There are a lot of benefits to being a freelance web designer. Getting to work the way you want and where you want, for instance. But there are also some serious downsides to consider.
The truth is that freelancing isn’t for everyone. Aside from the freedoms that come along with going it alone, you also get a healthy dose of risk, along with our own fears, as well. It’s unavoidable and must be accepted as part of the job description.
Today, we’re going to look at some of the real risks and associated fears of being a freelancer. But don’t worry – we’re not trying to scare you!
If you’ve thought about taking the plunge and starting your own business, it’s best to know what you’re getting into. And, even if you have been in business for a while, there may be some things you haven’t really thought about.
We’ll not only explain these items, but provide you with some helpful advice on navigating them as well. Let’s get started!
Running Out of Money
This may well be the scariest part of being in business. Financial struggles can have a major impact on both your business and life.
Of course, everyone’s goal is to (at least) make a decent living. And quite often it’s a realistic one. However, there will always be ups and downs.
There may be times when you will struggle to pay the bills. Plus, depending on where you live, taxes can only add to your burden.
One way to look at this is that you’ll usually make what you earn, save for the occasional non-paying client. Therefore, staying busy is one of the best defenses against going broke. So, aim to keep that calendar full of projects.
Planning also can mitigate some of your risk. For example, putting aside some extra money in good times will provide you with some fallback resources – just in case.
Not Knowing What to Do
We’d all love to have a team of super-smart developers working for us. But the reality for most freelancers is that we have to take care of things ourselves. With that comes the risk of being asked to do something you’ve never done before.
Depending on your personality, this kind of thing might keep you awake at night (it still does for yours truly). The fear is that you won’t be able to deliver what a project requires. The potential result is upsetting your client and leaving you feeling embarrassed.
Again, it comes down to perspective. Instead of stressing, you might choose to look at this as a real opportunity to learn something new. Learning, after all, is an essential part of staying on top of your game.
Sometimes, we tend to think of learning in terms of a more formal educational setting. But we can learn just as much, if not more, through actual experience. And there’s nothing quite like knowing that you have to learn something to get you motivated.
The bottom line: Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know.
Having No One Else to Rely On
As the one-and-only boss, you get to call the shots. And you’re also responsible for virtually every part of your business. It’s a lot of weight on your shoulders (no matter how much you work out).
This is actually part of being a freelancer, though. The job requires a certain degree of self-reliance to be successful over the long term. Still, it can feel awfully lonely when you’re drowning in work or stuck on a complex problem. “Overwhelming” might be the best term to describe it.
There are some things you can do to lighten the load, however. If your financial situation is solid, you could hire on another freelancer to help. Even if it’s just to tackle a single issue you’re facing, that can provide a big boost to your mental health.
Another way to get some peace of mind is to connect with the web design community via a meetup or social media. There are undoubtedly others out there who are experiencing the very same types of challenges. Just communicating with someone who can empathize with your situation can make a positive difference.
Dealing with Clients
The day-to-day life of a web designer often includes dealing with clients on some level. Whether that be through meetings, phone or email conversations, some basic people skills are a valuable asset.
Even if you’re very outgoing, client relations can be stressful. If you’re more introverted, the whole thing can sap you of energy. It’s really the most delicate responsibility of freelancing, as you need to learn how to manage the various personalities you’ll encounter.
Just keep in mind that you don’t have to be perfect. You don’t need to come up with witty things to say or specialize in small talk. As long as you’re polite, helpful and courteous, you’ll be on your way to building solid relationships.
Even if this scares you to death, you can still learn and improve. The more practice you get, the better you can deal with it.
Professional Risk-Taker
Indeed, a big part of being in business is taking risks and conquering fears. Even the act of starting a business itself is risky – especially if you’re leaving another job to venture off on your own. But these kinds of uncertainties shouldn’t stop you from being yourself and doing what you love.
The key in all of this is in managing your expectations and learning from your experiences. We all make mistakes. Sometimes, they can be pretty big ones. And there is always a chance that we’ll be stuck in a spot where we don’t exactly know what we’re doing.
This is all part of the process. And it’s even okay to be scared, as long as you use it as motivation to keep improving.
