The nomadic design agency
The number of people in the UK choosing to go freelance has been consistently on the up since 2001. Coupled with the shift towards bringing many design and marketing services in-house, a new breed of business is rivalling the traditional design agency. The creative collective.
Made up of a group of professional freelancers, the creative collective usually has no fixed place everyone turns up to work at each day. Instead, they choose to communicate regularly by phone or digital channels, with perhaps a monthly in-person meetup. An agency of no fixed abode. A nomadic design agency.
Design agencies have always used freelancers to bolster their permanent workforce. But now, more freelancers are beginning to collaborate with each other, creating their own team capable of taking on the very same projects an agency would typically pitch for. Nine Dots Creative is one such of these collectives.
What services does a collective offer?
It depends on the collective. Some might offer the full range of creative agency services – copywriting, marketing, photography, art direction, graphic design, web design etc. In contrast, others might be more specific, focusing on just one creative discipline – for example marketing.
What are the benefits of a collective?
There are, as we see it, a number of core benefits to a collective:
Flexibility. As the collective is a group of freelancers, it is possible to actually have one or more of them come work in your office, with your team. They can work on a project-by-project basis, and you can use as many as you need! This can be a good solution to the cost and dedication needed to take on a permanent member of staff. One less mouth to feed at the Christmas party.
Direct communication. With an agency, you will (nearly always) have to communicate everything through an account manager. With a collective, you often have the choice. For example, Nine Dots Creative can get a freelance account manager on board, or you can communicate directly with the person doing the work. If you have the time to manage a couple of freelancers, it’s a way to save on costs. If not, you can save on your time.
Quality of work. Using a single freelancer for an entire project might not be the best use of their skills. Splitting the work between multiple freelancers means we find the best person for the job. You get agency quality work, and the best possible result for your business.
Speed. For small jobs, freelancers can often be a lot quicker to turn something around than an agency. No more waiting days for a simple error to be corrected on your website.
Cost effectiveness. With no office overheads, payroll or many of the other costs associated with running a design agency, the creative collective can be extremely cost competitive. Which for you, means more money to spend on your marketing campaign. Or more biscuits for everyone. Or that flash car you’ve had your eye on for a while.
If the creative collective sounds like the perfect fit for your business, get in touch!