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Building a very nice folio of work here Jess. Keep up the great work!

Thanks, Norman! It's a process that I wish I could speed up a bit. So many ideas floating around in my head, but they all take time!

My kind of logo! Look at that sick line detail!!

Jess, I wholeheartedly second Norman's comment. Your work is fantastic. At 25, you've got quite a career ahead of you. I say you ditch the day job, and pursue freelance full time.

As for the time it takes, I feel for you. Detailed marks like these really do take time. I'm in the same boat right now with a couple jobs I'm working on.

I'm sure Jon didn't really mean for you to 'ditch the day job' in a hurry. I think it was more in the line of "Crap! With quality work like that, I'll soon have to find myself a day job!"

I say 'soak' up and 'milk' it for all its worth. As we all know (especially you Jon) that its a tough world out there and the full time transition thing can become quite daunting.

Hahah, I've messaged him via facebook as a blanket response to these comments, (Which are fantastic feedback and will be put to good use.) but my goal is to eventually take that plunge. But probably not quite yet, I have a lot of learning to do and I'm not in an area where I'll be able to rely on much local business (logistics, bleh).

But I am certainly trying to soak it up! The cool thing is that I work in the signage industry, and generally my own design work doesn't interfere with what I do there, so there is no problem with non-compete issues and what have you. But the flipside to that is that I'm doing a lot of redundant, non-creative 'design' work for 10 hours a day. It's a tradeoff, but I do enjoy it to an extent. I just wish there were more time in each day to focus on my own projects.

I really respect you guys out there fighting the good fight.

Yes i agree. Don't quit your day job. It's a rough business out there. I work 2 jobs myself.

...which is exactly why I suggested taking the plunge. Norm & Mike are definitely being sensible, and I totally respect that. But one thing I can certainly say from experience: If you're slaving away 10 hrs. a day at a job that doesn't really feed your creativity, then your *real* work, the stuff that gets you excited, the stuff you obviously have the talent to be doing (and doing well), THAT stuff will suffer. Lack of time, lack of energy and focus from being tired from your day job - trust me, burning the candle at both ends will catch up to you eventually.

I wholeheartedly believe that if you have talent and drive, and you can afford to take a bit of a financial hit (hopefully at 25 you're not overburdened with lots of financial obligations), and if you approach it strategically and intelligently, you can survive by making the jump.

I'm not going to dismiss what the fellas have said, because it's true; it's tough out there. To make it on your own in this biz, you have to be equal parts designer and salesperson. You have to obviously have design chops, but you also have to be a shrewd businessperson. You have to know your worth, you have to know how to negotiate, you have to know how to manage clients, you have to carve a niche for yourself (i.e., be a specialist in a particular area of design), and you have to hustle.

Many of these skills take time to build, and most come with a lot of trial and error, but get some books, go to seminars and conferences, reach out to mentors, and effing learn it, and just effing do it. Take it from me, I WISH I had taken the plunge when I was your age. I'm 41, and after slaving away so much of my younger adult life working either jobs I hated or agency jobs that sucked my soul, all while slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwly trying to build a freelance biz on the side, I'm just now pursuing my freelance career full time. And while I'm happy to finally be free of the shackles, and I feel like I've learned so much in my career, I realize that time and age are definitely not on my side, so I feel like I need to sprint to build my business.

Anyway, sorry for threadjacking here; I'll go check your FB message, and we can continue this convo later.

Nice Work !

@ vlockn: Thank you!

@ AtomicVibe - again thanks for the honest opinion. Firstly, the fact that you feel my work is even close to the point where 'going it alone' could be an option, is a huge moral boost in itself. Overall like I said elsewhere, I really want to do just that. I guess I have just always felt that when the time was right, I'd know it somehow, or be able to sense it. You're right in some respects, I don't have a ton of financial obligations, I'm not married, no kids, just an apartment etc. But I also feel like with those life responsibilities comes wisdom and a good deal of accountability, and probably better judgement on these kinds of decisions, so don't feel like you jumped too soon. Maybe 25 year-old you would have failed miserably without the life skills you have now.

I guess I'm reserved about the idea because personally I know quite a bit about managing a small business, but I know very little about managing my OWN, you know? But anyway, I can't tell you how great this conversation is to have. I'd put you on the spot because I have a lot of questions for you (or anyone doing their own gig, for that matter) but I think first and foremost I'm going to immerse myself in some literature as you mention, keep doing my thing and trying to build a better portfolio, and yeah I'd definitely be game to checking out some seminars. I may be 26 or 27 or even 30 when it happens, but I guess we'll see what the cards hold for me.