I am a san francisco-based graphic/web designer. I am burned out on agency life (aren't we all) and soulless client work. Maybe you are in a similar situation. You know there is something more worthwhile out there and that it is entirely possible to do the kind of work every day that you love.

I am aiming to go nearly (if not entirely) 100% freelance in 12-18 months. I want to gather a collective of innovating, socially-responsible and forward-thinking creative minds/eyes/hearts/hands. We'll be a 'design co-operative' of sorts, the group will change and converge depending on the client, project, and scope.

I am truly inspired by Stefan Sagmeisters approach to client work and this will be our model.

1) We'll only work for clients and projects we believe in
2) Every project should seek to affect culture in an impactful manner
3) We believe in designing a better world. Intelligent, cross-cultural communication is of the UTMOST importance.
4) We are a design co-operative, not a marketing agency.
5) It is our role as designers to guide our clients to the most intelligent communication decisions possible. That is, we are the experts, and this is why our clients will come to us. As such we seek out work where we have creative control over each and every project. Clients will not tell us how to design.
6) Implementing a sustainable design practise will be a key element of our creative process. We will go through the process to be deemed a 'green-certified business' by the City of San Francisco.

Lofty goals? Of course. Why else are we doing what we are doing?

I will primarily be looking to work with the following sorts of people:

1) Designers/Art Directors
2) Writers
3) Photographers
4) Illustrators
5) Technologists
6) Interns

San Francisco based-creatives are great. Interns are great. Creatives that live abroad but want to contribute and be apart of the collective are great too and all are encouraged to apply. Bilinguals and trilinguals etc especially encouraged to apply.

HOW IT WORKS
1) Apply to join this circle.
2) If you have any additional work you wish us to review other than what is on your behance profile, please direct us to where we can view it online.
3) What of the above roles do you see yourself filling
4) With your application please answer these questions:
- Why does this progressive (some might say extreme) approach appeal to you?
- What kind of projects would you bring to the collective within the first 6-12 months? What would you like to work on? What is your specialty?
5) By submitting your application, you acknowledge this is an invitation to become part of a collective. A collective allows us to work on multi-disciplinary creative projects that we normally might not be able to complete on our own, as freelancers, particularly when we are lacking in a certain area. Because, ideally and eventually we will represent a wide range of disciplines, we can take on such projects and wider range.
6) We'll meet, to begin every two-four weeks, depending how fast this idea grows. As more people get involved, it will be more frequent.