Freelance Graphic Designer Interview: Jonathan Clarke-Ezzidio

In this week’s freelance feature, Graphic Designer, Jonathan Clarke-Ezzidio shares his journey and tips on freelance life.

1. What influenced you to become a freelancer?

After I realised that people could make a living doing what they actually love. I thought to myself, would I be able to do this and will I want to do this. Once I realised I could I set my sights on freelancing.

2. How long have you been freelancing? What is your journey to becoming a freelance graphic designer?

I’ve been freelancing for 3 years. I have a friend that is a graphic designer and I really admired his work, and it just fuelled me to practice my craft and see what I could do with my skills. I then got my first client through a friend.

I started out doing little things like banners for a friend that worked in a startup, I then get a call saying his boss would like to meet me – we had a talk, showed him my previous work and that impressed him.  He then wanted to hire me to help produce his logo and I agreed- from there I knew I could make good money from freelancing.

3. Are you a full time or part-time freelancer?

I have been doing freelance full-time since February 2020 – before this I was doing it part-time

4. Do you think it’s important to have a niche?

Yes I do believe it’s important to have a niche, there’s so much to explore in the creative field so once you’ve found out what you wanna do and who you want to work with it makes you a very valuable person if you provide quality work and service.  

You want to do work you enjoy!  That’s what makes this enjoyable 

5. What would you describe your niche as?

I produce advertising campaign and logos.  I like a lot of things so I am refining my niche if I’m totally honest.

6. What resources have you found useful as a freelancer?

So many, Livity offers a great office spot to work for free and meet other freelancers; online resources such as The Futur, Lecture in Progress and The NuSchool have taught me the business of design and how to really improve on so many skills that I would have taken me years to have learnt; I highly recommend taking a look at these and bookmarking what’s relevant to you.

Skillshare, and Youtube I use for tutorials and have been for so long, you can literally learn everything there!

7. What do you like most about freelancing?

The flexibility to schedule my work accordingly (set my own hours) and take half days or days off if I want.  Also I know which times I work best and by being able to work accordingly, it doesn’t result in me burning out and hating my work until I think of the solution. 

This makes me so much more productive and able to balance other beneficial things like the gym to help take my mind off my work and then come back to it with a clear mind.

8. What do you want people to feel when looking at your freelance work?

When people see my work I want them to feel as if the work is really speaking to them.  That they are able to connect with it and see that there was thought to provoke them to pay attention to the work I’m showing them.  

I aim overall is to create a more open and better-connected world through thought-provoking design

9. What challenges have you found with freelancing, and how do you battle through them?

A challenge that I’ve encountered has been late payments from clients then the invoice is due.  

It can be hard when you have direct debits and payments have not been paid and you have to follow up with clients in regard to the matter.

10. What tips do you have for those wanting to do freelancing or build their own business?

I would encourage them to find a mentor and other freelancers that have experience and keep in contact with them as they will have a lot of knowledge to pass on to you and resources you can use.  

I would also say that being a freelancer requires you to wear many hats so knowing about things like taxes, contracts, deposits and marketing, are all things you need to be aware of if you want to make freelancing your goal.  

Having apps like Coconut/Monzo/Starling are great to help you out with taxes and very user friendly

11. What 3 words would you describe your work as?

Current, authentic, purposeful

12. What do you like to do in your spare time?

When I’m not designing I’m probably in the boxing gym training.  I’ve been boxing for about two years and it really is a nice was to burn off energy.  

It also helps to structure my work hours as I make sure to wake up early to go for a run then I have the rest of the day to work accordingly.  It’s really great as a lot of my work is done by sitting down at a desk I get to be active with boxing.  

I also love to eat out as I am a big foodie with friends from time to time, one of my favourite things to do, and when I’m indoors I will happily chef up a meal too (yep I really enjoy food) and will also chill out and watch anime.

13. How do you find the work/ life balance being a freelancer? Do you have any tips for this area?

I think for me the work/life balance is pretty nice.  I can set my hours and work around my other commitments which I really do enjoy.  

For me to enjoy this I do believe that having a structure is very great thing to put in place as you will realise when things get busy that you will thank yourself later for that.  

I also suggest finding a hobby that takes you completely away from your work so that it doesn’t become your entire life.  Make sure to reach out to friends too as freelance life can be lonely for some at times.

14. What things can freelancers put in place to avoid late payments?

There are a few ways to avoid late payments.  One is by offering a small discount to those that pay their invoices early.  The second is to remind clients two weeks before the due date, then again on the week, it’s due in case they forgot via email so that they can flag this and have it sorted out.  

The third is to ensure that in the contract and invoice it states the result of late payment of late fees to discourage clients from having to pay an extra fee.

15. What key characteristics are needed to become a freelancer?

Tenacity and patience are key; things won’t start out to being super exciting or really busy all the time and you will need to make sure that you can maintain your strong will to rememberer why you started.  

You definitely have to be strong-minded and not let things get to you personally, whether it comes to clients not liking what you think is best, to the number of likes or shares you get from your work on social media.  Remember that this is your business and good things take time to build.

16. What is the proudest project you have worked on?

I think my proudest project was the Black Lives Matter Campaign: A Change is Gonna Come.  I was able to put the frustration and pain that I felt at the time into my craft and I was able to not only support through signing petitions and sharing info on social media, but create something to help push for change on an issue that I hold close to me.

17. Where can we find more about you and your work/ keep up to date with what you are doing?

You can find me on Instagram @jce.design to see my branding projects and advertising campaigns, valuable info that I give to my followers, and behind the scenes of my inspirations and work in progress; it’s also the easiest way to reach me.  

You can also visit my online portfolio at jcedesigns.myportfolio.com and also on Behance.  Just search for my name.

18. Anything you’d like to add? 

If you are thinking of going freelance, I believe that you should listen to you gut (how many times has it been right before) and make your decision.  If you are willing to learn and put in the work to being the best version of you then, you know what that means and what that takes to achieve.