How to Become a Freelance Digital Designer in 2024

Need a career that offers unrivaled flexibility? As self-employed workers, freelance Digital Designers have the autonomy to work when and where they please. Rather than working for a single employer, digital design freelancers take on projects for various clients at different times. For example, a small company may temporarily hire a Digital Designer to create an app instead of paying a full-time Web Developer. At the same time, this Digital Designer may also be working on projects for other clients. 

Freelance vs. In-house Digital Designer

If you’re unsure whether freelance work is for you, it can help to know the major differences between traditional Digital Designer jobs and freelance opportunities. Of the two, freelance work is the most flexible, as it allows you to work remotely on a self-determined schedule. Alternatively, if you accept a position as an in-house Digital Designer, you’ll be expected to attend meetings in-person and meet deadlines set by your employer. 

Freelance digital design work offers unmatched creative freedom. Meanwhile, in-house design roles are characterized by stable long-term employment and classic work benefit packages. Ultimately, freelance Digital Designers give up perks like employer-provided medical insurance and paid time off in exchange for substantially more freedom. 

Benefits & Potential Challenges of Digital Designer Freelancing

Benefits of Digital Design Freelancing

As a freelancer, you’ll gain plenty of perks, and flexibility is at the top of the list. While some freelance jobs require specific working hours, the majority will allow you to set your own schedule. Working remotely also means that you’ll have the freedom to work wherever you want, meaning that you can work from home or settle into a coffee shop for a productivity session. If you need to travel but can’t afford the financial hit from taking time off, you can easily pack up your laptop and bring work along for your adventure. 

Freelancing also gives you more control over the type of work you take on. You won’t be forced to accept a project you hate just because an employer demands it. As your own boss, you’ll have the final say on which projects you accept. If you want, you can specialize in one type of project (such as website design) or include a broad spectrum of projects in your cycle. If you choose to accept many different types of projects (as many freelancers do), your skill set will grow substantially, enabling you to qualify for even more jobs.

Your increased independence will also extend to your finances. Because you won’t be dependent on a single source of income, you’ll have greater job security and more confidence to pursue the projects that you’re most interested in. After gaining several years of experience, you may be able to increase your earnings beyond a traditional salary. 

Freelance jobs are also more disability-friendly than in-person jobs. Whether you struggle to maintain a rigid work schedule due to illness or constantly run into access barriers at work, it can be harder to move up in your career when you’re disabled. Freelancing can remove many of these barriers by providing needed flexibility and allowing you to add accommodations where necessary. As a result, freelancing can make it possible to advance in your career beyond what you could in a less disability-friendly environment.

Potential Challenges of Digital Design Freelancing

It would be remiss to argue that freelancing is a perfect system, however. Like all work formats, it’s not without downsides. Acting as your own boss is freeing in many ways, but it also saddles you with all the responsibilities that being boss entails. Among these responsibilities are marketing your skills, invoicing, finding your own insurance, and paying small-business taxes (between two and three percent of your income). Unlike your digital design projects, these work projects are unpaid, meaning that you may work more than a Digital Designer with a traditional job. You may also end up working more due to a lack of paid time off.

While not relying on a single source of income can mean greater job security, it can also result in inconsistent income. For instance, you may work on ten digital design projects in September and only four in October. As a result, your income from one month to the next will be lopsided. This irregularity can make it challenging to budget for daily expenses or plan for your future. That said, you can improve your financial circumstances by broadening your financial literacy or learning financial modeling. 

Working from home can also present difficulties. The chief among them is distraction. Filled with objects of desire (e.g. your beloved pet, binge-able TV shows, your cozy bed), your home is a place you’ve set up to be comfortable, and comfort isn’t always conducive to productivity. Even if you’re very good at focusing, you’re likely to be interrupted frequently by loved ones who crave your attention. 

If you live alone or with another adult who works a traditional full-time job, freelancing can raise your risk of social isolation. Although you won’t have to deal with in-office politics, you also won’t have as many opportunities to form adult friendships. In theory, working alone might be less of a burden for introverts, but the truth is that even introverts need social support. 

