The Freelance Circle
The project
The Freelance Circle was created by Casey Bird, then president of SheSays London, as a platform where freelancers could anonymously review the agencies they had worked with.
I helped develop the idea from early sketches into a complete brand and digital product, including agency search, structured reviews, anonymous feedback and tools designed to benefit both freelancers and agencies.
Turning an early idea into a working platform
Casey approached me with a clear vision and a small number of rough wireframes.
As a freelancer herself, she had experienced both the strengths and frustrations of agency relationships and wanted to create a more transparent way for freelancers to share their experiences.
The challenge was to turn this initial concept into a clear, credible and easy-to-use platform that felt useful rather than confrontational.
Creating a brand for both sides of the industry
The Freelance Circle needed to appeal to two different audiences: freelancers looking for honest information and agencies wanting to improve how they worked with independent talent.
I developed a vibrant and approachable identity that felt contemporary, direct and community-led. The coral-led palette gave the platform energy, while the clean typography and simple layouts helped the service feel credible and straightforward.
The brand needed enough personality to stand out within the creative industry without making the review experience feel overly informal.
Designing the agency search experience
A core part of the platform was helping freelancers find and assess agencies before accepting future work.
I designed a searchable directory where agencies could be organised and filtered by category. Each agency had its own profile containing an overall rating, category information and structured feedback from previous freelancers.
The layouts were designed to make the most useful information visible quickly, allowing users to compare experiences without reading through long, unstructured comments.
Creating a structured review system
The review process needed to capture practical information that freelancers genuinely cared about.
Users could leave anonymous star ratings across questions such as:
- Were you paid on time?
- Was the briefing clear and concise?
- How would you rate the agency culture?
- How effective was the onboarding process?
- How well was the freelancer managed?
Reviewers could also provide written feedback, giving agencies more detailed insight into what worked well and what could be improved.
Protecting freelancer anonymity
Anonymity was central to the concept.
Freelancers needed to feel comfortable sharing honest experiences without worrying that their identity would be publicly attached to the review.
The interface clearly explained how feedback would be handled and reassured users that their personal details would not appear online. This helped create trust at a key point in the review journey.
Creating value for agencies
The platform was not designed simply as a place to criticise agencies.
The review structure gave agencies practical feedback on their freelance processes, including briefing, communication, onboarding, payment and workplace culture.
This meant the platform could help agencies identify recurring issues, improve their freelance programmes and create smoother working relationships that saved time and supported better creative outcomes.
Developing the full digital product
I designed and developed the platform as a custom WordPress website, translating Casey’s initial sketches into a complete responsive experience.
The build included:
- agency search and filtering
- individual agency profiles
- anonymous review submission
- multi-question star ratings
- written feedback fields
- categorisation and average scores
- responsive layouts for mobile and desktop
- editable content and agency management tools
The platform needed to feel simple for users while managing a more complex system behind the scenes.
Designing for mobile use
The review and search journeys were designed to work particularly well on mobile.
Forms were broken into clear sections with large fields, simple rating controls and prominent calls to action. Agency profiles were reorganised for smaller screens so ratings and important information remained easy to scan.
This was especially important for freelancers who might use the platform while travelling between projects or researching an agency before accepting work.
The result
The Freelance Circle launched as a clear and purposeful platform that gave freelancers a structured way to share their experiences and make more informed decisions about future opportunities.
It also provided agencies with direct feedback that could help them improve freelancer onboarding, communication and working processes.
The project brought together branding, UX, product design and custom WordPress development to turn an early-stage idea into a complete digital service.
Project note: The Freelance Circle ran for a number of years but is no longer active, but the case study reflects the original platform, brand and review experience created for its launch.
Client feedback
“Sofi helped bring to life my venture The Freelance Circle in 2017. I’ve worked with and met many web designers in my time, and she’s by far one of the best.
She filled me with confidence, completed the project to an excellent standard and went above and beyond to guide me through WordPress afterwards, as well as answer any additional questions I had.”
Casey Bird, The Freelance Circle
Services
- Brand identity design
- Logo and visual direction
- Product and UX design
- Wireframe development
- Website design
- Responsive web development
- Custom WordPress development
- Agency search and filtering
- Anonymous review system
- Rating and feedback forms
- Content-management tools
- WordPress training
Have an idea for a digital platform but need help turning it into something real?
I help founders develop early concepts into clear, engaging brands and custom WordPress experiences with the structure and functionality needed to launch.
