A Graphic Design Student’s Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect

A complete guide to freelance graphic design--created specifically for design students

Why wait until you graduate? Freelancing is a great way to jumpstart your career in graphic design. It lets you apply what you've been learning in school, close the gaps in your education with real-world experience, enhance your portfolio--and make a little money at the same time.

A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect covers everything you need to know to begin successfully freelancing as a designer, including how to set up your business, deal with legal and financial issues, find clients, and work with them effectively.

This full-color guide is divided into sections that correspond to your particular skill level as a student--beginner, intermediate, or advanced. These sections give you specific tasks and goals to help your freelance design work go smoothly as you progress from your very first professional job to gain experience with a range of projects and clients and prepare to move into a full-time graphic design career once you complete your studies.

Complete with sample forms available online (invoices, a proof approval form, job jacket, and more) and 175 color images, including samples of paid work created by students, A Graphic Design Student's Guide to Freelance: Practice Makes Perfect will help you navigate the world of freelance design with confidence.

Inside this book, you will learn to:

• Write a business plan
• Purchase key equipment
• Set rates and draw up contracts
• Find and manage clients
• Create and show concepts
• Market your company
• Expand your business
• Develop your portfolio
• And more

BEN HANNAM is an Assistant Professor in the Visual Communication Design Program at Virginia Tech and the founder of the design firm Accomplish Studios, LLC. He has won numerous awards for his graphic design work and teaching, and lectures internationally on topics such as freelance graphic design, graphic design pedagogy, and experiential learning environments.