Designing: Earning from Your Design Skills Online

Designing as an eSide hustle means using graphic, product or type design skills to earn online. You can find clients through portfolio communities, sell fonts and templates that buyers use again and again, or take on specialist freelance roles. Design overlaps with several other Areas, so this guide also points to where those routes are covered in depth.

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In this guide

1. What design work online is
2. How design platforms work and how you get paid
3. What design really pays
4. The kinds of design platforms
5. How to choose a platform
6. Your first steps
7. Costs, taxes and risks
8. Red flags to watch for
9. How to build your skills
10. Recommended resources
11. Owen’s take
12. FAQ

1. What design work online is

Every business needs design: logos, websites, social graphics, packaging, presentations and products. Many buy it from freelancers or ready-made templates rather than hiring in-house.

Designers earn online in four main ways:

• Client work found through portfolio communities and freelance platforms
• Templates sold or licensed through design tools such as Canva
• Fonts sold through type marketplaces
• Specialist roles in fields such as footwear, product or packaging design

Related routes have their own guides: selling themes and UI kits in Selling Templates, putting designs on products in Print on Demand, and general freelance platforms in Freelancing.

Who it suits

Design work suits people with a trained eye and solid skills in tools such as Figma, Adobe apps, Affinity or Canva. Client work suits people who communicate well; template and font sales suit people who prefer building products over managing clients.

2. How design platforms work and how you get paid

Portfolio communities let you publish your best work so clients can find you. Some include project boards, paid services and payment protection.

Template programmes let you publish templates inside a design tool. You earn royalties when people use them, or you sell templates through your own store.

Font marketplaces sell licences for your typefaces to designers and businesses, paying you a royalty on each sale.

Specialist talent platforms connect designers in a particular field with brands for freelance or permanent roles.

Payment depends on the route: client projects pay by agreement, often through the platform; templates and fonts pay royalties monthly once you reach a minimum.

3. What design really pays

Pay varies widely by skill, specialism and route.

For context, the Bureau of Labor Statistics put the median annual wage for graphic designers in the US at $61,300 in May 2024. It also notes that 18% of graphic designers were self-employed in 2024, and that self-employed designers spend part of their time looking for projects and competing for contracts.

Freelance and product income works differently. Client rates depend on your portfolio and niche, while template and font royalties depend on how many buyers use your work. Our listings for Canva, MyFonts and Dribbble cover each platform’s terms.

A few patterns hold:

• Specialists earn more. Brand identity, UX, packaging and type design pay more than general graphics.
• Products scale; client work doesn’t. Templates and fonts can sell many times; client work pays once.
• Portfolios win work. Clients hire from examples, not from qualifications.
• Repeat clients are the steadiest income. Retainers smooth out irregular project work.
• AI tools change the market. Simple graphics are easier to automate; strategy and craft are harder.

Pricing client work

Price by project rather than by hour when you can, and base it on the value to the client: a logo for a new startup and a brand system for an established company are very different jobs. Put scope, revisions and deadlines in writing before you start.

4. The kinds of design platforms

Portfolio and client communities

• Dribbble, a portfolio community where designers find clients and get paid through Projects and Services

Template programmes

• Canva, through Canva Creators or by selling your own Canva templates elsewhere

Fonts

• MyFonts, Monotype’s font store, where independent foundries sell their typefaces

Specialist design roles

• Laceless Design, connecting footwear designers with brands for freelance and permanent roles

Working with Canva templates

Canva templates suit social posts, presentations, planners and small-business materials. You can earn through Canva Creators, which pays royalties when people use your templates inside Canva, or sell template links through your own store. Read Canva’s licensing rules carefully, because the elements you can use differ between the two routes.

5. How to choose a platform

Ask five questions first.

1. Do you want clients or products? Client work pays faster; products build over time.
2. What’s your specialism? Choose platforms where buyers look for that skill.
3. What does the platform take? Fees, royalty rates and subscription costs.
4. Who keeps the rights? Check licensing terms for templates, fonts and client work.
5. How do they pay? Methods, minimums and timing.

