I’m sure that one of the things on your mind as a full-time designer is whether to take the leap to finally make it on your own. Everyone dreams of having their own design company – or at least, private practice – but never really know how to begin. So who do you ask? Why, someone who just did it! Meet Gareth Leeding, a freelance web designer based in the UK. In this interview he talks about his work and dishes out advice to those who want to go freelance.

To kick things off, please tell us something about yourself. Design background, hobbies, and other interests!

I finished studying Interactive Media Production at Bournemouth University (UK) over three years ago but I never really had any formal design tuition as such. My father was a printer and my mother was a pretty successful fashion designer so I guess you could say it’s in my genes!  I’m a complete sports buff though; football, tennis and snowboarding are what get me up in the morning. I’d love to be able to make a board film at some point – that’s a life goal for me. In fact, I’d love to make more short-films full stop. Back before I went to the university a few of my mates and I made this short film that got us nominated for the Cooperative Young Film Makers of the Year which was pretty cool. It’d be great to get back into that scene again.

You’ve recently made a significant career move. What made you decide to finally leave the security of a full-time job for a freelance setup? How was the transition process?

My last company, Clinic was amazing. I had an awesome few years there leading projects for Nike, Microsoft, Network Rail & Orange. However, when I took some time off in the summer to travel around Europe, I realized I was stagnating; I wasn’t progressing. I have too much motivation to achieve something with my life to be frustrated.

The transition was painless for me. My agent found my first job and, although I was only supposed to be there a week, I ended up staying for three months. Those first few days were stressful though, I worry too much about failing. I guess most designers have that in the back of their mind. It’s all going really well though and I’m having a great time.

What difficulties did you encounter in making the leap? Was it worth it?

The projects I’ve worked on since I went freelance have been insane and have made it totally worth the initial and rather daunting task of finding the first few clients, work, an agent you can trust, an accountant, setting up an Ltd Company, and so on. For three months I worked on nearly every digital campaign out there for Virgin Media. The trust that represents is so rewarding.
What projects are you currently working on? Does the location of your clients affect your work?

Having freelanced for numerous agencies in New York remotely, in-house in Amsterdam for Achtung on FWA-winning projects and for many agencies in London I have to say that I prefer being around other creatives.  I worked solidly from my office at home for five weeks on one of the projects for an American agency and after that kind of stint you end up getting cabin fever much to the amusement of everyone around you. It was tough. I’ve literally just finished a pitch that’s awaiting client approval but it’s massive and I am unbelievably excited to be involved in it. We’ll have to wait and see what happens there though, fingers crossed.

I find it imperative as a designer to find a developer that you can trust to take hold of your vision and produce what you’re expecting to see.

Discuss the importance of networking to the industry you’re in. What’s the best way to grow and maintain a network?

Networking is without doubt the most important part of being a freelancer. Without meeting people, being friendly and talking about creative work in general you’d never get any new projects in the pipeline. I’ve picked up a lot of work through Twitter; the best job so far was some video editing work for Oasis’ Liam Gallagher’s new clothing label Pretty Green. Someone I was following put out a tweet and it all just fell into place.  As for my new portfolio, Create and Breathe, that went up a few weeks back now and Marc Hibbins handled the build for me. We’ve collaborated on a few projects now, thirtyy2thirty8 being another example. I find it imperative as a designer to find a developer that you can trust to take hold of your vision and produce what you’re expecting to see.

Any advice to those who are thinking of working on a freelance basis?

If you have work already lined up take the jump but be prepared. Have savings for those stretches without work. Luckily I’m yet to have one but I am very wary of it especially given the current financial climate and all.

If you loved the design and freelancing insights, visit Gareth’s portfolio!