I am passionate about freelance web design and graphic design because the act of creating something in your mind and bringing it into the world in a way that is visually stunning seems to give me a deep sense of achievement and satisfaction.
It's not the only aspect of design that brings me satisfaction, however. It's also extremely gratifying to watch small businesses grow and reach a larger audience.
My favorite kind of design job is most certainly branding. I like doing branding because it allows me to tap into my intuitive side and really think about what a logo is going to say to the person observing it. It gives me a chance to observe my own psyche and identify the archetypes that the brand is communicating to my subconscious. Looking at the archetypal themes within an image is primarily an unconscious skill. It can, however, be enhanced by studying human psychology.
My methods of freelance design are often experimentative. I believe that this is due to the way that I rely primarily on my unconscious feelings to determine the quality of a design or its impact on the person observing it. It seems to become an act of creation based on feeling almost exclusively rather than a planned execution of a method. This is truly the mark of a good designer.
The truth is that most human beings make the majority of their decisions unconsciously. That is why the realm of a good freelance graphic designer is primarily the weird and wacky world of the unconscious. If your selling safety than you want to communicate danger with some oranges and reds. If you're selling a spa treatment than you want to communicate tranquility with some calming blues. From there is becomes a question of symbols. Picking a symbol to represent a brand that communicates what a business is trying to say to their clients is essential in creating a quality brand.
I would say that a designer with no formal education, but a good understanding of the archetypal structures of the psyche and the unconscious would be 100 times more valuable to a company than a designer with a formal education but no understanding of the unconscious.
Paul O'Malley Freelance Designer
