Occasionally I get emails from students or beginner graphic designers asking for advice about freelancing, how to become a better designer and so on. Instead of answering each email I will now be directing them to this page which is a list of resources that will hopefully help.
Some of these links were very helpful to me when I got started. I read hundreds of articles about freelancing, business advice and tutorials and it really helped me get to where I am today.
Freelancing
Land your dream clients: prove you’re capable of greatness through self-initiated projects
Freelancing 101 for graphic designers
A first hand guide on how to start freelancing
How to get paid freelance work while you’re still a design student
A designer’s guide to effective proposals and invoices
Contract samples for designers
Portfolio
What should new designers put in their portfolios (video)
Create the perfect design portfolio: 30 pro tips
Pricing your work
How much to charge for design work
Freelance fee structures and how to quote
Graphic design tutorials
Vector Tuts+ (Illustrator, CorelDraw and Inkscape)
PSD Tuts+ (Photoshop and Pixelmator)
Blog.Spoongraphics (Photoshop and Illustrator)
Online courses
I can highly recommend Skillshare and Udemy – I’ve taken classes on both and I love it. Here you will find short, specific classes like “designing a type-based logo” or “learning HTML”, etc.
Skillshare
Udemy. Also check out the Running your own Web Design Business course on Udemy.
Tuts+ Premium
Books
Creative, Inc. The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business. I can highly recommend this book. It will teach you everything about starting your own freelancing business.
Logo Design Love
Logo Design Workbook
How to Be a Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul
Websites
Websites dedicated to the business of freelancing:
Graphic Design Blender
Your Freelance Career
Freelancers Union
Other
Etiquette advice for students
———————————————
Is there anything I should add to this list? Let me know in the comments.
This post contains affiliate links
Leave a Reply