8 min read

Getting to know - Brent Dickens

Written by

Aiman Kabetenova

Published on

September 13, 2022

Tell us a bit about yourself, what's your background?

Hi, I’m Brent Dickens and I run a boutique brand and web design studio named Pola Design. The name comes from my kids Paxton and Lola plus it’s a UX design term ‘Principle of Least Astonishment’ which is handy.

I’ve been working in the design industry for over 15 years mostly in the web and UX design space.

Tell us about your journey as a freelancer.

I was a late starter in the design world. After high school I spent many years in the snowboard and skateboarding scene working part time jobs to keep it all going. After that I went to Massey design school in Wellington for four years to get my Design degree with honors. From there I was lucky to get work with many of the big design agencies in Wellington which gave me plenty of experience working on large projects for Government, corporates and non-profits. We’re talking Government departments, telcos, insurance and more.

It’s tough work and long hours so once I had kids I needed to change gear. That's when I started Pola which was a big change. You go from good money but no time to flexible hours and not much cash. It’s great now though, no regrets!

Pola is part of an agency collective called Mo-co which is also a co-sharing space.. Basically we’re all small business owners with different skills and we join forces on projects to create the ultimate team for a project. It’s the ultimate modern business model.

What is the personal or freelance project you are most proud of? Why?

Project company: Envelope Engineering

Project name: Envelope Engineering website redesign & build

Platform: Squarespace with custom code

Envelope engineering are a large engineering company with offices in Wellington, Auckland, Tauranga and Scotland. They have a vibrant exciting brand and are well outside the norm for their industry, they definitely don’t fit the box.

I loved this project as they were really keen to create a site that was unique, exciting and really reflected their brand. I worked closely with the General Manager Mel. She was totally committed to the project and a big influence on the final site. It is great to work with a client who is really passionate about their business.

We used bold typography, illustrations, strong brand colour palette and some really cool custom coding for the menu and team pages.

We do updates on a monthly basis to keep the site fresh.

What would you say is the most rewarding part of being a freelancer?

Being able to dictate what you spend your time on and when. You dictate the terms. It works perfectly for me as I get to do a lot with my kids plus fitness and I get a better life balance.
It’s a challenge and I love it.

What is the most challenging part of running a freelancing business?

For me it is all the juggling. You have to do sales, marketing project management, design and everything else. Finding the right tools and systems is essential.

What has worked best for you when it comes to finding new clients?

Most of my clients come from referrals, ad words and The Unicorn Factory so I focus on those big time! For referrals I’m a big believer in over delivering for clients in every way so they’re happy to refer me. Ad words I focus on a few niches like Squarespace and Website design packages which works well.

What advice would you give anyone wanting to start freelancing?

Find a niche to work in. Aim to be the best in that space and always solve your customers problems. Give them ideas and solutions that they didn’t expect, this will delight them and demonstrate your expertise knack for creative problem solving. I focus a lot of energy on Squarespace and knowing how to design great, custom Squarespace sites. It work well and it means I don’t have to compete with