What is a Digital Designer?

The simplest way to describe a Digital Designer is as a visual media creator who emphasizes interactivity. These designers are distinguished from other classes of designers by their focus on how people experience their designs. Rather than focusing solely on what their designs communicate visually, Digital Designers spend considerable time perfecting components like information architecture and accessibility. To improve user-friendliness even more, digital design projects often include prototyping and preparatory phases that incorporate demographic research. 

Digital Designers are best known for their digitally generated graphics, animations, and visual effects, but many Digital Designers also create full-scale websites and apps. If one type of project piques their interest more than others, a Digital Designer can specialize in a unique aspect of digital design. Some Digital Designers choose to highlight primarily digital projects, while others work exclusively on preparing interactive print designs for marketing. 

Because digital design is an umbrella term that includes many different design niches, most digital design professionals collaborate with a team. Their team may include fellow Designers, Project Managers, Product Designers, and IT professionals. 

What is Digital Design Freelancing Like?

Getting freelance gigs as a Digital Designer isn’t as simple as creating a LinkedIn profile and applying for the first job in your search results. Rather than creating a generalized LinkedIn profile, you want a profile that specifically highlights your skills and experience as a Digital Designer. More importantly, however, you need an online portfolio of work that blows prospective clients away. 

To easily find freelance design work online, visit and create a freelancer profile on freelancing websites such as:

• Dribbble
• Fiverr
• Freelancer
• LinkedIn
• TopTal
• Upwork

You can connect with clients directly through these platforms or contact them by email. Similarly, clients can also reach out to you requesting your talents for a project. After you and a client both agree to move forward on a project, you (or they) will send a contract for both parties to sign. Though it can be intimidating to do so at first, you have the freedom to negotiate aspects of your contracts that you don’t feel comfortable with, such as pay or work hours. 

Is Digital Design Freelancing Right for Me?

Freelancing often sounds like the perfect cup of tea to everyone at first, but if your circumstances or temperament aren’t right for this type of work, you may regret it. Ultimately, figuring out whether to swipe right on freelancing isn’t too hard as long as you’re willing to do some honest self-evaluation. 

Start by asking yourself the following questions: 

• Is your home set up to accommodate focused work sessions? In your answer, identify whether your internet connection is stable enough to support regular online work. From there, consider the activity of other people (and pets) in your vicinity. If they’re willing to let you alone while you work but still likely to be fairly loud, you may want to invest in a good pair of earplugs or noise-canceling headphones. 
• If your home isn’t an ideal workplace, is there a local library or coffee shop that offers the accommodations you need?
• Do you have the right equipment? Having the right digital design software and a design-friendly computer may not be all you need to start freelancing from home. For instance, some types of projects may require a printer (only you know which projects you’re likely to accept). Your couch or bed may seem like a comfy workplace at first, but your back will likely thank you for investing in an ergonomic chair, pillow, or standing desk. 
• Are you a self-motivated individual who rarely procrastinates? To be successful as a freelancer, you need a high degree of self-discipline. The flexibility and lack of extrinsic structure in freelance jobs can act like a kryptonite if you’re someone who procrastinates. You may end up working so sporadically that you don’t make enough money to get by. 
• Do you have strong organization and time management skills? There’s a lot to keep track of when maintaining a self-employed business, even if you don’t have any employees of your own. 

If you answered yes to these questions, you and freelancing will likely get along well. 

Steps to Become a Freelance Digital Designer

Becoming a freelance Digital Designer is a process with many stages, all equally valuable. For a smooth career launch, give careful attention to each aspect of your preparation. 

Identify Your Career Goals

Since digital design offers many different paths, decide which specialty you’re most interested in pursuing. This decision will help you discover which design training program is best for you. 

Participate in Vocational Training 

There are numerous ways to learn digital design these days, but if you want to ensure you’re adequately prepared for a design career, be sure to select a course that’s intended for digital design vocational training. Generally, these come in two varieties: college design degrees and certificate-granting bootcamps. 

