Advantages and Disadvantages of Hiring a Freelance Website Designer
Many people in recent decades have been turning to careers in tech, particularly because so many new jobs and roles are being created as the world continues to become more connected digitally. The demand for roles like a freelance web designer and web developer is huge. Websites are constantly needing to be created or refreshed and for a consumer, there’s nothing worse than a badly designed or laid out website.
When it comes to employment opportunities in this field, there are a few things you should take into consideration. There are a number of advantages to becoming a web designer, but there are also some downsides to pursuing this as a career choice. Read on to find out the key pros and cons.
Pros
Work remotely
The fact that the majority of your work is centred around a computer or laptop means you have the advantage of being able to work wherever you want, whenever you want. As a freelancer, you can also pick your working environment. Maybe you like being in the office, or perhaps you enjoy working from the home set-up. Or maybe you like working in a co-working space or cafe. Whatever it is, working on your laptop means you have full flexibility and can play to your advantage.
Work on your own
Although you’ll have to work collaboratively with clients or correspond with people at an agency, working as a freelance web designer means that you have the ability to work largely on your own if you want to. Perfect for introverts and those people who like to work independently!
Multiple industries to work with
Working freelance means that you get the opportunity to take projects and work with brands from a wide variety of industries. Sometimes when you’re working in an agency, you don’t get that luxury. In order to maintain consistency and build up a brand, many businesses will pick a selection of industries and brands to work with, which means you don’t get the opportunity to view the full spectrum of work out there. It can open up even more career opportunities and limits boredom and there is hopefully not much repetition.
Creative projects
You are your own boss, so you can pick the clients and projects that you want to work on. You can hopefully have as much artistic licence as you’d like, and actually, design websites and work that you are proud of and do work that you are passionate about.
Cons
Long hours
The hours you work are solely determined by you, and when it comes to completing work for clients, sometimes certain projects might take longer than you’d like. Working nights and weekends is very common in the creative industry. Be careful with how many projects and clients you take on because you can easily end up working 7 days a week without even realising.
Sitting for long periods
As with a lot of professions that require sitting at a desk in an office, sitting for long periods creates fatigue and can lead to long-term health issues. It can affect your eyes, neck, back, and other areas of the body, so it’s important to take this into consideration and try to counterbalance these health risks. You could opt for a standing desk, stretching, walking on breaks, coloured eyewear, and tints for your screens to help mitigate any issues you might experience from sitting down all day.
Always learning
Although we all know the saying “you learn something new every day”, this couldn’t be closer to the truth when you’re working in an industry like tech. The internet and technology are constantly evolving, so as a web designer, you have to stay on top of emerging trends. This could be user experience trends, knowing what value propositions should be highlighted in your designs, and being aware of coding updates.
These are just some considerations to be aware of when pursuing a career as a web designer. This list isn’t exhaustive so we would really recommend doing your research!
