Maximilian Bartel – passionate freelance web designer

Maximilian Bartel
Location: Alfeld (Leine), Germany
Work: Passionate freelance web designer, developer & aspiring photographer
Interests: Art, Music, Travel, Movies, Snowboarding & Football
Website: http://www.indiqo.eu

For those who are not familiar with you or your work yet, could you please tell us a bit about yourself and your background as a creative professional?

I’m a 24 year old freelance web designer from Alfeld (Leine) which is a rather small city in the heart of Germany. I spend most of the day sitting in front of my iMac to create visually appealing websites, to help my clients if they should need me and of course to make sure business is running just fine. I don’t have a formal education in web design and also think that it’s not necessarily a requirement for those who are truly passionate about learning something they really like on their own. This said, I immediately started my career as a freelance web designer after graduating from economy school almost 5 years ago now and so far can’t think of any profession I’d rather like to do.

How did you get into web design at all?

I remember that quite a long time ago when we’ve been introduced to the internet for the very first time in school, I’ve been immediately fascinated by the infinite possibilities it offered back then. Basically it was nothing compared to the internet we know today, but for some reason it really thrilled me and so I just couldn’t resist to create my first own website for a school project almost exactly 10 years ago now. I absolutely enjoyed that process and since then continuously tried to learn new things and improve my skills which is often incredibly interesting and one of the things I like most.

What is it you most like and dislike about being a freelancer?

Believe it or not, but I love being responsible for myself. Even though this surely can be difficult from time to time and consumes a lot of time and energy, there’s just nothing better than being able to decide on your own in which direction your business should go. There’s always an idea I’d like to realize, a new challenge to take, interesting people to meet or something new I could learn and that’s exactly what keeps me motivated and ambitious. Of course, I work longer than anybody I know on a daily basis and constantly have to keep up with emerging trends to make sure clients keep coming back to me in the future, but in comparison with the advantages mentioned before it’s just great to be a freelancer.

What or maybe even who influences your work the most?

Well, I listen to music all day long which often is a huge source of inspiration because it frequently gets me into the right mood for design, but I also try to get out into the nature to take photos in order to see things from an entirely different point of view. In addition, I try to see different places and countries every now and then or attempt to learn new activities whenever I can. Just a few weeks ago I started snowboarding and overall it’s such a great experience to be outside in the snow just spending time with friends and enjoying this sport.

Things like that always influence my work in a certain way and aside from that, they also remind me that it doesn’t matter how often you fall as long as you get back up again in order to move on.

Is there an interesting project coming up in the future?

I think personal projects are essential for anybody who commonly tries to realize other peoples ideas and so I’m currently preparing the launch of a new blog which will be available soon. Furthermore I got the chance to work for various clubs, djs and discotheques in the past months and so me and a business partner are currently founding Radiant Loop , a web design company focusing on nightlife and entertainment marketing.

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