How to power up your skills as a freelancer

Freelancing doesn't necessarily get easier as you gain experience: you just have a different set of challenges to face.

The latest issue of Computer Arts, 249 – on sale now – will help you take your practice to the next level, whether you're taking your first steps into the unknown, planning to build on your existing success or striving for full-scale world domination.

To help you take care of your tax affairs, you'll find a handy freelancer's guide to tax, covering everything from how to stay on top of tax to what you can claim back to reduce your annual bill (you might be surprised), and more.

Buy Computer Arts 249 now!

Also inside the retro-games-themed issue, Computer Arts' regular video insight feature focuses on the trials and tribulations of freelance life.

Agent Tim Higgs at MPArts and four illustrators he represents – Michael Driver, Fernando Volken Togni, Jamie Jones and Josh McKenna – explain how to make it as a freelance illustrator.

Computer Arts 249

Top tips for making it as a freelancer in CA issue 249

Following the news that Black Pencil-winning motion graphics wizard ManvsMachine – fourth-placed in CA's UK Studio Rankings 2015 – was recently acquired by global branding behemoth Landor, this issue's special report asks if this trend is symptomatic of a much more significant role for motion design in branding.

Also inside CA issue 249

Computer Arts 249

See the month's best design work from around the world in showcase
  • Don't let geography hold you back – follow the opportunities wherever they are, says in-demand Lithuanian freelancer Evaldus Cesnavicius
  • How Form co-founder Paula Benson achieved the ideal work/life balance
  • Behind the scenes on a new brand identity for a restaurant in the Canadian Rockies, a life-sized papercraft car for Nissan and an astonishing showcase of BMX talent
  • Illustrator Ben Tallon speaks out for freelancers' right to tax relief
  • Don't let commercial work drain your soul, says Paul Blackburn
  • Nina Geometrieva, chief creative officer of Paktor, shares the hidden delights of Singapore
  • The world's best new graphic design, illustration and motion graphics work
  • Much, much more

Save 63% on Computer Arts

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Power up your freelance career

Power up your freelance career

Why motion is more important in branding than ever before

Why motion is more important in branding than ever before

See the world's best new design work in the showcase section

See the world's best new design work in the showcase section

Meet Lithuanian freelancer Evaldus Cesnavicius

Meet Lithuanian freelancer Evaldus Cesnavicius

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Julia Sagar
Editor-in-chief retail

Julia is editor-in-chief, retail at Future Ltd, where she works in e-commerce across a number of consumer lifestyle brands. A former editor of design website Creative Bloq, she’s also worked on a variety of print titles, and was part of the team that launched consumer tech website TechRadar. She's been writing about art, design and technology for over 15 years.