Kelvin Hu

Response to "On Getting Paid" by Jessica Hische

This Author starts off the article by providing the reader with a short anecdote on her experience in freelancing. At first, freelancing seems great because you have control over everything, but in reality freelancing is quite difficult. One of the challenges freelancers face is pricing and time. At first, you will have to give your client a full-cost price upfront. Depending on the x amount of money and x amount time you have to work on the project, you can end up not having enough time to meet your deadlines. Unable to meet deadlines can result in stress and depression, impacting on the mentality of the artist. Some people think pricing hourly is the way to go, but according to the article you don’t make much money with that pricing method. The amount you get from freelancing ultimately depends on the client and how much they are willing to pay. Licensing is also very important in field of work. It is essential for the artist to understand the business of freelancing because the client needs to have the rights to own the logo you create. It is also important to break down the prices for the client so they have a better understanding of the amount they will have to pay. Giving the client a variety of prices to choose from will allow them to have a lot more points to consider. If the client responds quickly to your quotas by saying “These numbers look great! We’ll send along a contract for you to go over in a few days!” than your prices are too low. A good price usually means a negotiation between the client and artist. There comes a point in every freelancer’s life where they work for a very successful company but with little pay. The company will convince you that although the pay is low, you will have a great portfolio piece in the end. A positive take in this situation is that you will continue to make a living off of what they love to do. The article gives another anecdote on internships. It is important for a freelancer artist to have as much experience as possible even if it is unpaid. People usually turn away from unpaid internships because they feel that they are not getting back anything. However, unpaid internship still offers work experience for the individual. Work experience is ultimately what companies (clients) look for in a freelancing artist. At first, it may be hard because you are not making any money. Because of the lack of money, an intern may have to change their diets to eating cheap foods like ramen as mentioned in the article. This may sound terrible at first, but it will pay off on the long run as intern experience gives you a better chance to land a better job with high paying companies. One way of getting freelance work is self promotion. The article suggests that self promotion is a good way to get the attention of possible clients. It is also important to be friendly. Clients will not hire someone who appears to be anti social or lacks the ability to communicate well with others. If a company is looking for a team, they will want to hire someone who works well in groups. Therefore communication skills are vital in freelancing work. It is also beneficial for artist to befriend other artists in the same field of study. This will increase the possibilities of job openings and will certainly boost communication skills. One thing to keep in mind is not to work for friends. It is inevitable that disagreements will occur therefore ending friendships. The article also suggests freelancers to pay attention to the industry. It is important to keep up with the successful individuals and trending designs in the field so that you know your stuff once you get hired. Don’t expect to get work right away after you graduate because it takes patients and hard work to find a client that will hire new, fresh graduates to do any freelance work. This article is very helpful for those who want to pursue in freelancing. It provides realistic scenarios for the readers. Freelancing is tempting to pursue in the field of New Media because we are dealing with technology that many people don’t know of. This article is helpful if I ever do decide to go on that path. I feel that freelancing is hard today because it is very competitive and those with connections seem to get the job first. To me, the connections aspect plays an important part in freelancing. This article has shaken me, inflicting fear as I wonder what I want to do after I graduate next year.

Being in New Media, we have used many flow charts as a way to come up with ideas or possible steps to generate an idea. Jessica’s flow chart helped me realize the harsh truths of reality. It seems that working in the corporate world is stressful. Making deadlines and restrictions issued by the clients will hinder your ability to create the desired product. I feel that freelancing is for those who are well-organized since you are technically your own boss. It takes a lot of discipline for freelancing, but it is great if you want to make a living at what you love to do.