How NOT to Evolve from Freelancer to Agency

I recently ran across an article explaining how a freelancer can become an agency, and it sent chills up my spine. That may have been partially because I work in my poorly-heated office during the depths of the Saskatchewan winter. Nevertheless, in recent years I’ve become a big believer in the power of freelancing and here’s why.

Quality of life

I live 2 blocks away from a major street. Every morning at about 7:50, cars are lined up all the way to my house waiting to get through the traffic light. I’m usually in my bath robe at that point, thankful for that extra hour of sleep. Let’s say going to an agency and working the day averages 8 hours per day including commuting. I average about 6 hours per day in my office. That gives me over 450 extra hours in a year. I’m sure my kids will be thankful later on that I was around that much more, even if I stop making crêpes for breakfast. Furthermore, Mother Nature might even reward me with some extra oxygen to breathe instead of exhaust fumes.

I’m doing what I love

I like the hands-on work of my business. The graphic design. The creativity. The coding. I know a few people who started out in the role, and when their company grew to a considerable size they were doing more meetings, paperwork, and administration. No thanks.

We have the tools

Agencies still have their place, but technology nowadays enables freelancers to assemble, collaborate and disperse very easily.

Right now I’m part of a contracted development team with members from California, Prince Edward Island, and Saskatchewan. We use Google’s tools for video meetings, document sharing, and calendar. We use GitHub and Lighthouse for bug tracking and code versioning. I’ve worked in a large interactive agency before and the only thing I’m missing now is the opportunity for social engagement. The work still gets done just as efficiently.

Tools like FreshBooks or Harvest, coupled with internet money transfer make it so easy to contract or be contracted. Why burden yourself with a payroll if you don’t have to do so? If you know the right people, it makes a lot of sense nowadays to use freelancers.

It’s not for everyone

One thing I appreciated about that other article was that it was realistic. Not every freelancer should become an agency, and in the same way not everyone is cut out for freelancing. It’s still more paperwork and admin than working for a salary. Interpersonal skills are essential to stay connected to other developers and your clients. There are slow times where you’re wondering when the next job will come in. I can find those factors to be tiresome at times, but in the end—working less, getting paid more, doing the stuff I love, and being close to the people I love is my priority. Freelancing just happens to provide those things.

The Trouble With Fonts

Fonts bug me.

As a designer I actually LOVE a well designed font. I know the hard work it takes to design one. I believe the designer should be paid for their work. I like trying new fonts and I believe they have a big effect on a design. Yet here’s my problems with fonts:

1. There’s too many choices

My computer has 1169 fonts on it. I have done a bit of categorizing using Linotype’s FontExplorer, but who has the time to do it right? Yes, I could visit some website that has it all done for you, but I don’t always know which ones I have already. I could also go to a free font site, but then I have to look through dozens of junky ones before I find a good one. That brings me to my next problem:

2. There’s too many free fonts

Like I said, I think good designers should get paid. But dang it, there’s some really good fonts out there for free and they are always tempting me! Why didn’t you talented designers just make it easy for me and charge money for the good stuff? And what about all those fonts on my computer? Why pay when I have lots of choices already? A new font needs to have a pretty significant design flavour before I can ever get the courage to buy a new one.

3. Font rights are a hassle

Over the years I’ve had a few jobs at different places, and I’ve used many different computers. When you go from one to another, the easiest way to make the switch is to migrate everything you had on the previous computer. I’ve tried to purge myself of fonts that I know I don’t own, but who knows if I did the whole job? THE GUILT!

Furthermore, every new font I get has a different license agreement. And every font handles it in a different way—sometimes in a little readme file, sometimes on the website where you got it. How do I keep track of all this?

4. Web fonts are more hassle

Browsers nowadays finally have the ability to display custom fonts. Problem is, you still need to keep track of whether a font allows you the rights for web use. Then you have to either convert your font to the proper format or else pay an online font provider. If you get a font provider you often have to pay a subscription fee. Then you have to convince your client that they need it. I don’t know about you, but paying a regular fee so my website can have a certain font seems odd to me.

What I want

In a perfect world, every font would be a good one. I could find the perfect one quickly. I would own the rights to anything I wanted to use, and having it on my website would be as simple as naming it in the css file. Lastly, every client would appreciate having good fonts.

When Jesus comes back to make all things new, I’ll be waving my hand to ask about this font thing.