If you're going through recruitment agencies, they tend to only deal with you if you're registered as a limited company — this is mainly because of the UK's IR35 legislation. Working with clients or agencies you shouldn't have too much trouble being 'self-employed'.

It’s typically your senior team, which should consist of a senior designer, project manager and if possible a Dev. In your case get the core team working on the project in the meeting. Make time for this — it will save you time throughout the project..

The kick-off should cover a range of topics. Ideally you’ll begin to understand the problem at hand, discuss the goals, audiences, creative brief, content, risks, timeline and more. You should leave the meeting ready to explore all kinds of creative solutions.

In terms of output you should document what was discussed. This can come in the form of a creative brief from the designer or as a minimum, a summarised overview of the meeting (PM can do this). The creative brief or document should be approved by the client, so everyone is clear on the objectives and desired outcomes.

A couple of good resources to have a look at.

Kickass Kickoff Meetings at A List Aparthttp://alistapart.com/article/kick-ass-kickoff-meetings

Headscape’s Kickoff Meeting Agenda Builderhttp://headscape.co.uk/kickoff/

Meeting Tipshttp://goodkickoffmeetings.com/

I'm starting to think it might be an idea... If there's enough of a demand I'll look into it.

That has been an option, and one i'm considering. Do you find working from a shared space helps with picking up new clients/work?

It definitely seems that way. I was following them on twitter but always managed to miss the events.

Seems to be a running theme with a lot of these Slack communities. Feels less like a community and more like an opportunity to pitch ideas/services.

Thanks Dave, techlondon looks promising.

You guys float my boat — what's your freelance pool like? ;)

Developing a brand or a visual language just takes time and experience. Probe and question the company for as much detail as possible, get a real understanding of their business, culture, ideology, positioning and anything else you can get from them to help you get a broad understanding. Distill all this information into some core values or statements. This should give you a solid foundation to start to build the visual language. Everything should relate back to these fundamental statements, including what would be an appropriate colour palette to use etc.

Bill Kenny from Focus Labs' wrote a really interesting article on crafting a great brand delivery, which you could probably garner some great insight into how to develop an identity and brand.

https://madebysidecar.com/journal/crafting-a-great-branding-delivery

Location: London, UK

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Looking For: Looking for freelance gigs with a focus on web design, web and mobile app design, branding and art direction.

Skills: I predominately specialise in visual design, art direction and ux design — with a good hit of strategy and branding knowledge. I help business establish a clear brand identity and translate that across digital mediums like websites, apps and products.

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Email:hey@gavinjohnson.me.uk