Being a freelancer

I’ve got an issue. All the sites I’ve created have either been using themes or NDA – how can I get clients I can design for to build my portfolio? I don’t really want to show sites I only developed for, just ones I designed.

So in other words, how do you get clients with no portfolio?

DesignitTonight said
So in other words, how do you get clients with no portfolio?

By working for free without NDA and slowly creating your own portfolio

or

by working for free until the project is finished and then they will pay you, so no money up front (this in particular could be a nice bait for them, but it’s risky for both sides)

I’d also suggest working on your own projects as well.

Monkify said
I’d also suggest working on your own projects as well.

I think that’s what I’ll do – I don’t do work for free, the clients I had paid very well, $75/hr..

DesignitTonight said
I think that’s what I’ll do – I don’t do work for free, the clients I had paid very well, $75/hr..

If you have no design experiences and you want to be a designer, it will be a hard and long process…
NO PAIN NO GAIN my friend. You probably, as basically all of us, will have to design design design. You can give yourself a nice little project each week and slowly start building your portfolio base. But… if it’s all money you care about, the process of becoming a great designer will become too hard for you to handle.

Sorry, double post

Darinka said

DesignitTonight said
I think that’s what I’ll do – I don’t do work for free, the clients I had paid very well, $75/hr..

If you have no design experiences and you want to be a designer, it will be a hard and long process…
NO PAIN NO GAIN my friend. You probably, as basically all of us, will have to design design design. You can give yourself a nice little project each week and slowly start building your portfolio base. But… if it’s all money you care about, the process of becoming a great designer will become too hard for you to handle.

Oh, no, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m already a swell designer (if I may say so) and I’ve designed a lot. I’ve just never really done design for clients as the people who come to me always have a theme in mind.

work on your own themes. No matter if TF reject them, you will be always allowed to include them into your portfolio

good luck

Another tip.. Make good friends with other designers, as they may hand you some extra work from time to time.