No freelancer is an island
And nor should they be. Sure, most of the time freelancing is a solo journey - but having a few pals with complementary skills to ride the rollercoaster with you is no bad thing.
Finding those people can take time - partly because you'll come across them when you least expect it (think romcom-style meet-cutes across the grocery aisle, but for freelancers) and partly because you don't know who you need until you need them. The deeper you get into the kind of work you want to do, the more you know which skills you want to learn and which ones you're happy to leave to others.
For the record, here's a non-exhaustive list of people I have on permanent speed dial.
Illustrators: Being a brand and key art designer, I love being able to call on illustrators with different styles to help me create illustration branding magic. Because sometimes, I absolutely can’t!
Photographers: I have a pool of super-talented snappers who I can draft in for theatre shoots for key art, shoot directing, portraits and capturing my work in the wild.
Other graphic designers: An extra pair of hands is always welcome for chunkier projects and post-wrap artworking. Shout-out to Jonathan, my artworking HERO.
Copywriters: A client might not have an in-house copywriter. Even if they do, they might be so up to their eyes in words that they just can’t face writing that programme preface. It’s massively handy to be able to rustle up someone who can at times like that.
Proofreaders: Graphic designers are not known for their proofreading prowess (rightly so). So, I always make sure I have one for theatre programmes, brochures, and social posts. Nobody likes a stray m-dash when it should be an n-dash FOR GOD’S SAKE.
Email specialists: Marketing emails have a whole set of design rules to play by. I don't want to learn them and fortunately, I don't have to.
Social media planners: Whether it's my socials or a client's, having someone who understands algorithms and trending transitions is a godsend. Instagram is fickle, and LinkedIn is overwhelming, so having people on hand that I can ask for help really lightens the load.
Your list will definitely be different to mine, but the important thing is that you have/start one. Connections can help you when you're searching for work and are brill for dishing out sensible advice.
Last but by no means least, - there's nothing quite like that smug feeling when someone asks “If you know a…” and you have the perfect person to throw their way. As someone who always has a first aid kit on hand for when someone asks for a plaster, I can tell you - it's a whole world of low-key type one fun you never knew existed. Now, to go and buy a mystery small black book and make this whole thing very literal…
