Why do side projects?

fter my last blog post about doing personal projects in your free time with an emphasis on Graphic and Web design, I thought I would expand on it and write about why do people do side projects, both paid and for free.




After seeing my friend Emily's Fairy Letters side project, that she is carrying out in her free time whilst working at the design consultancy Seymourpowell and selling using the online homemade gift store Etsy here I wondered why people want to side projects.  You work so hard at your job, only to come back and work some more.  So I wanted to look at some other designers who do side projects and why they do them.

http://www.strawbug.co.uk.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/HOME.html

http://www.strawbug.co.uk.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/HOME.html

Maybe doing something like this is similar to being a part time eBay seller, however you still need to find the time to manufacture and package these home made items.  A lot of people these days have an eBay account, 14 million in the UK alone and 223 million users in the world compared to the 17 million users worldwide on Etsy.


So why do people do side projects?


For Fun?  For the extra money?  To fill spare time?  For exposure?  To do what YOU want?


Jessica Hische a Designer and Illustrator who creates daily illustrative initial caps for free personal use.  This is not a side project to make money as she gives away her work so she must do it for fun, however with that comes exposure and personal promotion.  I do like her free to use caps, there are many to choose from and they look great, I have used they a couple of times on this blog post.

http://www.dailydropcap.com/

http://www.dailydropcap.com/

Another ex-Brunel designer that enjoys side projects is Duncan Shotton.  I met him when he was working at Kinneir Dufort and I was unsure whether to do a BA or BSc in design, and he has since helped me with applying for jobs and with my CV.  Duncan used to work for the design consultancy Kinneir Dufort but is now moving to Toyko.  In his free time working at Kinneir Dufort Ducan designed the Key cloud.  The Pecha Kucha video of Duncan explains about the Key cloud and about personal projects and I think it shows that he does it for the fun.

onclusion to this post is that I think people tend to do a side project for fun, to do something different from the design work they do as a paid job.  Where they set the brief, the deadlines and the working hours.  No doubt it is tough, and that is shown in Duncan's Pecha Kucha video above, but it is fun.  We just want to have fun and enjoy ourselves.  If that can also get us money and exposure as well as take up some free time, then that makes it just the more perfect.