This year marks my 10th year as a full-time designer. I’ve come a long way since my first graphic design job at Runner’s World magazine. I started a little late into my life, side-stepping from a career in project management at the age of 25, before eventually working my way up through the publishing industry to a brilliant role at the Daily Telegraph.

But since I went freelance in 2015 I’ve never looked back. The freedom to work with the clients I choose, along with a lifestyle that allows me to spend more time with my wife and daughter, means the absolute world to me.

However, as my freelance career has burgeoned, I’ve always felt like a bit of a mercenary. A gun for hire. I’ve worked hard at advancing my skills in all sorts of design areas, and that has meant that as a ‘pay-by-the-hour’ freelancer I’m incredibly hireable, as I can work across projects that require photoshop work, print design, branding, website building and even video production and animation.

But since I haven’t focussed my expertise in any one area, my ‘business of design’ has plateaued.

Time to specialise

Recently, I made a business decision to start transitioning to working only as a logo designer.

That’s right, just branding jobs for me from here on. It’s the part of my job that I enjoy the most. It’s pure creation, and most importantly I’m good at it. So over the next year, I will be taking on as many logo design jobs as I can get my hands on, and gradually moving on from working as an ambiguous, Jack-of-all-trades graphic designer.

James Barnard - Logo Designer

With my laser-focussed business model now decided upon I set up a landing page, and recently completed the showreel above to market my talents. I’ve also worked hard on a new pricing structure, moving away from hourly billing and building in three tiers of packages called ‘Starter’, ‘Professional’ and ‘Deluxe’. If you’d like to know more about these design packages, then please get in touch.