409 Conflict is used in cases where the HTTP request was valid, but the
current state of the server prevents it from being executed.
This is usefor for API’s. A few hypothetical examples:
A user wants to add a file to a folder, but the folder doesn’t exist yet.
Amazon S3 uses it when you try to delete a bucket that’s not empty.
You’re creating a new blog post, but it refers to a category that was
deleted.
The key here is that it might be possible to run the same request again after
this conflict is resolved, by for example:
Creating the folder you’re trying to upload to.
Removing all items from the S3 bucket before removing it.
Re-creating or undeleting the category you’re trying to assign to the blog
post.
The HTTP specification recommends that the HTTP response body contains
information in the response body that the client or user can use to resolve
the conflict.
Example
HTTP/1.1409ConflictContent-Type:text/plain
You tried to upload a file to a folder that doesn't exist. Create the folder
and try again!
Usage
If you are building an API, it’s a good idea to emit 409 conflict for these
situations. It can be seen as a more specific code than 400 and somtimes 409.
You might even be able to define a response body that a client can use to
automatically resolve the conflict, or at least inform the user in a standard
way what was wrong.
ds 1.2.8
Fixed buffer outflow during deserialization of map objects. @rado-h
decimal 1.1.1 Fix "signum" returning 1 for zero, instead of 0.
mysql_xdevapi 8.0.14 WL#12593: DevAPI: Handling of Default Schema
WL#12457: Be prepared for initial notice on connection
WL#12291: automagically resolve path to preferred version of boost on pb2
orabug #28803092 the offset() method requires limit()
orabug #28802524 always use sql()->execute() instead of executeSql()
orabug #27441854 fetchAll should return an empty array when the result is empty, not (bool)false
orabug #28804413 containers methods
orabug #28802453 TableDelete: offset does not seem useful
orabug #29011588 execute more than once for crud ops with bind causes crash at releasing
orabug #28605347 CollectionFind::offset() without limit() error is unclear
orabug #28803201 FieldMetadata and ColumnResult are returning different information about columns
orabug #28804447 remove client functions
orabug #28802551 Collection::createIndex() create an index on multiple fields
orabug #28804461 ensure groupBy() functionality
orabug #28838435 PHPT tests - make checking results more precise
zookeeper 0.6.3 Bugs:
- Correct exception message (From "Failed to connect to Zookeeper" to "Failed to initialize ZooKeeper ...", Issue #29)
- Fix 'duplicate symbol _php_zk_config_ce'
- Fix segmentation fault when destroying Zookeeper instance (GH PR #31)
Refer to the migration guide (/UPGRADE-0.10.md) for a detailed description.
At an high level here are the breaking changes we introduced:
We removed OpenTracing as a required dependency. We still support OpenTracing, so you can do OpenTracingGlobalTracer::get() in your code and still retrieve a OpenTracing compliant tracer, but OpenTracing dependency is now optional.
We introduced auto-instrumentation and 1-step installation in place of manual registration of providers/bundles. Before, in order to see traces, you had to install our extension, add two dependencies to the composer file and add a provider (Laravel) or a bundle (Symfony). Starting from now you will only have to install the extension. You still have freedom to manually instrument the code, but only for advanced usage.
Added
Request init hook configuration allowing running arbitrary code before actual request execution #175
Support OpenTracing without depending on it #193
Initial C extension PHP 5.4 support #205
Removal of external dependencies to support auto-instrumentation #206
Migration from namespace based constants to class based constants for tags, formats and types #207
Track integration loading to avoid re-loading unnecessary ones #211
Documenting release steps #223
Ability to run web framework tests in external web server #232
Support for auto-instrumentation #237
Support for Zend Framework 1 #238
Tracer::startRootSpan() to track the root Scope instance which can be accessed with Tracer::getRootScope() #241
Fixed
The INI settings now appear in phpinfo() and when running $ php -i #242
The trend of setting everything in motion rules the roost these days. You cannot help but to follow this madness and develop an obsession of injecting life into every detail of a website. The static era is gone. Everything is dynamic. And you know what? Users are perfectly aware of it.
