Interested in working for yourself, but not by yourself? Wondering what it's like building a sustainable freelance business focused on projects you care about? Join Johanna Ostrich and Alex Ording as they share a heartwarming case study: redesigning the Petfinder Foundation website with an all-freelancer team.

They’ll be discussing how they:

• Brought together the right team for the project
• Collaborated on research, design, and development
• Spent multiple meetings identifying the perfect puppy photos
• Worked closely with a nonprofit team to create a flexible and maintainable site that can grow with the organization
• Approach building their independent businesses to be rewarding and sustainable

By sharing their years of experience as full-time freelancers, Johanna and Alex hope to encourage others interested in working for themselves.

You’ll have a chance to ask them questions during the Q&A.

Virtual platform

This event will be streamed via Zoom:

• In order to participate fully, plan to join via the Zoom app on a computer, tablet, or mobile device with enough bandwidth to support viewing video.
• Only those whose display name fully matches the name on our registration list will be admitted from the waiting room, to ensure only those who have registered for the event are able to attend — and to create space for intimate conversations.
• This event will be recorded unless technical issues occur. The recordings will be shared in the AIGA DC recordings archive for AIGA members to rewatch or catch up on at a later date. If you’re not an AIGA Member, you can register for a membership on the AIGA Membership website.
• You can ask the speakers questions ahead of time (Google form), which may be answered during the event.

You can find more about joining our virtual events, including how to connect, directions to troubleshoot, and information about our refund policy in our FAQ.

Accessibility and accommodations

• This event will have real time CART (live captioning) services and transcriptions provided by Verbit.
• A sign language interpreter will not be present unless requested. If requested, we will do our best to employ a sign language interpreter for the event.

If you need any additional accommodations, please contact us using a method that works best for you:

• Email our accessibility team at accessibility@dc.aiga.org.
• Call or text our accessibility lead Josh Kim at 571-422-2656.
• Request an accommodation through our Google Form.

We honor your privacy. No identifying information like your name is required to request an accommodation, and all details will be deleted once completed.

You can learn more about how we’re making DC Design Week an accessible experience by visiting our accessibility statement.

Code of conduct

All AIGA DC events adhere to our Code of Conduct.

About DC Design Week

Built and run by 100% volunteer power, DC Design Week is an annual celebration of our community — hosted by AIGA DC. Ten percent of all revenue from DCDW events and all profit this year go toward the Design Continuum Fund (DCF) scholarship fund. We believe in fostering the next generation of designers by helping local, design-minded and underrepresented students as they pursue their education. Interested in becoming a member? To gain early access to our most exclusive events and year-long discounts, sign up to become a member today!