Question for freelancers

[Ian P]

Its my goal to work for myself eventually and i think my work is ok, considering i work in house and designs change hours before the deadlines. My question is how did you all get started freelancing, I am trying to get work outside normal work hours working from home but am afraid that clients will not take me seriously that way, however i can't afford to quit my job and go out looking for clients frm scratch so am i stuck in a vicious circle or is there another way.

 

Thanks Ian

[steveinthepeaks]

Hi Ian

 

I'm in the same situation as yourself working in an architects office, I too have thought about going solo but always got stuck with "where would the work come from?"

 

So i contacted a few architects who used to work at my current practice who now work for themself. They were always pestering me to do private work when they worked at my current practice, so i gave them a call and went from there.

 

i'm not doing huge schemes at present, but hopefully these will lead to bigger things.

 

Hope that helps

[John Dollus]

Clients will take you seriously if it shows in your work.

However, freelancers are, by definition, not fulltime employees of other companies. Moonlighting would be a more appropriate term for your situation since you have a fulltime job. If clients find out you are working full time for one of their competitors, they might not be so happy.

[mdbassett]

Hi,

I am attempting the same. Have any of you, in the process of changing over from working in Architects and working for themselves, told their boss they are trying to do some work for themselves.

I am finding it difficult as I don't really want my boss to know because he will then know that it will eventually lead to me leaving and working for myself. But it is hard to get work as my samples are from the practice I work for, and as Architects know architects I am concerned that my boss will find out. ??

Any taughts........ should I just let my boss know and try to get the work in [even though I am sure my boss would be not too keen] or should I continue to tip toe around and get private work through whispers.

confused yet.?

M.

[UTI]

Michael ...As long as you do private work after work hours you do nothing wrong ,just keep private work through whispers and if he finds out then face him telling him that you do nothing wrong......

that's only my point of view ,,,it might be wrong thogh.

[Sawyer]

Most architects have a policy on working for an outside office. I was upfront when I worked for architects and I never had a problem but that varies with what kind of boss you have.

 

At some point you will have to talk with people and you should talk with the clients you have and see how often they would use you and how much they would be able to pay. Moonlighting you may have an unrealistically low rate as you have a day job. If you quit your day job and realise you need to raise your rates your clients may not be thrilled.

[John Dollus]

As for finding clients, check out the new job portal here as some specify freelance opportunities. Once you have a body of work that differs from your day job work, it would be easier to market yourself locally.

You really need to ask yourself if your goal is to become a business owner or a contract artist as you may want to take a different route.

[MAGIC BULLET]

In my opinion, you shouldn't *%$# where you sleep, because if you work locally, you shouldn't be doing freelance projects in your own backyard. I've seen 3 modelers get fired because they were doing work for outside tacts. My advice is to look for work that is outside the arch.viz community. I've personally found work doing contracts for engineers and industrial designers. I've also found some contracts working on some architectural competitions that I found over the web (hmm maybee I should start a thread?..) Try designing on your own and see where that leads you. Moreover, think for yourself and enter some competitions and apply your "much lauded" skills". Trust me, if you are committed, there's alot of BOOTY out there!

 

PEACE

[Ian P]

Thanks for the advice guys I already have an understanding with my boss that i can do work in my own time as long as it doesn't affect my time at work. I will never be in competition with my company as we make our money from residential interior and architectural design in a very niche market and i only ever produce in house renderings for this company, My problem is more based around getting clients to take a chance with an artist working funny hours. I think the term moonlighting is abit harsh as it implies that i'm doing something underhand and unfortunately I'm not so well paid that i can just quit full time work and live for a month or so while i find work elsewhere. As for unrealistic rates fortunately i am not willing to sell my self short whether i have a day job or not, in my opinion there is a big difference between a CG artist and someone who just knows how to use some of the software. I think clients will pay realistic rates if they can see a reason to in my work, if they want cheap rates then someone else will do it for them. I do have a full time job, true, but that doesn't mean my time is less valuable I would always rather be in the pub with my mates than working for peanuts

[mdbassett]

Yep thanks also,

 

Good to get some varied opinions, I think I will go as I am at present untill I work up enough of my own samples to show potential clients.

 

Good thread Ian.

 

Cheers,

M.

[bobhobz]

 

As I mentioned in another thread, I have been an illustrator for over 20 years having only taken a semester in drafting when I was in high school. That was the extent of my architectural training.

 

I spent 6 months working in an intensive architectural landscaping firm that built elaborate waterfeatures which required my not only doing a 3d version of the waterfeatures, but I also had to create the buildings that they were attached to. So I did a fair amount of reading blueprints and floorplans provided by the clients. Most of the clients were condominiums, hosptitals, apartment buildings...large scale developments...and a few interiors such as restauraunts and lobbies.

 

I am out on my own now, and I have a pretty nice portfolio to start with. I am very nervous about approaching the market having seen some of the stuff being put out by the big ArchViz agencies. There's no way I can compete with these agencies that have a dozen or so artists working for them with state-of-the-art computer equipment and software.

 

But I think I could hold my own if I dealt with smaller clients...but where should I start looking? What sort of clients do you freelancers approach?

 

Also, I don't have a degree in archictecture, drafting or CAD. I really just learned things on the job by the seat of my pants. I had an illustration background and knew 3D Studio MAX so that got me in the door of the agency.

 

How much do I NEED to know to present myself as a professional in this business? Should I take a course in architecture or get a book on reading floorplans? Do I really need to know CAD?

 

Bob