I've been working as a web designer/front end developer in a local design studio since I left college over 3 years ago. I do enjoy working there mainly because I don't have a lot of pressure from my boss and I get to work on a lot of different aspects of the business so there's good variety in what I do.

 

The only downside is the kind of clients we get and I know that a lot of you will have the same kind. We always have people complain about our prices and that we charge too much and get clients that really don't have a clue about anything to do with the web but by the time a site is finished they're delighted with it and glad they spent the money. The whole process of convincing them to go with us is a bit frustrating and trying to explain why their crazy ideas wont work or how they're website wont allow them to manage their online banking and grocery shopping at Tesco (one client actually expected her website to do this).

 

My question though is for anybody who's freelanced or worked in a design company that worked on big projects for well known brands, how exactly did you/the company go about getting these contracts? We've got a couple of big projects in our office usually through word of mouth or by chance but I'm starting to get a little tired of managing 20+ projects at one time. I'd love to manage just a couple of big projects with clients who really are clued into what makes a good website and don't expect a full ecommerce website for nothing.

If you're making waves in the industry then you'll get noticed. You might be invited to tender for a contract but I'd assume that large brands will have a few go-to guys that they use or have it all in house.

 

This is purely for trust and integrity.

 

I've got a current client who I'd say are the biggest in their field. That as because I started out working in-house then went freelance.

 

Its probably more about who you know as opposed to what you know.

 

I'm sure someone on here will be able to tell you how they did it. I feel you'd have to present yourself as a digital agency with the man power to provide what they need

Over the last few years we've built up a good reputation and worked on a couple of big projects but not as much as I'd like. It's a bit frustrating so see other companies getting big contracts but produce really poor work in the end. The problem with most tenders is they take so long to fill out and I'm sure some of the bigger companies have enough staff to fill them out regularly. We've applied for a couple of tenders and got turned down mainly because we're a smaller agency even though we can provide the same services as the big ones.

 

There's obviously not one method about it and as you said, who you know really helps.