The Design Solo
A personal letter for designers turning their skills into more money and freedom.
Catch up onThe Design Solo letters
- 10
Undercharging won't get you more clients
Cheap rates feel safe, but they keep freelance designers stuck. The discount that taught me this, and how to raise your rates without losing good clients.
- 09
I stopped hiding my work. Everything changed.
Waiting until the work was perfect cost me weeks. Then a client hated the direction. The small change that now saves me time on every project.
- 08
How to design for clients, not for yourself
Clients don't pay for perfect layers or trendy gradients. The one question I now ask before every design decision, and the hours it saves me.
- 07
Your portfolio doesn't need 20 projects
Adding more work feels safer, but it can cost you clients. Why less often wins, and what a client really looks for when they land on your site.
- 06
The 4 steps that got me from broke to $10k month
Two years of posting, no clients, no money. What finally changed my freelance design business, and why one choice mattered more than the rest.
- 05
How to start freelancing as a designer (the basics nobody teaches)
Freelancing feels broken when the business side isn't set up. What nobody tells designers at the start, and the one part most of us skip for years.
- 04
If I started freelancing again, this is what I'd do
More designers, more AI, more noise. What I'd do first if I had to begin from zero, and where your first clients really come from.
- 03
I got fired. Here's what I changed
Losing my creative director job in 2023 forced a hard reset. The three small changes that turned my freelancing from a side job into a real business.
- 02
Your failures don't define you
Some projects go wrong no matter how hard you try. What those hard moments taught me as a freelancer, and how to use yours to grow instead of quit.
- 01
My journey: a way to grow as a designer
No degree, no plan and a director who told me no. The honest story of my mistakes as a designer, and what finally made it work.
What I write about
Design
How to design better, level up your skills and sharpen the thinking behind your work.
Freelancing
How to win better clients, charge higher rates and grow your freelance career.
Productivity
How to organise your work and life with simple systems and AI tools.