graduates who are motivated enough to commit to a freelance lifestyle have found the enjoyment of working their own hours while honing their craft, and building lucrative business relationships at the same time. As a matter of fact, many newly hired employees at graphic design firms have previously been freelancers or contractors with whom the firm has done business. So not only can freelancing allow for designers to make a living in their field of study, but can also eventually lead to full time employment even in the most troublesome of economies.