College design degrees are typically more on the pricey side but offer substantially more experience in exchange. In contrast, digital design certificate courses provide accelerated training at a lower price. Both training styles will provide you with hands-on skills training and professional experience opportunities. However, certificate-granting bootcamps are more likely to include professional development training catered toward aspiring freelancers, while university-run programs are designed to facilitate more traditional careers.

Regardless of which course type you choose, triple-check that it covers all the skills you’ll need for your chosen career path. If you want to focus on app design, don’t choose a program that only covers website design, for instance. 

Build Your Online Design Portfolio

To score a freelance design job, you need a portfolio full of banger designs highlighting your standout skills. If your portfolio is easy to find (through LinkedIn and relevant freelancing sites), it’s even more likely to bring you new clients. You can assemble a portfolio on your own, but most vocational training programs offer help with portfolios. In addition to helping you generate great material to include in your portfolio, these programs offer feedback that can help you revise your portfolio to perfection. 

Learn Business Skills

In addition to mastering digital design skills, you’ll need to learn additional skills to sustain your self-employed lifestyle. Skills such as marketing can help you increase your online visibility along with your success rate when interacting with prospective clients. Similarly, gaining an understanding of finance and contract law can help you set rates, navigate contracts, and protect your business from vital mistakes. Even if you plan to work with contract consultants rather than running your entire operation alone, you should have a basic understanding of these topics. With this knowledge, you’ll have a better understanding of what kind of outsourcing you need to support your freelance work.

Network up A Storm

Although it would be nice to get jobs based solely on skills in a resume, that just isn’t how things work in the design world, especially for freelancers. Connecting with other professionals (including those in other industries) is vital to finding new clients. You never know where a new job might be lurking. Outside of building connections on platforms like LinkedIn, vocational training programs and internships provide built-in networking opportunities. 

Gain Professional Experience

If you’re like other designers, you’ve likely been frustrated by how many freelance jobs expect two years of experience (even at the entry-level). It may seem impossible to get the experience to get a job, but the truth is that professional experience is available through a variety of avenues. Internships provide legitimate job experience and can add a respectable design company to your resume. College programs and certificate-granting courses are also designed with experience-building opportunities included. If none of these options are financially accessible to you at the moment, you can also consider volunteering for community design projects. 

Earn A Certification

Certifications (different from certificates) are technical qualifications that prove your prowess at a specific skill, such as Photoshop or Illustrator. By adding a respected qualification to your resume, passing a proctored certification exam can significantly increase your likelihood of scoring a freelance job. Statistics also show that when salaries of digital designers are compared side by side, certified professionals earn more on average. 

Learn the Skills to Become a Digital Designer at Noble Desktop

Want to learn design in a supportive environment? Noble Desktop offers highly-rated design classes covering a range of digital design topics for students at all levels. In addition to shorter classes, you’ll find a variety of career certificates that provide comprehensive training, complete with one-on-one mentorship and professional experience opportunities. Start your journey now by signing up for training live online or participating in face-to-face classes at the school’s NYC campus. 

With the hands-on training you’ll get in the Digital Design Certificate, preparing for a digital design career isn’t hard. Even if you start with no experience, you can learn the UI design and graphic design skills you need to launch your career in a matter of weeks. Instead of sitting through dull lectures, this program will teach you practical skills through activities and projects. In addition to mastering tools like InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Figma, you’ll gain the expertise necessary to apply design principles for truly stunning results. 

Learn the skills to make websites and apps that are truly user-friendly in UX & UI Design Certificate. Working with a team, you’ll create your own interactive digital interfaces from start to finish, resulting in work you can proudly display in your portfolio. Rather than focusing only on aesthetics, you’ll learn how to research your target users and prototype to improve accessibility. This course also includes a job preparation segment designed to help you workshop your resume and create the perfect portfolio website. 

If websites are your jam, you can make it into a career by joining Noble Desktop’s Web Design Certificate program. Work toward an impressive portfolio with hands-on assignments that will help you learn a combination of design, coding, and software skills. Quicker than you know, you’ll acquire a versatile skill set that includes UI design theory, Figma, WordPress, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Before you’re through, you’ll also have the chance to build a high-quality portfolio website with help from your expert mentor.