Your portfolio is the only thing that matters — Mike Weinhandl
R: Can you introduce shortly yourself?
Mike: I’m a designer doing the whole “digital nomad” thing!
R: Do you do some ritual every day outside of work?
Mike: I spend some time reading every day.
R: What do you do that allows you to work efficiently being able to finish all your freelance works working remotly?
Mike: The first thing when working remotely is finding a good place (or places) to work — solid WiFi is annoyingly hard to find in some areas. The second thing is to implement a routine that I can stick to, making putting in time for work every day an automatic habit.
R: What thought or tip would you give to yourself in the past?
Mike: There’s never a perfect time to do something.
R: Any study tip for a high school, university student?
Mike: If you are going into design, you may not need to bother with university. While I learned a lot when I went, nowadays there are plenty of awesome online resources that won’t put you into huge amounts of debt. Your portfolio is what matters. Not your degree.
R: What would you focus(work,love,life)on now if you would go back to high school time?
Mike: I would start traveling way earlier, it’s the best way to learn about both the world and oneself.
R: Are you currenlty having freelancing as first source of income? How did you find most of your high paying clients?
Mike: Currently, yes. I worked as a designer in Minneapolis for 7 years before going freelance, and so far I’ve found most clients through existing contacts.
R: How would you suggest someone to start designing now?
Mike: Find designers you like, and study their work to learn from it. Rinse and repeat.
R: Did you travel to Malaysia recently right? Did you like it? What’s the most beautiful and interesting country that you have ever visit
Mike: English proficiency is high in Malaysia, so it was easy to get involved in the local creative scene. I spent 1 month in Kuala Lumpur and 3 months in Penang and loved it! My favorite country to visit is Japan — the culture and mixture of old and new is unlike anything else.
