What is your name?
Rachael Burns
What is your occupation?
Freelance Interactive Media Developer
Where do you live and work?
Manchester, UK
Can you tell us about yourself?
I’m 28, born and bred in Manchester. Been working in the Leisure Heritage/Museum industry making touchscreen software for about 8 years. I adore taking photos, playing around with electronics, combining all of those to create some madcap art projects.
How did you get into freelancing?
By accident really. I got made redundant by my employer and discovered quickly there weren’t many options up north for this particular line of work. I decided to go it alone, and havent looked back since.
Why do you love freelancing?
The ability to choose your projects, to work with many different people in various different places around the globe. Collaborating and learning from the people you work with and building up a lovely selection of contacts who often turn into good friends.
What is your proudest career moment?
The opening of Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. I solely completed the programming work on all of the interactive kiosks in the museum, 15 in total, and to see the public using them was an absolute joy.
Who if anyone has influenced your work?
I’m really intersted in the work of United Visual Artists, and infact anyone that uses analogue and digital means to interact with the space and the visitor. Recently I’ve really enjoyed scouring The Creators Project for motivation, rather than inspiration. The get up and go these people have is incredible to follow. Also not forgetting Elliot Woods from Kimchi & Chips, he’s a down right lovely chap and he let me mess about with his laser lights installation once. Mainly though, my inspiration is the user I’m making software for, often I end up making some wonderful kids games and learning what makes a child tick is a hoot! I’m a big kid myself.
If you could give someone just starting out one piece of advice, what would it be?
SAVE TAX MONEY.
What is hardest thing about freelancing today?
Getting paid on time.
What do you think the future holds for freelancers?
More of the same, more collaborations, increased travel opportunities, a plethora of unpaid invoices and plenty of coffee.
Tell us something about yourself that people wouldn’t expect?
My dad was in the Guinness book of records for worlds fastest wheelie, and he’ll tell you himself that I’m nowhere near as cool as him, but thought I could be cool by association…oh yeah, he also punched Mick Hucknall in the face when they were kids…. Although I never knew whether he was telling the truth or not.
If you would like to learn more about Rachaels' work have a look at her website or catch her on Twitter.