The Independents Hall website was launched yesterday, and I cannot tell you how good it feels to contribute to an organization such as this. The IH meeting earlier this week left me very anxious for more. Alex has given me the coworking bug and I am studying all I can on the subject. It has also made me revisit the foundations of my design philosophy.

Alex’s little synopsis of what Independents Hall was all about, and how the idea of coworking could really benefit the Philadelphian freelancer, gets right in line with my Bauhaus driven design philosophy. Echoes of the Wiener Werkstätte and the Werkbund, founded by Hermann Muthesius and Peter Behrens; rang in my ear as the meeting progressed. I could not help but consider that both of those early design organizations probably started the same way.

Both were founded on the idea of creating a profitable environment for designers and craftsmen, while promoting the improvement of the services and goods they were offering. In 1903 it was mostly centered on manufactured goods, but for our modern times it is design and technology, which, for all intents and purposes, are modern manufactured goods.

The coworking movement is following this very same idea; get a bunch of talented free-agent designers, developers, artists, and business types together to build on the success of each other. All the while promoting free flowing, ideas in a creative, open minded environment; contributed to, and sustained by the very workers that provide it.

To me that was always the business model for my dream job!

Among the many benefits that come with coworking at Independents Hall, the one that sets its hook in me is the social creative environment that it generates. As a creative that has worked in bullpens with other designers, and now works alone, from a home studio; I feel the subtle drain of sustained creativity, due to lack of social interaction during my business day. I was not aware of how much I feed off the everyday company of coworkers, and creatives; it is kind of scary.

Independents Hall is sure to leave its mark, and I am ecstatic about the opportunities, and relationships that are sure to blossom.

[tags]independents hall, coworking, philadelphia[/tags]

Since I have gone freelance back in June, I thought rarely that I would do very good. I mean, it was just something to do between jobs right? Until recently that is all I thought it was, just something to do so that I did not have to take the first “production” job that happened to come up on craigslist.

I took a risk back in June when I told my, soon to be former boss, that what he was paying this designer, equaled jack shit compared to the kind of employee I was. I left the company two weeks later, with nothing but a loose contract with a possible freelance client.

One client!

I look back and think, I must have been crazy.

In this, my 3rd attempt at freelance, I have noticeably learned from the previous two attempts. That one “possible” client ended up sustaining me until September. It was nothing glamorous, mind you; it was just enough. From June to September I searched for jobs; in Philly, abroad, on the West Coast, etc. You get the picture. All the while looking for potential work.

By the end of September things were rough. My one client halted work on their project, I was a month behind in rent and was about to call my parents to see if they could help me out. The next day I picked up two clients, it was as if life just wanted to “waterboard” me a bit to see if I could take it.

Since September things have been progressively gaining momentum. I now have 5 clients including 3 that have me on retainer. I am still living month to month but I can see the foundation of a prosperous freelance design career.

I likened this to an old car. You get in it and try to start it up, nothing happens. You make adjustments, and try again, now you are getting clicks and chokes. You make more adjustments and she starts to turn over. This is how my career is feeling right now. It is as if I am a car turning over, just waiting for the opportunity to rev my engine and peel down the road, on my hopeful way toward my own design studio.