Freelancer Focus 11th July 2008
Written by Tara: Freelance Designer on Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 9:15 am
Freelancer Focus is a regular feature, where freelance designers are invited to answer a series of questions about themselves and freelancing. This week Teddi Deppner (pictured left) is the freelance designer in question. If you would like to take part please read my previous post. Any designer or illustrator can also take part in Design Case Studies.
1. Your name?
Teddi Deppner
2. Where are you are based (Country/Area)?
Sacramento, California, USA
3. What type of work do you do? (design for print, web, multimedia etc)
Primarily web design, with supporting services like logo design and small print design projects (brochures, flyers, identity materials)
4. How many years had you been working in the design industry before you went freelance?
Over seven years.
5. How long have you been freelancing?
Since 2006.
6. Why did you decide to go freelance?
I’ve always valued the idea of staying at home with my children during their early years. I have two children under 6 years old, and freelance is an excellent way to stay in the groove and bring in some income while nurturing and training impressionable young minds.
7. How did you market yourself (find design work/new clients) in the beginning - (online portfolio/brochure/direct mail/email/phone etc)?
I had an online portfolio, which brought in a few new clients, but most of my work came by word of mouth. Previous clients I’d worked with, friends and extended family or church contacts — people who knew I did web design were interested when they heard I was freelancing.
8. How do you market yourself (find design work) now?
Pretty much the same. Word of mouth usually brings enough clients to keep me busy, but occasionally I mention my work and drop a business card to people I run into casually who sound like they could use my skills.
9. How did you decide what to charge? What was the process?
It’s a work in progress. I’ve done the calculations that factor in annual expenses, taxes, desired profits and all that to determine an hourly rate. I’ve searched the Net to see what’s being charged for what quality work, what corporate web design salaries are like. With all that in mind, I consider at least two other factors: what is the client willing to pay (always a guessing game, but you get a sense for it after a while) and what is my time worth to me for this project? Some projects I charge more for simply because they’re not my favorite type of work. That’s my privilege — it’s the client’s privilege to look elsewhere for a cheaper designer on that project if they don’t like the quote. And above all, I *never* cheat the client or lie about my hours or break a contract. Trustworthiness and proven reliability is part of my “services”. If the client is willing to pay for that, then I don’t need to feel guilty charging more than the guy down the street. I know that I’m offering more than just the face value of a website.
10. Do you work from home/have an office/work inhouse at design agencies?
Currently work from home.
11. How do you organise your workload, do you work long hours?
I try to fit the bulk of my design work into my kids’ daily nap and play times. This gives me 2-4 hours a day as a starting point. When under time constraints on a project, I may work long hours — later into the night, weekends, etc. Our household is a geek place — my husband is a computer systems engineer / architect / programmer — so we don’t generally look at work as an 8am-5pm M-F sort of thing. We work extra when needed, and other days we don’t work at all. When I accept a project, I keep my preferred schedule in mind (no more than 2-4 hours a day, at the moment) and schedule things so I don’t have too many happening at once. I do a lot of personal Internet publishing projects, too, so it’s not just client time that I need to schedule, but all my computer-based projects. As the kids get older, I’ll have more time to devote.
12. How much holiday do you give yourself?
Holiday? What’s a holiday? Just kidding. We take family vacations (road trips, camping trips, day excursions) regularly — maybe 2-3 per year that are longer than 4 days. Maybe one every two months that are day or weekend excursions. Since I’m still so involved with my kids, we spend a lot of a time playing outside, going to the park, working in the garden, so I get time away from the computer whenever I need it.
13. How do you keep up to date with what is happening in the industry?
Primarily reading online. Blogs and RSS are great tools for this. I’d love to network with fellow professionals in my area again someday, join some local user groups, etc, but it’s not a priority right now.
What blogs, magazines, podcasts etc do you subscribe to?
Whew. Let’s see. No paper magazines, except spiritual types. A sampling of my blog subscriptions:
www.laughingliondesign.net/
www.moleskinerie.com/
www.davidairey.com/ (and his www.logodesignlove.com)
www.10e20.com/blog/
www.writetodone.com/
www.courtneytuttle.com/
www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/
www.webdesignerwall.com/
www.obsidiandawn.com/blog/
14. How do you generate ideas/what techniques do you use to stimulate creativity?
I often explore logopond.com, startdrawing.org, cssdrive.com, csszengarden.com, cgbrainchild.com and places like that for inspiration. Browsing the magazine section of a bookstore works, too. Then I sit down and sketch the ideas that appeal most to me for the project at hand.
15. What about the business side of things, accounting, invoicing, bookkeeping, how do you manage it?
Ugh. Not so fond of this side of things. But my business is small enough to do it all pretty easily through handwritten ledgers or Quicken Premier Business version.
