Working as a freelance graphic designer: portfolio, orders and copyright

Graphic design is one of the most common freelance professions: a company does not need a logo, packaging or social media visuals every day, so for many it does not pay to hire a designer full-time. In Lithuania the phrases “grafikos dizaineris darbas” (graphic designer job) and “grafikos dizaineris darbo skelbimai” (graphic designer job ads) are searched for more than two hundred times a month.

This part of the guide covers what work a freelance designer does, how to put together a portfolio, where to look for orders, how to calculate the price and – most importantly – how to transfer copyright in the contract so that neither you nor the client is left surprised.

What a freelance graphic designer does

When starting out it is not worth offering everything. A designer who clearly says “I create brands for food producers” or “I lay out publications” is easier for a client to understand than one who “does graphic design”.

Portfolio

The portfolio is a designer's main sales tool. In it the client looks for the answer to one question: has this person already done something similar to what I need.

1. Show 6–10 pieces. The weakest piece determines the impression, so fewer is better.
2. Present each piece as a case: what the brief was, which solution you chose and why, how the work looks when applied – on packaging, on a website, on a sign.
3. Show what you want to get. If you want to create logos, logos have to dominate the portfolio.
4. No clients – create your own briefs. A sample brand for an invented company is a suitable piece if it is clearly stated that it is a concept.
5. Get permission. You can show a client's work in your portfolio if this is provided for in the contract or the client has agreed.

The portfolio can be kept on specialised designer platforms or on your own website. What matters most is that it can be sent as a single link and viewed on a phone.

Where to look for orders

• Job ad portals. Most of the offers there are for full-time employment, but some companies look for a designer for a project or part-time – it is worth responding to those as well.
• Advertising and marketing agencies. During peaks of work they pass tasks to external designers.
• Printing houses and website developers. Their clients constantly need layouts, and they often do not have a designer of their own.
• International platforms. Fiverr suits clearly defined services (a logo, a business card), Upwork – longer projects.
• Direct clients. Newly founded companies, online shops, event organisers. Over time most orders come from recommendations.

Copyright: who owns what

Among protected works, the Law on Copyright and Related Rights explicitly mentions works of graphic art, other works of fine art and works of applied art. The rights to a work arise once it is created – nothing has to be registered. Several things follow from the law that every designer has to know.

The practical conclusion: a client who has commissioned a logo almost always needs broad rights – to use it everywhere, for an unlimited time, to modify it and to register it as a trade mark. If the contract does not provide for this, the client is at risk, and you may face a dispute a few years later. So the transfer of rights is worth discussing before the work even begins.

Third-party elements in your work

A designer almost always uses things created by others: fonts, photos, icons, layout templates. Each of them has its own licence, and not every licence allows commercial use or transfer to a client.

• Fonts. Check whether the licence covers commercial use, use in a logo and on a website. The client may need to buy their own licence.
• Stock photos and illustrations. A standard licence often limits the print run or prohibits use in a logo.
• Images generated by artificial intelligence. Read the tool's terms on commercial use and tell the client that the image was generated – it may matter to them because of the rights to the result.
• Material supplied by the client. It is worth providing in the contract that the client is responsible for its lawfulness.

Pricing

The price of a project is made up of more than drawing time. It includes clarifying the brief, reviewing competitors, sketches, the presentation, revisions, preparing the final files and transferring the rights. Broader rights mean a higher price: an illustration that the client will use on one package and the same illustration used across an entire advertising campaign are not the same order.

It is worth putting four things in every proposal: how many options you will present, how many revision rounds are included in the price, how much additional revisions cost and what advance payment is made before you start.

The workflow with a client

1. Brief. In writing: who it is for, where it will be used, what is liked and disliked, deadline, budget.
2. Proposal and contract. Scope, price, deadlines, revisions, rights.
3. Advance payment. Work begins once it is received.
4. Sketches. The agreed number of options, presented with an explanation.
5. Revisions. Collected in a single list rather than in separate messages.
6. Written approval. Especially before printing – a mistake in a printed run is what is disputed most often.
7. Final payment and files. Working files and rights are handed over after full payment.

Form of activity

Designers most often work under a self-employment certificate; the differences between the forms of activity are explained in the ACS.lt article “Self-employment: registration certificate or business certificate”. Calculating your rate, advance payments and invoices to foreign clients are covered in the part of the guide on contracts and prices.

Frequently asked questions