Creating your own projects as a freelancer
Plus some resources and inspiration for being your own client
Over the years, I’ve worked on a number of self-initiated projects that have been incredibly fulfilling, including the interview series that’s now the focus of this Substack.
Personal projects can help with positioning your work (whether you’re freelancing or not), building a portfolio, and aligning it with the opportunities you most want to call in. But they can also help provide a sense of purpose and focus when we’re feeling a bit wobbly or in a creative slump, help us connect with new friends and like-minded souls, develop our skills, and (re)build the muscle of regular creating and sharing.
Here’s my (human-generated, non-exhaustive) list of some of the ways self-initiated work can be useful:
(Re)positioning yourself for a specific type of medium, style, subject or client
Attracting new customers and commissions in this direction
Honing and developing your craft or new skills
Building your portfolio and aligning it with the work you want to do
Cultivating discipline and a regular practice
Developing courage and momentum for sharing your work and connecting with others
Creating content for your social/online channels
Building friendships and community through collaborations
Potentially having your work featured elsewhere
Offering something to focus on during quieter times or when you’re in a rut
Creating pieces you could potentially sell or develop into other paid work in the future - for example, selling illustrations or photography as prints/stock images, licensing designs to brands, or creating your own publication.
Over the past two years, I’ve taken a long break from sharing any personal work online. This wasn’t really planned. During this time I’ve been going through a lot of changes, including moving from Somerset back to Brighton and Hove, where I lived from 18-24. I’m now a student again (creative writing and guitar), which has been a joy. Work-wise, until recently, I’ve been taking on much longer contracts than usual, which has involved some intense periods of working on various projects. And I’ve been navigating some big shifts in my personal life, too. So all in all, my life looks quite different to the way it did when I first started this Substack, almost three years ago.
Paying the bills, studying, relocating, and getting settled in my new home, as well as processing all of this change, has taken a lot of time and energy.
I’m finally starting to feel a bit more rooted and settled again, and am feeling the drive coming back for self-led work, which has been in a bit of a holding pattern during this time (although the love for it has remained!).
So this post is devoted to personal projects, with some ideas and inspiration if you’re looking to reposition your services/portfolio, push yourself a little artistically, or rekindle your creative spark.
You can set your own challenges, write your own briefs, and design your own conceptual projects based around your dream commissions. Or you can take part in existing challenges to share your work and potentially have it featured by the organisers.
IMO a project like this should be something that feels fun and energising, and that helps or fuels you in some way, whether through honing your craft, building/pivoting your portfolio, or just for the outlet or enjoyment. It’s great to cultivate the discipline required to stick with something like this, but if you’re feeling uninspired or it’s not working for you and you want to change course once you’ve started, it’s OK.
I really like the FAQs on the About page of the 100 Day Project Substack (more on this below), and their reminders that you’re in control of if/how you approach this sort of thing:
Q: Is it okay to change my project once I start?
A: Anything is okay, it's your project. The rules are made up. Here's the deal: sometimes it's worthwhile to work through something. Sometimes it's better to cut your losses and walk away. What's right for you right now? Only you can know.
With this in mind, here are some ideas for creative projects, and some challenges you could design or take part in if you’re looking for some inspiration, structure, or to step outside your comfort zone.
(The details below are correct at the time of writing, September 2025, and may be subject to change. I’m not affiliated with any of these organisations, though I think they’re doing wonderful things in the world. Please always check the details/entry requirements where applicable before getting started. You know the drill!)
Boom Briefs
When you’re starting out in a creative field, it can feel like a bit of a Catch-22 situation: you need a portfolio to attract jobs; you need jobs to build your portfolio.
The wonderful Creative Boom has been supporting and championing the creative industries since 2009. They recently launched ‘Boom Briefs’, monthly fictional briefs posted on Instagram.
This month’s prompt is to design the visual identity for Echo Festival, a three-day music and arts event set on the UK coastline. The challenge is to create design assets that capture the spirit of a modern festival that’s fresh, accessible, and full of energy.