16. What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone starting out freelancing?
Be honest. With your clients and with yourself. Included in honesty (for me) is the idea of integrity — following through and doing what you say you’ll do.
17. Would you ever go back to fulltime work?
I’m not vehemently opposed to it, but it’s not in my current plans. Not at all.
18. Any thing else you would like to add?
Find a way to do what you love and keep working hard at it, and you won’t regret it.
Where can we see some of your work (URL)?
www.creativewebguru.com/
Category: Freelance Graphic Design, General Graphic Design
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Comment by David Airey
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 10:13 am
Hi Teddi,
Great to know you like my two blogs! What’s also great is that you spend quite a lot of time away from your computer. It’s important for keeping a healthy lifestyle, and of course you spend quality time with your family.
Enjoy the weekend!
Comment by Jennifer
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 12:26 pm
Hi Teddi
Thanks so much for subscribing to my blog! Much appreciated. Nice interview for freelancer focus, you sound like you’ve really got your head screwed on in terms of dividing your time between work and family.
all the best.
Comment by Tracey Grady
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 12:35 pm
Hi Teddi, it’s always great to hear about someone else who is juggling freelance design with the commitments of looking after small children. Keep up the good work.
Hi Tara, great to have you back blogging again after a short break.
Comment by Tara: Freelance Designer
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 12:39 pm
Hi Tracey
Thanks, I’ve been away to France for a couple of weeks and then had a bit of lack of inspiration - any post ideas much appreciated. Hope things are going well for you.
Comment by Tracey Grady
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 12:46 pm
Thanks Tara. I’ve started blogging myself in the last few weeks - you’re welcome to drop by the site. Hope you had a great time in France.
Comment by Tara: Freelance Designer
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 12:54 pm
Looks good Tracey, I’ve added you to my blogroll. I like your drawing references - they look pretty useful.
Comment by rx card
Made Friday, 11 of July , 2008 at 6:59 pm
Cool resources! I’m always looking for more places to generate ideas from.
Comment by Teddi
Made Saturday, 12 of July , 2008 at 12:14 am
Thanks, all, for the kind comments.
And Tracey, I join Tara in appreciation for the drawing site links — and I like your blog! Keep up the good work.
See ya’all around.
Comment by web design newbie
Made Saturday, 12 of July , 2008 at 5:11 pm
Great array of information, sure helps us do better.
Comment by MB
Made Sunday, 13 of July , 2008 at 2:07 am
Nice work and a very original portfolio, Teddi. Well done!
Comment by Teddi
Made Sunday, 13 of July , 2008 at 3:24 am
*grin* Thanks, MB Web Design.
My portfolio is “very original”, indeed, and that’s not always the best idea. For the record, I’d recommend most folks *not* follow my example.
Although the site works for my purposes (I like quirky hand-drawn stuff, I have just the right amount of work coming in right now, and am not looking to generate a lot of leads online), it breaks a lot of rules for good portfolios. (Not to mention that I’m not happy with the spring/summer version yet…)
David Airey put together some good advice for graphic design portfolios that I’d recommend. 
Comment by Eric
Made Tuesday, 15 of July , 2008 at 3:18 pm
Hey, you have some good work here! Congrats.
Comment by yannis
Made Tuesday, 15 of July , 2008 at 11:49 pm
Comment by Teddi
Made Wednesday, 16 of July , 2008 at 12:46 am
That’s great, yannis. I used to feel that sketching wasn’t “good” because it wasn’t pretty or wasn’t polished. I used it when necessary, but was glad to “burn the evidence” once I had something that looked “good”.
But now I believe sketching is an essential part of the design process — and the more the better! You can see the sketches behind a recent logo design at my website. And I even enjoy reading web comics that are just “polished sketches” (if that’s not too much of an oxymoron), like MegaTokyo. When the story or message is strong, even something sketchy can work effectively as a final product.
Comment by Essence
Made Thursday, 17 of July , 2008 at 8:59 am
Great interview. I wholeheartedly agree with number 13. The only way nowadays to keep up with the latest trends in design (presuming you’re not setting them, of course) is via the internet. There are so many quality blogs (such as this one) out there that the latest industry hype, speculation, and nouse, can all be acquired without even leaving the house.
Comment by guenstiger-kredit.info
Made Friday, 18 of July , 2008 at 1:15 pm
Nice to read how a freelance designer works. With number 17 i also agree. Once freelancer or independently only few people want to go back to an dependently fulltime job.
Comment by Quote Catcher
Made Friday, 18 of July , 2008 at 9:31 pm
This is great information. We enjoy seeing freelancers being able to balance work/home life… awesome interview.