What Was Your Biggest Success?
I’m in the process of updating my portfolio (ok – technically I’m creating one, but that counts as an update, right?)
As I was reviewing my client list I started to think about each of the projects, and I thought it might be interesting to hear about yours. One of my favorite things about FreelanceSwitch is you can chat with someone that understands what you are going through. My wife is an excellent listener, but after 30 minutes of telling her about keyword density, she gets a bit glassy-eyed.
Looking back at your portfolio, what is the project that you show to anyone who asks, and even sometimes to those who don’t ask?
Was it the project that:
- Got you the most exposure?
- Saved you from going back to a *gasp* real job?
- Benefitted your favorite cause?
- You enjoyed working on the most?
- You fought the hardest to win?
It’s not that I’m competitive – I am, but that’s not what fueled this question. I’m just curious as to which client you are most proud of, and why.
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My most memorable project/client that I am most proud of allowed me to not only begin my freelance career but has also refereed me the most (including to my biggest project to date) and been my easiest client.
Following finishing Arch school 3 years ago, I traveled for a year then moved to DC to be with my significant other. Upon returning I was hesitant for a ‘real job’ because of the laid back travel lifestyle I had grown accustomed to. Blenheim Vineyards hired me to design/build their website off the referral of a friend and took a chance on my lack of experience. I credit them to jump starting my freelance career and am thankful they continuing to pass on the word of my skills/services.
http://www.blenheimvineyards.com/
Very elegant site Karey – I can see why you are proud of it!
thanks for sharing.
J
My biggest success was simply working successfully with Magento.
pardon my ignorance, Jordan – but is Magento one of the bad Xmen?
Haha, close, it’s Magneto. He’s the main villian in the X-Men.
Magento is an ecommerce content management system and it’s wonderful, but hard to learn.
My favorite work, and the one that has gotten the most exposure (though unfortunately not attached to my name) was the University of Oregon Visa card design I did: http://cgspot.net/2009/12/university-of-oregon-visa-card-design/
Available at USbank if you’re a customer: http://www.usbank.com/en/checkcards/detail.cfm?cid=38
The project that got me the most exposure at the moment is my latest web design that is featured on Adobe Business Catalyst home page and my own freelance website that was featured on web design inspiration websites :
http://www.squbaholidays.com/
http://en.kreacom.ca/
wow great question – seems like something I can’t answer with just one example, but if I had too it would have to be the Virtual Configurator I built working for my full time gig for a company called vogue tyre (http://www.voguetyre.com/3d/ – select 1 of 3) …otherwise i was pretty excited when i built my first eCommerce site
…as soon as i hit “submit comment” i am going to think of another one haha!
great post/question – i am looking forward to seeing other peoples responses
Very slick site – must have taken a while to put that together!
the timeline video is good, too
J
i can only take credit for the Flash EnTyre 360 configurator – i think someone in house built the actual website and puts the videos together
http://www.voguetyre.com/3d/SRX/index.php
It wasn’t really a business success, but it was something I’d wanted to do my whole life. I illustrated a greeting card for a contest and was chosen as a winner! I now have an ecard on Hallmark.com! Yay! Here it is if you’d like to see it:
http://budurl.com/cardwinner
My bigget success to date is a site for a scientific congress:
http://www.sepex2010.info
It’s my best Drupal site to date, it has lots of customizations that made congress staff work much, much easier, and received much praise.
Besides that, it looks good.
http://jamrie.com/
Created it when I was 17, last year and it got some local media attention.
working with QBA. ( http://www.quarterbackacademy.com/ ) these guys have been really good to me, and its been great rebranding a growing national brand. even better is that the guys running it are some of the best people you will ever meet
I think with this client, river boat rent company in Latvia and Viking ship tour site :
http://www.mezmalaslaivas.lv
My biggest success wasn’t a particular project I completed.
It is getting up again after losing my first company and starting a new one, this time in a new country, as a stranger in a strange land with no contacts and connections to help me out and growing it from a freelance operation to a small company operating from two countries now.
Of course we did some really kick ass projects that I am proud of too but getting the courage to start all over again, in a new country and making it is what I consider my biggest success to date.
I’d agree 100% Pawel – dusting yourself off and trying again is damn near impossible – good for you!
Thanks Jason
The one I find most memorable, was probably my first “big payer”…
Image editing in Photoshop, about 15 images of rubber stamp work (PS 5 I think).
It was possibly the most I have ever both earned and learned in 3 days. In hindsight I must have been a lot cheaper than their other quotes, because they really took a punt on me, but I’m grateful for that and it gave me a lot of confidence to go forward.
My best project was a contract job I did for Swimfish: http://swimfish.com
They were converting from a consulting company to a software company, and I did the UI designs for almost everyone of their software. It was an awesome job, having my own office in their space, working with developers both in-house and in CA, and really getting a good taste of what the more corporate world was like.