Friday 31 July 2015

A week in the life of a Freelance Fashion Designer: Friday



Ever though what its like to be a freelance fashion designer?  This week I am recording each days work and publishing it on my blog - welcome to my fifth and final post FRIDAY!

I get up at 6am and do the usual morning routine before setting off at 8am to dash to my printers to pick up some portfolio pages I sent them to print earlier in the week for me.  I am meeting a stationery company today who I spoke to on Monday regarding a Licensing design project and need to show them some work examples.

I get a brief hour to myself in the car and get the change to listen to some of my favourite podcasts and sing my little heart out on my journey to the meeting.  I arrive at the company at 9am and have a really successful meeting.  The company is looking to expand on what they currently offer and possible venture into apparel.  I will hopefully be helping them on some current projects and will advise them when they decide to venture into new apparel territory!  I help launch lots of small (and large) fashion brands in my day-to-day freelance work so my contacts and knowledge should definitely help them out when they decide to expand into clothing!

I have agreed to come up with a small graphics guide and product concept boards next week so I have booked them in my design schedule for my only two days remaining I have free next week.  I know my following weeks filling up with work now so I will need to discuss Alfred’s care with Jamie!

I get back home for lunchtime and sit down with Alfred and Jamie briefly before getting back to my desk at 1pm.  I want to try to get as much done this afternoon as I can so I can dedicate my weekend to fun and games with Alfred as I’ve not been around much for him this week.

I’ve been briefed a swimwear range for a UK department store for teen girls wear that I need to get completed by mid-next week.  This afternoon I need to get as much done towards this as I can.  Earlier in the year I created a full swimwear trend report for older and younger girls for Spring/Summer 16 so I get these boards out for inspiration along the way.

I don’t do a huge amount of swimwear so I start by drawing up shapes from scratch and get 4 bikinis and 3 swimsuits drawn up in illustrator before the end of the day.

At 4.30pm I open up my blog and prepare and schedule my blog posts for the following week.  While I am there, I brainstorm some posts for the week following week and set titles up in my drafts ready to look at some point next week too.

After attending to my blog, I check my google calendar and make sure I've recorded all the different days and projects I've been involved with during the week in my diary.  I invoice companies at the end of each month and it's important I log all my clients and work to make life easy (and because I can remember most of the time what I did yesterday let alone at the beginning of the month!)  Invoicing and accounts is the most tedious part of being freelance but you have to stay organised and work it all out yourself - no PAYE or last day of month paycheque in my world!!!   Finally I dig out all my recipes for the the week and log them onto my expenses part of my annual accounts excel sheet which brings me to the end of my day and week!

I finish work FOR THE WEEK (!!!!)at 6pm and spend an hour bathing and getting Alfred ready for bed.  Tonight we have some friends over for a BBQ and I looking forward to enjoying it with a glass of wine or two.  Tomorrow we have plans to take Alfred out on our little boat to the coast near Ipswich, which is about an hour away form us – I can’t wait.


I hope it’s been interesting reading my schedule for the week and gives an insight into freelancing?  I love to hear any comments or questions you may have?

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