It’s tough times for everyone at the moment with the highest cost of living seen in years. Most households have seen a 300% increase in house bills and for freelancers who work from home, this is really hitting…well, home.

At Wishu, we believe in positive energy so wanted to spread some good news for us creatives in this article.

Rates are rising

In 99designs by Vista’s survey, a massive 71% of freelancers said they expect their income to increase in 2022. Of course, there are no guarantees here. After all, where your personal income heads in the coming year lies primarily in your hands. However, this statistic points to two basic truths about today’s freelance design market. Firstly, the demand for good freelance designers remains strong and growing across the world; were it not, we’d expect these predictions to be much more downbeat. And secondly, it reminds us that freelancing allows us to be more entrepreneurial in how we approach our practice.

Remote working widens your client market

The silver lining to come out of the covid cloud, remote working is widening our reach as creative freelancers. The 99designs by Vista report bears this out, with 68% saying clients and agencies are more open to working with freelance talent than before the pandemic. So new freelance opportunities really are there for the taking.

Work life balance is, well, more balanced

The possibilities of achieving a better work-life balance are obviously greater when you work for yourself, giving you greater freedom to set your hours, take longer holidays, shorten your working week, choose where you work, become a global nomad, and indeed whatever makes your life happier and healthier.

We’re doing good for the planet

From the same survey, 97% of those surveyed believe creatives have the power to make a real social impact, while 85% of freelancers feel it’s important to work for clients who share their values. More importantly, these principles are being put into action. Of course it depends on the stage you’re at in your career – some have more opportunity or privilege to take on sustainable-only projects for instance. Interestingly, 40% of freelance designers say they’ve turned down work because of a client’s stance on a social issue they care about. And almost a third of designers also work with a social justice organisation, with 66% of these freelancers doing some of this work pro bono.

Opportunities to be an entrepreneur are greatening

NFT and Web 3 culture is increasing the opportunities for creatives to work as independently as possible. Almost a third of freelance designers with agency experience have actually quit, and just 15% of designers want to be employed at an agency in five years. And 48% of freelancers also said they’d like to establish their own studio or agency in the next five years, with 68 per cent already pulling in other freelancers in their network to work on projects.

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