Many designers combine a portfolio for client work with a few products that earn between projects.

Choosing a niche that pays

General design work competes with thousands of designers and cheap templates. A clear niche, such as packaging for food brands, slide decks for startups or identities for restaurants, makes you easier to find and easier to recommend. Pick an industry you understand, and shape your portfolio, case studies and outreach around it.

6. Your first steps

1. Pick a specialism. Logos, social graphics, UI, presentations, type or a product niche.
2. Build a focused portfolio. Six to ten strong pieces in your chosen area.
3. Write short case studies. Explain the problem, your process and the result.
4. Publish your work. On a portfolio community and your own simple site.
5. Reach out to clients. Apply to briefs and contact businesses you’d like to work with.
6. Create one product. A template pack or a small font family to learn the product route.
7. Ask for testimonials. They help win the next client.

Building a portfolio without clients

Create self-initiated projects: redesign a real brand you admire, design for an imaginary business or enter design challenges. Label concept work clearly, and focus on showing how you think, not just how things look.

Designing your first font

Type design takes patience. Start with a small display font with a clear personality, rather than a full text family. Test it at different sizes, check spacing and kerning carefully, and read the marketplace’s technical requirements before submitting.

Finding clients through outreach

Portfolio communities bring some clients, but outreach brings more. Make a short list of businesses whose design you could clearly improve, send a brief, personal note with one or two relevant examples, and follow up once. Ask happy clients for introductions; referrals often become the best source of work.

Setting up simple contracts

A short written agreement protects both sides. Include the scope, number of revisions, deadlines, price, payment schedule and who owns the final files and when. Ask for a deposit before starting, and release final files once the last payment arrives.

7. Costs, taxes and risks

Software subscriptions. Design tools, fonts and stock assets cost money every month.

Scope creep. Endless revisions eat into your hourly rate. Agree limits in writing.

Unpaid spec work. Avoid doing full projects for free in the hope of winning work.

Licensing. Use only fonts, images and icons you’re licensed to use in client work and products.

Copycats. Templates and fonts can be copied. Keep records of your original files.

Taxes. Design income is usually self-employment income. In the US, self-employment tax is 15.3% on top of income tax.

8. Red flags to watch for

• Clients asking for free samples of their actual project. Offer your portfolio instead.
• Contests where many designers work and one gets paid. Most entrants earn nothing.
• Clients who refuse a deposit or written brief. It often leads to unpaid work.
• Overpayment scams. A “client” sends too much and asks for a refund of the difference.
• Requests to use copyrighted characters or logos. They can expose you to legal claims.

9. How to build your skills

• Learn design principles. Layout, hierarchy, typography and colour.
• Learn your tools deeply. Figma, Adobe apps, Affinity or Canva.
• Learn a specialism. Branding, UX, packaging or type.
• Learn client skills. Briefs, presentations, feedback and contracts.
• Study great work. Analyse why designs you admire succeed.

10. Recommended resources

These are listed in our Resources section.

• CreativeLive for classes in graphic design, branding and typography
• Coursera for courses in graphic design and UX
• MasterClass for lessons from well-known designers and creatives

11. Owen’s take

Design is one of the most flexible skills an eSide hustler can have, because so many other hustles need it. Pick a specialism, build a focused portfolio and treat clients like partners, with clear briefs and limits. Then add products that earn while you sleep. Avoid contests and free spec work; your time and skill are what you’re selling.

FAQ

How much do graphic designers earn?
The BLS put the median annual wage for US graphic designers at $61,300 in May 2024.

Can I make money selling Canva templates?
Yes, through Canva Creators or by selling your own templates on other stores.

Do I need a degree to work as a designer?
Not for freelance work. Clients hire from portfolios, though training helps build skills.

How do designers find clients online?
Through portfolio communities, freelance platforms, referrals and direct outreach.

Is designing fonts profitable?
It can be over time, but fonts take a long time to make and sales build slowly.

Sources

• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Graphic Designers”, Occupational Outlook Handbook: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/arts-and-design/graphic-designers.htm
• Internal Revenue Service, “Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)”: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes

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