This could include:
A logo or wordmark
A festival poster or ticket design
Wristbands, tote bags, or merch
Stage backdrops or signage
A social media campaign visual
For more details on the concept and how to take part, check out this post:
Deadline: Friday 3 October, 12pm BST.
London Writers’ Salon
If writing is your thing, here on Substack, London Writers’ Salon (LWS) runs a weekly contest where writers are invited to submit up to 500 words in any genre around a specific theme. Entry is free, and the winning wordsmith receives £50 ($65 USD), publication in LWS’ Writers’ Hours Magazine, and three months of membership to their writing community.
Recent themes have included:
The story you carry
Ekphrasis - a short piece inspired by a work of visual art
I have to tell you
Conversation with a place
A summer memory
The shape of solitude
Untranslatable
Eulogy for an object
The blue hour
A truth between strangers.
This week’s writing prompt is: The Garment, which invites you to explore how a single piece of clothing can spark memory, longing, or transformation.
Deadline: Friday 12 September, 2025 (but there’s a new prompt each Monday!)
The 100 Day Project
Originally started by Michael Beirut in 2007, The 100 Day Project is one of the longest running and best known creative challenges (there are more than 2.4 million posts on Instagram tagged with #the100dayproject).
While the organisers run the challenge periodically for participants to do in unison (the next round kicks off in 2026), you can also start your own challenge at any time by choosing a creative project, doing it each day for 100 days, and documenting and sharing your process online. This could be: 100 days of embroidery, illustration, poetry, photography, etc.
The Substack newsletter, run by Lindsay Jean Thomson and Tricia Fell, includes tips on choosing a project, inspiration from people who have taken part, and answers to FAQs (as mentioned above), such as what makes a good project, how to choose a unique hashtag for sharing your work (if you’re using Instagram), and what to do if you miss a day.
Here are a few excerpts:
Q: What if I’m not on Instagram?
Then you’re not on Instagram! That’s okay. You can choose to sign up or post on another platform instead. Take a picture just for yourself. Do what works for you. And… part of the project is putting your work out there. Read our post on how and where to share your work.
Q: What if I’m not an Artist?
Ooh, trick question. Anyone can be an artist. You don’t have to think of yourself as one (yet), or even think of yourself as being particularly creative. A lot of us have complicated relationships with our creativity. We’ll work on it. You just have a desire to work on something and a willingness to commit to it for 100 days.
Q: What if I miss a day?
Most people miss a day (or a lot of days 😉). Sometimes people take a year or two to finish their project. However many days it takes you to do your project is perfect. Don't stress, do what you can, and have fun with it. This isn't meant to make you feel bad. Make it work for you.
Design your own challenge
Of course, you could also set yourself a challenge of your own making, and define your own rules around frequency, theme, and content. If 100 days feels like too much of a time commitment, you could aim for 50 days, seven days, or space it out over a longer timeframe (eg, sharing three pieces a week).
It doesn’t even have to be something you publicly announce, you could just set yourself the target of sending out one newsletter a week, sharing three photos a week, writing a certain number of words, or whatever type of framework makes you feel focused and inspired.
Setting constraints around colours, length, subject, materials… or something else!
Back in 2016, I remember following along with artist Lisa Congdon’s ‘Experiments in blue’ series. Every week over the course of the year, she set herself the challenge of creating a new piece of artwork using mostly the colour blue, giving readers something to look forward to and crucially, challenging her own creativity too. At the time, she wrote:
“I am feeling a tremendous need to push my paintings (and my art practice, in general) to new places, and I find that self-imposed constraints (in this case, painting mostly in blue) are helpful in forcing me to think outside my normal go-to box of tricks, colors, and imagery.”
I’ve also really enjoyed seeing a number of artists here on Substack taking part in different creative challenges, including the ‘Three Materials Challenge’, started by Kathryn Boyt, which invites participants to create a drawing from life every day in August, for no longer than 30 minutes, using three materials.
The annual event is now hosted by Kathyn, Naomi Tipping, and Charlotte Durance. You can find out more in this post by Charlotte.
Do you have any tips or insights on doing a creative challenge? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.