When we moved to Portugal this year, my artist girlfriend Yani, coming from a city, was worried that we would find few artists in a small town in Portugal. Over the weeks that followed, I met and talked to a surprising amount of artists from the area, and I decided to turn it into a surprise party. So I organized an art café on the day of Yani’s 30th birthday, and invited everyone who did anything artistic, not just painters and sculptures but also graphic design and embroidery. Unfortunately, Yani got sick shortly before the event and had to return to France. This is the flyer I made for a birthday that never happened:

One thing I like is simple beauty, and nowhere is it more important than in logo designs. The main requirement of a logo is that it communicates a clear message. But on top of that I like to create elegant, beautiful and simple logo’s that look good on their own as well. Here are a few examples of some recent designs:

For a logo design I charge €100 – contact me to get started.

One form of art I enjoy is mosaic. Like any art you learn by doing it and because the results are very visible, it is immensely satisfying. Recently I volunteered through a website called workaway.info , where you can find all kinds of projects to join in exchange for a place to stay and a fulfilling experience like the one below:

These days internet has spread to the far corners of the globe, and ambitious youngsters from formerly third world countries eagerly take on the opportunities it offers. That means that anyone working online is more than ever competing on a global scale. For entrepreneurs and aforementioned youngsters it is wonderful, but if you are living in a developed, expensive, high tax country it means you will have to be a little more creative. Continue reading “Making the most of your Freelancer income” →

So you decided to become a freelancer, test the water, make a buck on the side, or perhaps you really want to make it your primary source of income. Now you have several freelance platforms to choose from, and each one requires an investment in time and a little money too. There are thousands of other freelancers on there and writing a good profile, finding your niche and getting good reviews takes a few weeks at minimum.
Which one should you choose?

To make it a little easier, you can forget about Upwork. Here’s why:
Continue reading “5 Reasons not to join Upwork” →