Graduating at the age of 23 with a Bachelor’s Of Arts in Communication and a major in Advertising Design led me to the sensible decision of landing a job as a graphic designer in a small advertising agency on 1 Dec 2016. There, I did the usual: designing a bunch of advertising artworks based around the needs of clients. I did get some exposure dealing directly with some of the client reps, and some “out of the job description” work like motion graphics and photography, non of which were particularly interesting to me.
There I was, going through the motions day to day like the lifeless drone I feared I would be. New job would come in, I’d return to my iMac to look at Pinterest coming up with design concepts. After coming up with a direction that would fit “enough”, my boss would give his feedback and I’d follow exactly because it’s what the client would want. After the client approves, I’d cough up a few more designs for other formats like billboards or flyers, send it to the printer, and the whole cycle would repeat itself again for the umpteenth time.
I started to despise the work I was doing, not necessarily because it was routine, but because I couldn’t really pour myself into what I was doing. I was producing all these creations for other people, like I was a slave to the work.
Seeing my colleagues go off one by one to chase their own passions, I finally made the decision to hand in that letter in April of 2018 and waited 2 months before I was finally free. The feeling? Absolutely amazing.
The Life Of A Freelancer
The first thing I did was to sign up for a front-end web development course at the NEXT Academy. I went through the proper process of learning HTML, CSS, and Javascript and now, I can code basic static websites with little supervision (though I’m still a long way off from being an actual developer). Met a lot of new people there from places like New Zealand and Russia, and got to show them around and have an exchange of culture when before this, I had no exposure to anyone else besides the people I saw every day at the office. I learnt to solve problems on my own, to persevere when I felt like giving up, and how to collaborate and work well with others. Some of my classmates were also entrepreneurs and owners of startups, and they didn’t look much older than me. It made me look into my own future, at where I would be in 5 or 10 years down the road, and it inspired me to strive for better.
I also resumed my freelance graphic design services which I had been doing prior to my 1st full-time job. Freelance gives me a chance to manage my clients personally and also work on the designs at the same time. Working on my own, I have more control over my output and also who I work for. I recently had to cut away a client because he was just simply being impossible, but I could do that because I work on my own dime. And it felt REALY good being able to do that. I’m able to start building a portfolio I’m proud of instead of the “same old same old” work I was doing before.
- Credits: Samuel Goh
Now, I even have the time to be available for other independent projects I had no time or was too exhausted to be involved with. I got to help out my friend Yohann and his crew in the production of his upcoming short film, I’m putting together a plan to be a content creator on YouTube, and even this blog is a result of my decision to quit my full-time job.
Of course, freelance isn’t without it’s challenges. You never know where your next pay cheque is coming from, whether you will be able to find new clients, or whether your “passion projects” would lead to anything meaningful. But having this time to do anything I’d like is like a breath of fresh air, like finding what give you the feeling of being alive all over again. Go ahead and peg me as millennial, but in the past 2 months I’ve gotten my energy back, met a group of new and interesting people, worked on things that make me proud, handled my own business, and learnt a new language that I can use to create new things, all on my own dime.
Sometimes, it’s good to know what we can achieve on our own to reclaim some of our confidence lost working full-time. I believe that all we all are capable of pulling ourselves out of the misery we’ve grown so comfortable with and go to do what truly makes us excited about life again.
Will I ever go back to a 9-6 job? Maybe. But for now, imma enjoy these things I’m making.
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While it happens 