For some, that is bad news, since it will take Herculean efforts to trick users into believing that a static website brings an exciting experience. For others it is an opportunity to show off, reveal your inner genius and get swept away in the world of dynamic craziness.
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If you are still stuck believing that the only thing you can do with typography is to use an offbeat typeface or extravagant hover effect, then we are going to prove you wrong. You can do wonders with typography, transforming it into a thing that will not yield to others in terms of creating an impression.
And if you are no fan of immersive or heavy solutions, then this is indeed a way out. To give you a solid start, we have collected several incredible code snippets where the lettering was skillfully set in motion, bringing about an excellent outcome.
Just look at Shattering Text Animation by Arsen Zbidniakov. Is it not brilliant? The solution neither overwhelms visitors with lots of action and unnecessary dynamics nor does it overload your system. It just works, leaving everyone in a “wow” state.
Made with the help of GSAP tools and SVG path, this shattering effect that assembles and disassembles the text is simply incredible. What’s more, hover the mouse cursor over it and you will get an opportunity to control the speed of the process, slowing everything down. It is just phenomenal.
Much like our first example, this code snippet exhibits an animation of assembling and disassembling text. However, this time the artist uses Three.js to bring everything to life. This is another controllable explosion. Yep, you read me right: You can also control the speed of the animation by clicking and dragging. And if you enjoy this experiment, Szenia has some more entertaining examples. Just check out his profile.
Ara has several mind-blowing experiments with typography. Both of the following examples are abstract, based on geometric manipulations and feel and look high-tech. In some ways they are even a bit bizarre.
In the first example, the text is composed of tiny pieces that slowly but surely form a 3D tunnel of particles.
In the second, each symbol is constructed from primitive polygons such as triangles, squares and rectangles that are brought in motion. It feels like someone’s digital hand is weaving it all together.
Nate Wiley has turned Split Text from Greensock to his advantage, recreating a marvelous text animation. He takes a regular piece of text and blows it into tiny fragments, where each one is a symbol. After the explosion, characters move in various directions and smoothly disappear.
Unlike the previous examples where high-end technologies stand behind the beauty of the solutions, here CSS-based motion runs the show. Dudley Storey puts in action CSS keyframe animations, transitions, JavaScript, SVG and a bit of Adobe Illustrator magic. The word shatters a bit and then breaks into polygonal pieces in such a way that you can still read it. If you want to add stylish brutality to your typography, this effect is certainly a starting point.
While Nate Wiley blows text away, Yasunobu Ikeda, on the contrary, forces particles that are chaotically scattered throughout the screen to form into text. Here the particles are nothing more than tiny icons. The author uses Three.js to recreate this gorgeous 3D animation.
Tamino Martinius benefits from more traditional manipulations by using SVG paths. Thanks to sleek shapes, ultra-thin lines and liquid-like behavior, the animation oozes elegance and refinement. Although it is not as mind-blowing as our first example, its powers lie in an ability to fit numerous projects since it is certainly a practical solution.
For More Practical Usage
Speaking of which, we have also included some inspiring and practical solutions. Here, type is set in motion so that you can take baby steps in this direction.
While the first two examples feature effects that can be beneficial for taglines and catchy phrases, the latter is an interesting solution for regular blocks of text.
Mikael Ainalem’s pen shows a cycled animation where words are highlighted in a rotation. It is an excellent way to guide users from one word to another.
Tryggvi Gylfason adds a moving line that slides from the left to right side and forces letters to follow it, thereby either pressing or pulling symbols of a word. The effect is small but captivating.
Ignacio Correia supplies text with a motion blur effect. When you move down in a brisk pace, the text blurs into an almost white spot. As you slow down, the words become less obscure.
A Case for Using Animation in Typography
These typographic animations compel us to stop and enjoy the action. They are as inspiring and eye-catching as animations that can be seen in other elements, such as hero areas.
Unfortunately, we do not see many of them in the wild. It seems that everyone is obsessed with using action-packed full-screen animations instead of setting simple lettering into motion. But as we’ve seen here, these effects can make just as much of an impact on users.
