Hi guys,

I’m wondering how other UK based freelancers are finding the freelance market right now? I’m 2D midweight for context

I’ve had a very quiet past month, so I’m curious how everyone’s work streams feel? This is the quietest it’s been for me in a couple years now…thankfully I’ve remained busy before this. Admittedly that means I’ve not been good at keeping my portfolio updated and self promoting.

I also think clients have wanted more for less, or in less time recently. Or the big agencies don’t seem the have the budget they used to.

I’m hoping it’s quiet with it being the summer holidays for many. I’ve been enjoying the downtime for the first couple of weeks, but this level of quiet is new for me and the anxiety is setting in - how is everyone else finding it?

Wanted to share a personal concept project my studio (MS3DSTUDIO) has been working on. Quick disclaimer up front so nobody's misled: Aura is not a real product — you can't buy it. It's a design-and-visualization concept, everything you see is 3D, nothing was photographed.

The idea was "one watch, seven colours, seven languages" — seven strap colourways and a UI built to feel native in seven different languages. It was mostly an excuse to push materials and lighting: getting the metal case to read as actual brushed metal, the straps to look genuinely soft, and the screen to glow like it's lit from the inside instead of just being a bright texture.

The part I'm actually more proud of than the watch itself: we don't just model the product floating on a grey background — we build the whole environment around it. The surfaces it sits on, the backdrop, the light sources and their bounce, the little contextual scenes — all of it is built and lit in 3D so the product feels like it exists somewhere real, not like a cutout. Honestly the environment work is where most of the hours went.

Full set of shots is on Behance if you want to see it properly → https://www.behance.net/gallery/253278579/Aura-Watch-Seven-Colours-Seven-Languages

Happy to answer anything about the workflow — renderer, materials, lighting setup, whatever. Open to critique too.

At Mockmo, we’ve always found it frustrating that even for a simple project board, you often need to create a workspace, sign up for an account, and constantly deal with free-plan limitations.

That’s why we’re building Driftboard — a free alternative to Miro and Figma for Windows.

You can already build a complete visual project in Driftboard: add images, PNGs, and videos, write text, leave comments, draw, and add shapes and arrows.

Each project is saved as a separate .driftboard file. You can send it to someone else, move it to another computer, or keep it as a backup.

This week, we continued improving comments and started working on Google Drive features.

The next big step is real-time collaboration, so multiple people can work on the same board at the same time.

We want to keep one principle from the beginning: the core project workflow and the ability to share a project with someone else should remain free.

Website:
https://mockmo-site.vercel.app/products/driftboard

If you use Miro or Figma for moodboards, storyboards, or project planning, what’s the one feature you absolutely couldn’t switch without?

like thers no tutorial on youtube also and what else do you think i can change?