Can Freelance platforms kickstart your design career? - Creative Confessions™
- Robin Son
- Nov 1, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 20, 2025
There’s a quiet pressure in the design world to have the perfect story. But that’s not the reality for most creatives starting out, especially if you’re self-taught or figuring things out while juggling life.
This confession is a reminder that your starting point doesn’t define your entire career and that the loudest voices online aren’t always the ones who understand your journey.
Below is an anonymous confession sent in by a creative who built their early experience through platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, only to later feel shamed for it.
The Confession
"I was bullied into oblivion by other creators (not actually bullied, but it kind of felt like it) when I just started out as an artist and designer and I worked on Fiverr. Yes, I was charging peanuts, but I'm also completely self taught and I couldn't afford to go to university again and get into more debt just because I now figured out what I actually want to study, which is design, and I had zero clue of how to work with clients. Several years on, I don't use the platform almost at all unless there is someone with a super fun idea or out of the blue wants to pay me at least $3,000 for a project. But I learned so much at the beginning of my career because I was on Fiverr and briefly on Upwork.
Being on Fiverr and constantly getting five star reviews actually made me realize that I could do this as a career. In hindsight, I see how they are bad for the creative industries, but they are just going to keep doing it. So I think it's good to talk about a way to leverage them at the start of your journey as a designer, instead of listening to all the big dog designers essentially saying, oh my god, that's so bad and horrible, you should be so embarrassed. I think there's a way, if you have zero experience and zero clue and zero money, to use them the right way, with some guidance with people who have done it instead of just being shamed."
Want to listen to this episode instead of reading? ↓
Originally aired: 17th August 2024
Why This Confession Hits a Nerve
Freelance platforms get a lot of hate online and yes, some of that criticism comes from valid ethical concerns around price undercutting and industry devaluation.
But something we often forget is that if you’re self-taught, under-resourced, and figuring it out on your own then these platforms can be your entry point.
Starting on a freelance platform doesn’t make you unprofessional and this confession shows exactly that. Someone with no experience, no guidance and no money who still found a way to get started by using platforms as a stepping stone not a permanent home.
You're gonna learn stuff passion projects won't teach you
One of the strongest points in this confession is how much real-world learning came from working with clients, even at low rates:
Communicating clearly
Spotting red flags
Understanding project scope
Navigating revisions
Delivering real work to real people
Managing expectations
Building confidence through positive reviews
These are things a fake brand identity / passion project in your portfolio can’t replicate.
Your starting point doesn't define you.
There’s no shame in doing what you need to do to learn, grow and get paid especially when you’re starting with nothing.
If working on freelance platforms helped you gain experience, build confidence or get your foot in the door, then that’s something to be proud of, not embarrassed by.
If you want the full breakdown of this confession plus my opinion, listen to the Archived episode of Brand Your Brain at the top of this post
Got a Creative Confession™ of your own?
Brand Your Brain is the podcast that collects and shares anonymous confessions from creatives to normalise the messy reality of creative life.
Every episode starts with a confession submitted by a creative like you and me. Some are deep. Some are funny. Some are wildly relatable. All of them are real. (it’s 100% anonymous, and always free)
If you've got a hot take, unpopular opinion, or personal story about life as a creative then you can share it anonymously below:
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