Contract Worker - Freelancing Experiences

Portfolios

by Rico on April 28th, 2008

Previously: Interview with Christian San Jose, Freelance Designer

Contract Worker: Do you maintain a portfolio site?
Christian San Jose: Csj89.com has nothing on it. Csjwcr.deviantart.com [is] temporary.

CW: Even without a portfolio site, how were you able to attract clients?
CSJ: I was fairly active in many communities (deviantart, behance, emptees). I posted my works on different galleries online, so my network grew, people started to recognize the name, and the rest is history… word of mouth from clients too

CW: I once wrote that freelancers shouldn’t promote their work on “enthusiast” sites like DeviantArt. Agree or disagree?
CSJ: Disagree. You can learn from other designers, gain feedback from others, grow our network of clients - there’s many benefits. Of course there’s the occational ripper who steals designs, but it’s alright.

CW: But won’t freelancers gain more exposure on “mainstream” sites like LinkedIn, Multiply, or a self-hosted domain?
CSJ: It’s actually the opposite, in mainstream sites such as friendster/linked in/myspace, you usually get the less (ahem…professional) clients compared to when you post your works on sites such as deviantArt. From my experience, they usually pay much less. Yes, you get more exposure, but it’s not advisable from a business standpoint. In the first place, those site’s were not made with designers/artists in mind, compared to dA, where they push artists agendas such as intellectual property rights. They also have a good art feedback system, gallery management, etc.

CW: Good points. So was DeviantArt the reason for your first “big break”?
CSJ: It was part of it.

Up Next: The Big Break.

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POSTED IN: Interviews