Digital Detox: Getting Back to Hands-On Design
January 23, 2026
By Julia Matar • January 2026
When I graduated with my Bachelor of Industrial Design, I truly believed that freelancing would give me the ultimate freedom. I pictured myself working from cafés, choosing my own clients, and building a multidisciplinary career like a calm, empowered creative goddess.
Reality check: freelancing is actually the Olympics of multitasking, emotional resilience, and pretending you’re not panicking when a client says, “Quick question…” at 11:47 PM.
On paper, I’m self-employed. In real life, every client I take is basically a different boss with a different personality, different expectations, and different definitions of the word “urgent.” One client gives you a three-month deadline for a two-day task. Another client wants a full collection, 3D renderings, brand strategy, and maybe world peace by tomorrow morning. And somehow you agree.
Because you’re a freelancer. And freelancers have the same disease: we think we can do everything, everywhere, all at once. Clients often come with ideas that are “like 90% done,” which, in freelance language, translates to: “We have no idea what we want, but we will know what we don’t want the moment you send it.”
At this point, design thinking stops being a gentle methodology and becomes a survival instinct. You learn to clarify chaos, read between the lines, and translate sentences like “make it pop” into something that actually exists.
Freelancing can be chaotic but then you get gigs that remind you why you do it.
I flew to Dubai for a fashion project, thinking it would be challenging but reasonable. Instead, the client needed 40+ outfits, all in multiple colour palettes, all in 3D, and all in three days.
Three days.
I drank more coffee in those 72 hours than a human body should legally be allowed to.
I worked until I fell asleep mid-render.
I woke up thinking about jacket silhouettes.
But I delivered everything on time—and even created a marketing introduction and gallery presentation because, apparently, when I’m extremely stressed I become more productive.
They paid me well.
Short deadlines come with blessed price tags, and God rewards the sleep-deprived.
For all the chaos, freelancing has a strange, addictive charm.
You learn discipline because no one is standing behind you telling you to work.
You learn communication because if you don’t, revisions will eat your soul.
You learn boundaries—eventually, after several psychological breakdowns.
You learn value, because you start realizing your time, skill, and peace of mind actually cost money.
Most importantly, you discover that you’re capable of more than you imagined. You’re adaptable, resourceful, fast, and creative under pressure. You get to touch different industries, meet people who rely on your ideas, and build a career that doesn’t look like anyone else’s. Freelancing is messy, loud, unpredictable—and honestly, kind of hilarious.
But it’s also empowering.
About Julia Matar
Julia Matar is a 26-year-old Canadian–Lebanese multidisciplinary designer and Junior Industrial Designer based in Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Industrial Design from Carleton University and works across product design, UI/UX, branding, and visual communication. Her freelance career has taken her across industries and continents, from fast-paced fashion projects in Dubai to branding and product visualization work in North America. Julia’s design approach blends structured design thinking with real-world adaptability, making her work both strategic and creatively intuitive.