An Honest Look at Freelancing as a Motion Designer

If your goal is to become a freelance motion designer, why not learn from someone that's done it already?

For many of us, the idea of freelancing as a Motion Designer is the ultimate goal...but what does it look like to be a full-time freelancer? In this article I'll share what I've learned after two years of freelancing.

That quote pretty much sums up freelancing.

The pros of freelancing very much outpace the cons, but the uncertainties are always present. You'll have to wonder if a project will turn out to be worth the effort, or when your dry spell will end and you get another payday. I thought it would be helpful to have an honest talk about freelancing, and discuss some of the realities of being a modern Motion Design freelancer.

Full Disclosure: This isn’t some Buzzfeed pros and cons list—that “trust us, you’re just not going to believe #5!” I’ve written this more as a retrospective to my last two years of freelancing.

We're going to discuss:

• The double-edged sword of freelancing
• How freelancing is like running a small business
• The pros and cons of going freelance

Why is freelancing a double-edged sword?

Responsibility and Flexibility. Turds and Unicorns. Cats and Dogs living together.

When I started freelancing, I would wake up with pure joy. I would know I didn’t need to drive two hours to a job that probably wasn’t leading anywhere or helping my career much. It was awesome.

As a freelancer, I had the power to choose which project I worked on in a given day. If I didn't have a big project, I could split the day by looking for work and doing some personal explorations, such as learning the newest Cinema 4D render engine.

As awesome as it was, around month three...shit got real.

The honeymoon faded. Freelancing morphed from this awesome way to manage my life on my terms into focusing on it as a legitimate business. It became evident that freelancing is my job now. As a freelancer, I control everything.

If I wanted to maintain my lifestyle—or just, you know, keep eating food and living with a roof—I had to hustle. When I was a cog in the machine, I'd be delivered identical turds in need of a good polish. Now I had to find my own turds and make them good enough for clients to pay me.

After all that, I had to manage the relationships so they would ask me to do more work for them. The thrill was amazing...and the uncertainty, if I let it, could be paralyzing.

As you get take on higher-paying projects and flex your schedule, the responsibility grows too.

Freelancing is running a small business

As a freelancer, I am running a small business. Albeit an extremely small one, it is still a business.

I am constantly wearing new hats: creative director, animator, sales person, or business development professional. When you have a salaried position, you only have to make everything look good enough to not get fired. Some days I will spend three hours writing emails, estimating budgets, or traveling around to get coffee with clients. Other days—when I’ve got some down time, and the cogs are working correctly—I’ll watch three hours of Helloluxx Houdini tutorials. The biggest con of being a freelancer is the mindset you have to put yourself into: that being a freelancer is running a business. You're not going to get to work on sweet liquid motion design every day.

The Pros of Freelancing

THE MONEY

If you’ve read the Freelance Manifesto, or the results from our state of the industry survey, you probably know that as a freelancer you can make some coin. Try not to cry reading this math:

Those high paying jobs come at a cost. The jobs that pay freelancers the most are going to be corporate sludge that you’re not going to want to put on your reel.

CREATIVE FREEDOM

Even with that sludge,  as a freelancer I am able to balance my life around jobs that pay the bills with jobs that flex my creative muscles. You know, the ones that make the reel shine like a Flava-flav clock.

Those creative muscle builders don't always pay the bills. The internet is really good about showing only the best projects places have to offer.

Even studios like Buck and Giant Ant have to balance basic, over-the-plate projects that pay the bills versus creative epics.

Being a freelancer awards you with opportunities to work on projects that you want to show off, instead of being stuck in a career that  has you climbing mountains only to find you're at the top of the wrong one.

Yes, these creative projects can be unicorns and possibly come in with a very low budget. However, having the ability to choose between projects is a huge benefit.

Some of the best work I ended up doing this past year was things I worked on in my down time—for myself and not for clients. As fulfilling as that is, there is one thing that I’m not sure I’ve heard another freelancer talk about, but I love...

THE THRILL OF THE KILL

The hunt and thrill of booking a job. I literally just let out a soft, semi-erotic F-bomb writing this and thinking about it. There is no greater rush than when a client signs your contract and you’ve sold the assurance that you’re going to deliver something great for them.

There isn't a feeling quite like hearing a client say, “I really wish you were an employee. We need you!” If you manage your client relationships well, under-promising and over-delivering, your clients will fall in love with you.

You’ll be the first person they call.

Each client is different, though. Even if you are doing all these things, clients can be monsters to wrangle and you may never hear from that client again despite the glowing reviews. I'm still working on solving this one with Scooby and the gang.

Tell us your story!

Are you a freelancer? Are you interested in freelancing? Have you been freelancing for years? Let us know your pros and cons, fears and excitements, or background over on Twitter.

And if you really want to become the best freelancer possible check out the Freelance Manifesto on Amazon.

Want to know how it feels to be a freelance motion designer?

If you're feeling the itch to try out freelancing, we support you all the way! In fact, we even designed a course that levels up your design skills while teaching you more about how to actually succeed as a freelancer: Explainer Camp!

This project-based course throws you into the deep-end, giving you the training and tools to create a fully-realized piece from bid to final render.

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