Nikina70's Journal, 16 Aug 20

They look so yummy, Nikina! Enjoy and stay warm! I can’t wait for cooler weather to come to NY. Hope you have a fabulous and enjoyable Sunday 💖 

I’m guessing Australia! 🐨 

Thanks guys! Yes, I don't think I answered you a while ago NNWD - I am near Cape Town in South Africa. And Chrisw77 - I saw recently on one of your posts that you and 'FishChic' :) both studied design - and I am a fan of 'form follows function' too. I did a national diploma in graphic design, which was three years at Cape Technikon. What and where did you guys study? Any other creatives welcome to answer too. Also interested in how many then went the freelance route at some point or what path you took from there. 

South Africa? 🤔 

Oh, awesome! I studied graphic design and art history at Purchase, NY. I started out as a fine art major and switched to Design one year in.  

I did a lot of freelance design after college while I worked at restaurants and ended up going into photography and eCommerce management. I’m back to freelance now picking up smaller projects here and there as time allows. I also have an etsy shop where I sell illustrated portraits. It helps to pay the bills and I like that I can make my own schedule and do some creative stuff still. 

Chris, I like that! 😁 

Chris, yah. It’s a little side hustle of mine that I keep wanting to shut down but never do. 🙈 

“NSFW” 😂 

Poppet, what industry are you in now? And is wifey in a creative field? 

That’s awesome! You are probably the most fun bus driver ever. Enjoy your nap, Chris! 😊 

So cool guys! What a co-incidence! I worked in Cape Town, Manchester and London for a total of about 6 years before I moved to somewhere really rural and then tried freelance, which took a while to get off the ground. Eventually moved to a small town and have been freelancing here for 12 years. Mostly logos, brochures, programs and such for events and the tourism and wine industries. I sort of specialised in package design when I studied though and did some of that with a few wine labels, a small beer maker and an essential oils client, which was lots of fun, but would love to do more of that kind of thing. Also dabbled a bit in basic Wordpress websites, but I find it a bit too hard to stay up-to-date with that world so prefer designing for print or social media these days. 

No problem Chrisw77 - any time! Sleep well!!! 

I looked at your Etsy page a while ago NNWD. Love your work! I've been meaning to say sometime so glad I got the chance today. Sometimes posts I've commented on or seen don't really pop up again and then 'conversations' don't get completed. I like the freedom freelance gives me as well, but there was a time when I was working pretty much 4 evenings a week as well as weekends (which sometimes can be fun, and I possibly need a project like that again), but I'm trying to learn to say no in some cases now. I have put a lot of pressure on myself in the past and I just need to find a balance where I do things in a reasonable amount of time, which the clients are usually happy with - rather then pushing myself too hard. 

I've got to run an errand now - recycling and buying a slice of chocolate cake, which hubby and I share. Been the Sunday routine for a while now. Thanks for the chat and enjoy the rest of your Sunday! 

Nikina, that’s so great, you’ve been doing this for a while! 😊 My senior thesis was a brand identity for a pretend restaurant. It was really fun to do. I keep wanting to get my portfolio back together and put a solid website in place so I can get back into it full time, but it’s been so crazy since we had our kids. I can only dedicate about 3-4 hrs per day to work now and that has to be split between cooking healthy and working out too. I think I’ll end up back in it once the kids are older and back in daycare. It’s such a great field, but I remember it was a bit stressful having to rely on clients for work. My least favorite thing about freelancing is that during some weeks I would have zero projects and then others I am overwhelmed by deadlines. But I am so happy that you are able to do it full time as a career. 🙌🏻💖 

Enjoy your day, guys! 💖 

And thank you for the kind words, Nikina! I totally get it about the posts, happens to me all the time. Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of comments.