Being a freelancer who works from home, I sometimes wish I was working in a team and office environment. Mainly due to the fact that I am missing out on interacting with other creatives in terms of sharing, learning, and experiencing together.
My friend Andrew & I were on the phone a couple weeks ago and he mentioned to me that he wanted to talk to more creative people on a regular basis and I quickly jumped at the opportunity to be one of those people. We set up a time to chat the next week during our “lunch hour” at our at home offices and the Lonely Freelancers Club (LFC) was born.
I have been following the fun experimental project: 40 days of dating. In a nutshell the project is about two single friends, who decided to date for 40 days and document the experience. What I am most drawn to is how at the end of each day they are both asked the same exact questions. What even fascinated me more about this was the different perspectives & experiences each of them had during the times they spent together. I was inspired by their project and knew I wanted to apply a similar structure to document our meetings. Since this is our first meeting, I asked introductory questions to get to know us better & then asked the general questions you will see each time.
Enjoy!
What is your name?
JG: Jehn Glynn
AK: Andrew King
Where do you live?
JG: Portland, OR
AK: Tempe, AZ
What do you for a living?
JG: Freelance Creative Designer
AK: Graphic design and consultation for various industries, mostly in the biopharma sector
How do you know Jehn/Andrew?
JG: We met while in college. We both attended the Graphic Design program at Scottsdale Community College (Incredible program if you are in the area & interested) and the Graphic Information Technology Program at ASUs Polytechnic campus.
AK: Jehn and I met long long ago in the days of community college, student loan misuse, and general rambunctious youth shenanigans.
What has inspired you lately?
JG: Understating how I internally view situations.
AK: Lately I’ve taken lots of figurative inspiration from traveling in Europe that has translated into the use of bold photography and simplified, clean design elements.
One word to describe how you feel about this project:
JG: Hopeful
AK: Invigorated
What did you eat for breakfast today?
JG: Two small bananas
AK: Cereal and a plum
What did you two talk about today in the LFC meeting?
JG: We talked about what we have been up to lately design wise along with some aspects of our careers we want to work on. I talked to Andrew about Portland’s Startup Weekend I attended and he wants to fly out and attend one with me, that makes me excited! I have a friend, Kelly Tomlinson who has opened my eyes to the whole startup community and it felt good passing the information on to someone else. (Kelly also attended SCC with us).
Andrew and I also talked about a topic I feel like no one touches on… Designers being self conscious about their work, especially when showing other designers. I have brought this idea up to some designer friends of mine and I generally get the response “I never feel that way about my work.” Which really surprises me. I didn’t even have to bring it up to Andrew, he brought it up.. Which instantly made me feel not so alone on my thought and has given me the courage to publicly talk about it.
We also talked about apps and software we like to use such as; Asana & Muse.
AK: We talked mostly about what being a freelance designer means emotionally and how we process our thoughts, feelings and related emotions as independent workers.
Did you learn anything?
JG: Yeah, I learned that it isn’t just me that feels semi-disconnected from the creative world as a freelancer that works from home & it has ensured me that us doing our LFC has already been a very positive thing.
AK: Lots. I learned that I need to leverage more often the benefits of interaction with other freelancers to remain inspired in design and abreast of industry events and trends that I may be missing otherwise.
One word to describe today’s meeting:
JG: Enlightening
AK: Insightful
Any additional comments?
JG: Andrew and I have always been friends and have always stayed it touch… But it’s great knowing that even if we don’t talk for a while, we always pick up where we left off. I am looking forward to our next LFC meeting!
AK: Not today.
This is awesome! I know that you and I had spoken at Startup Weekend about you feeling uneasy when other designers are seeing your work. I think it’s one of those things where the more you expose yourself, the less sensitive to it you become. At the end of the day, you’re the one selling the idea to the client. if another designer has advice on how you can improve it, or what they might have done different, that’s merely a chance for you to gain another perspective.
Designers have the most scrupulous eyes for detail, so if your work can pass through one without setting off too many red flags, you know you’re moving in the right direction.
If Andrew comes to a SW, I want to meet him!
I agree with you about using the time of critique as gaining a new perspective and using it positively for yourself. Great input!
Andrew will hopefully come soon & you two will for sure meet!
Thanks David!
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