Striped Cat Studio

Better rates, better clients and less admin for creatives who work alone

  1. Monday9–5

    Monday morning: the tabby sits on the deep windowsill beside the desk while a new printed brief lies on the desk next to a mug of coffee.

    ClientsHow to write a freelance proposal clients say yes to

  2. Tuesday9–5

    Tuesday: seen from above, a hand marks a printed proof with a pencil on a green cutting mat, a steel ruler beside it.

    ClientsHow to handle scope creep without losing the client

  3. Wednesday9–5

    Wednesday: heads down at the desk, a hand drawing with a stylus on a tablet beside an open laptop, the pinboard of colour chips above.

    Creative SoftwareAdobe Creative Cloud alternatives for a one-person studio

  4. Thursday9–5

    Thursday: invoices go out, a hand slides a printed invoice into an envelope beside a pocket calculator while the tabby’s striped tail curls across the desk.

    Pricing & MoneyHow to ask a client for payment when an invoice is late

  5. FridayClosed to clients

    Friday in the studio: the desk cleared, the laptop shut, the chair pushed back with the tabby cat asleep on it, a red sign hanging on the half-open door.

    The paperwork is done.FreelancingHow to plan paid time off as a freelancer

    See the kit

Articles on pricing, clients, software and marketing for freelance designers, illustrators, photographers and writers who work alone on purpose, and The Studio Kit: a proposal, contract, invoice and day-rate calculator, ready to use.

See the kitRead the notes

From the notes

The day rate in one line

Your day rate is what the studio has to bring in over a year, divided by the days you can actually bill.

From How to calculate your freelance day rate, step by step, by Corinne Halvorsen

(Take-home pay + studio costs + tax) ÷ billable days = day rate

The whole example
LineHow it’s worked outExample
Income to take homeWhat you want to keep after tax$63,000
Studio costsA year of overheads$12,000
Tax30% of profit, set aside$27,000
What the studio must bring inThe three added together$102,000
Days you can bill260 weekdays, less time off and admin179
Day rate$102,000 ÷ 179, rounded up$570

$570a day

Round up, never down, because rounding down takes the difference out of your take-home pay.

The day-rate calculator in The Studio Kit runs the same sum with your own numbers.

The calculator

The Studio Kit

The paperwork a one-person studio sends, ready to use

Six documents that take a project from the first call to the final invoice, in Notion, Google Docs and PDF, and a calculator that sets your day rate from the income and the time off you want.

  1. Day-rate calculator

  2. Creative brief

  3. Proposal

  4. Contract with plain-English notes

  5. Onboarding questionnaire

  6. Change-request form

  7. Invoice

Notes

One question per piece, answered with the numbers in it: the rate, the deposit, the payment terms, the price of a single seat.

All notes

Sections

Start where the business is costing you most: what you charge, who you work for, or the hours that go on admin.

All sections

  • Freelancing

    Going freelance and staying freelance: the decisions, structures and habits of working for yourself, for creatives leaving a job or years into it.

  • Pricing & Money

    What to charge and how to get paid: rates, quotes, invoices, taxes and an irregular income, for creatives who send their own invoices.

  • Clients

    Finding the right clients and working with them, from the first inquiry to the final file, for studios that want fewer, better clients.

  • Creative Software

    The software a creative studio works in, compared for a single seat and a small budget, for designers, illustrators, photographers and writers.

  • Branding & Portfolio

    How a studio presents itself: its name, identity, website and the case studies that win the next client, for creatives selling their own work.

  • Marketing

    Getting found by the right clients without becoming a full-time marketer: email, social, search and referrals for a studio of one.

  • Studio Setup

    The room, the hardware and the apps that keep a one-person studio running, from the desk and the screen to backups and time tracking.

Tools for a studio of one

A tool earns a place here by charging fairly for a single seat, never forcing a team plan, and every group has a free or cheap pick.

See the tools