Another year in the books, which means it’s time to share how I’m feeling about freelancing and where I’d like to eventually be in my career. If you’re just here for my freelance income breakdown, here’s a handy link to jump right to it. Otherwise, grab a cozy drink and let’s jump in!

The State of My Freelance Life

I’ve been a freelance graphic designer for 15 years. That’s a long time! It’s been incredibly fulfilling to work my own schedule, doing work I’m good at and also enjoy. I’ve gotten to work with many awesome people from around the world just with the click of my computer mouse.

I’m fortunate to have maintained a semi-consistent flow of client work—enough to support my family, which is all I can ask for. However, what’s never talked about in freelancing is that you live in a state of perpetual instability. It’s the biggest caveat to this otherwise ideal creative career. And the more I (grudgingly) age, the less appeal I have towards risk. The fear of not knowing where my next paycheck will come from used to fuel me. Now, with a family to support, that fear has become a constant burden.

I’ve done a few things to make freelancing more stable, like securing a monthly retainer with my longest-running client and building a few passive income streams with digital products, e.g., Corpus Typewriter Font, t-shirt mockups, and texture packs. But I’ve never felt secure in my job. To this day, I still work late nights and weekends just to meet aggressive client deadlines. In my early freelance days, I lived for the work. Nowadays, I’d rather spend weekends enjoying life, with my family, reading a good book, or writing. (More on that later.)

A major recurring theme I noticed in my journal was burnout. Life gets hectic: balancing clients who need their projects prioritized, being the sole childcare provider when my daughter isn’t in school, maintaining the house, and trying to squeeze in what little time I have for myself. No wonder, after I send off a big project, all I want to do is melt into bed, only to have to wake up at 5 am and start the day over. What’s worse is when clients send projects on Friday, expecting them to be done by Monday, forcing me to work weekends. You might be thinking, “You can say no.” But the only way I’ve found success in freelancing is by becoming hyper-reliable. A lot of my value as a graphic designer comes from producing good work, but more importantly, never dropping the ball and being easy to work with, even when it takes a toll on me. I’ve found that this constant need to be reliable—for my clients, my family, and even myself—has been the root of my burnout.

This constant burnout is why I haven’t made time to post on social media this year. Not having to burden myself with figuring out what to post and how it performs has been a weight off my shoulders. But there’s also a part of me knowing I can’t remain “offline” forever. Not if I want to continue growing in whatever direction I choose to take next in my career.

I know this all sounds like a big venting session (and it is), but it’s also me finally becoming aware of the invisible cost of freelancing. I pulled back from social media and slowed down to realize this. I’m starting to think more seriously about stability, how work fits into my life, and how I can make room for the kind of creative work I want to do forever.

But before I get into that, let’s look at some actual numbers of how freelancing went this year.

Onto everyone’s favorite section: my freelance income report! It’s also my favorite section to look back on and compare past years.

Note: The graphs represent gross revenue before taxes or expenses.

My 2025 Monthly Freelance Gross Revenue

This year has been a solid year professionally. While nothing major happened in terms of new, exciting growth, I actually earned more thanks to the continued support of my existing client base. That’s without any social media or additional outreach.

My 2025 Freelance Income Streams

• Client work: Client work remains my primary source of income as it does every year.
• Digital Products: I didn’t add new items to my digital product catalog, so this little extra income was truly passive.
• My Shop: Just by existing online, I still earn a tiny amount through my shop (now temporarily on Etsy), selling merch. My best-seller remains to be my Art Dept. hat.
• Monotype (Font): I put no time into this, but my Corpus Typewriter font earns royalties through the Monotype marketplace, which is awesome. Would love to make time for making new fonts in 2026.

Where do I go from here?

A common question asked when reflecting on one’s career is: “If money weren’t an issue, what would you do?”

Without overthinking, if I could live out the rest of my life unburdened by the cost of living, I’d spend my time reading and writing.

The dream is to find a way to connect my years of diverse experience in design with my passion for storytelling. The world of fiction and publishing is something I’ve always loved and really dove into at the start of 2020, when everyone in the world had a little extra time on their hands.

I’m realistic about the fact that I can’t make a living from writing. Even in a best-case scenario—landing a publishing deal, doing freelance writing, or running a newsletter—it wouldn’t be enough to support my family. Still, writing is a direction my interest keeps being pulled towards.

For now, I’m not making any drastic pivots or leaving freelancing anytime soon. Client work will keep the bills paid. But I’m done treating my writing like some secret hobby I should be embarrassed about. The one thing I’ve been afraid to call myself is a writer. And if this is something I want to do for the rest of my life, I think it’s time I own it.

I’m a graphic designer. I’m also a writer.

If I commit to it, it may lead somewhere down the road. Maybe it doesn’t. Either way, it’s a part of me I want to keep showing up for, and it’s what I want to lean into more in 2026.

I’ll also continue work on the first draft of my epic fantasy novel (which feels wild to admit to anyone other than my wife). Chances are it won’t ever see the light of day, but that’s not the point for me. Right now, my goal is to finish a first draft. I’m a quarter of the way through and still going strong. I may start sharing my writing journey on something like Substack. If you’re into that, feel free to connect over there!

Right now, life is going really well. I’m leaning into new creative work that I love. Client work is flowing. I’ve been managing my anxiety better than ever. So for the new year, I just want to keep up the good vibes. I also want to push myself a little more to step outside of my comfort zone by sharing creative work again, and put myself out there.

I’m not sure if many people will make it all the way through this post. If you did and you’re reading this, I want to give you a massive thanks for caring, and offer 10% off my merch if you're interested in treating yourself or getting a gift for a fellow creative. Just use code NEWYEAR10.

Take care!

Past Year In Review posts:  2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

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