My 4 streams of income as an architectural designer (passive and active) 

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The need for side hustles signifies that the profession on the whole is underpaid and understimulated.

4th year architecture student here! This is a God-send as I have been working to support myself through school, thanks for this, it's very encouraging! Keep up the great work.

For me, the best decision I could make was starting my own office. It was incredibly hard and dissipating at first, but after a year I started having better jobs and clients, and started earning more to. The only problem is that I don't hace any free time hahaha

I’m an Arch. Designer and have been on this path since 2008. I’ve been solo full time now for 7 years now. I also have pursued web/graphic design and photo/video work alongside my design work. My wife also runs a family owned printing and graphics shop (vinyl decals and wraps, plans, card stock items like business cards, banners, etc.) and it compliments my work very well. None of it is easy by any means or super profitable (sometimes it can be) but we enjoy it. We most recently purchased our first commercial investment property as well (small storage facility) and are always working on growing and living debt free. With that “semi retired” freedom also comes sacrifice.

This was suggested on my feed and all I can say is wow. You nailed it. As a full time intern architect right now, I am definitely feeling the creative stimuli lack. For my thesis I started this youtube channel and to showcase a design-build project. Since then it's turned into a side hussle, one that I want to grow and put more time in. Thank you for bringing to light all the different streams of "expertise" architecture schools teach as well as their shortfalls. This hit home. Glad to have found your channel, subscribed!

Wow this video was very inspiring. Love how clear and motivating you are. Thank you for sharing those tips !

Great Video Henry, I started taking a similar path, I decided finishing architecture school at this point wasn’t worth my time/ money. I’m currently working full time at an Architecture firm but do freelance drafting on the side and it has been great for me. Tried the Fiverr route originally but like your archviz, found it hard to compete with people who would draw plans for minimum wage. Love the idea to make prints into a passive income! I’ve always been a good illustrator but never thought of actually making it a source of income. Will have to see if it takes me anywhere… Thanks again for such an informative video!

Hey Henry! Thanks for the video! I’ve been toying with different side hustles on the side like yourself and you’ve encouraged me to try new things. Great video man and awesome drawings! 👍

Really appreciate you being so open. I have had a side hustle for years providing residential architectural design. It's not for everyone one has to develop some serious discipline and focus. I like many here are always seeking ways to decrease stress and streamline our processes. Nonetheless, I have found that vetting great people to support you in the beginning was my greatest challenge. Again, really appreciate you sharing your experiences and that there are many fulfilling opportunities as designers we can fill.

Nice to hear your life/work history and I am glad youre happy and doing well, Henry. I am an architect from Brazil. Graduated in 2004 and worked for 9 and 1/2 years for 3 firms (including 2 years in New York). Since 2013 I have my own practice here in São Paulo, a very small one, with two architects helping me out. Only now in 2022 I am starting to really have an income which I finaly think is decent. I almost gave up two times in the past years. Our profession takes a LOT OF pacience. This is key for somene willing to enter an architecture school to keep in mind.

Only thing I am nervous about after graduating, is the fact I won’t be able to show/use my creative ideas… I just feel for 6-7 years of uni, we should be on a very good wage!

This is super inspiring! Thanks for sharing your talents

So inspiring , been running around trying to find time to do other things till u point out that maybe my work life for 48/week making it hard to do other side things i take interest in.

I am a landscape architecture student who is close to graduating. This was a very helpful video! I often find my favorite part of the design process is 3d modeling and sketching/drawing ideas and illustrations on photoshop and rhino. This gives me hope that I can not only continue these pursuits, but can make extra money off of them. Thanks!

You're an inspiration! You've given me lots to think about this weekend...

Great video! Thank you Henry!

This is such a thoughtfully presented video. Really inspiring for others on a similar journey. Thanks for sharing your story!

Great video - appreciated mate 👍🏼

I think it would be very valuable to also put in perspective the contacts/networking you developed to get opportunities/advantages. Someone with the same skills in a vacuum would not be able to launch the same side hustles; creating opportunities through interactions [jobs, emails, coffee meeting, friends/family connections] is really good context to decide if reducing a secure job is a good plan. A video on how you developed your network would really help people understand how to make a social framework for supporting their decisions😊 i’m currently in a foreign country (norway) and it’s a struggle to visualize my side hustle. Thanks for considering my comment!!!!

Thank you Henry. Would love to try the sketching.

This is a gem, and this is one of several new paths forward for us. Thank you man.

This is a great idea it gives me something to think about. Thanks 😊

Thank you brother! Your insight is super helpful and encouraging. Praying extra prosperity for you and your family!

Dude... most helpful and encouraging video I've seen, many good info and ideas, architecture and design related

I saw a video where another architect drew his own grisaille mural over a weekend and was so casual about this insane level of skill. If only more people knew what architects could do and how multi talented you are!

Thank you for sharing. It is such a shame to hear that this beautiful profession is so underrated in the USA.

Henry, it's so inspiring to see your growth! Love the content and aesthetic of your videos ^_^ !! Love seeing fellow Claudies flourish in the arts!

Side hustles (that is an expression that I would not have heard when I was your age) provide income but also keep your brain in a satisfied realm. They are a kind of emotional and creative safety net. I've been freelance (full time photographer) for 22 years now and so has my partner (full time set designer and prop stylist). I worked in publishing full time and my partner was a designer at an architectural firm before quitting full time corporate jobs ). You need to feel comfortable with knowing your income might be erratic. However, if you have skills that set you apart from your industry peers you can generate a good income. I probably tripled my income and and my partner maybe made 4 times as much. We still have side projects---we run a rental photo studio, a prop house, I make porcelain wheel thrown ceramics and we also have a few rental properties. All basically the fruits of side hustles that became full time endeavors. Your different ways of being creative and making income give you a broader view of job potentiality and most likely in a year or two you might find yourself pursuing one of these "side" hustles because it brings you more satisfaction and money.

such an inspiration ! thank you

Wonderful, important video! Thank you’

Architecture and landscape architecture jobs are definitely undervalued. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you much for sharing your journey, experience and the number of opportunities available.

I am loving the video already!!

Great Job Henry. Thanks Again

30 is definitely young!😃 And your video is so inspiring! Thanks for sharing Henry. I was bored in China and now a junior architect in Switzerland. I will try your ideas out, and see if something would work out.

Thank you! You're inspiring 🌼

Very nice. Thanks you for sharing!

This is so inspiring! I’m an engineer and I love drawing and painting, I’ll keep at it to make it a great side hustle. I’ve kind of lost my passions during school and I’ve been slowly getting back into it

The last few mins are the most important 🙌 👌

i want to especially thank you for this video. It answered all my questions i had regarding what to do as side hustles as i was really lost. Hats off to you, Very inspirational ... :)

You sealed the deal for me to get an iPad. Love your work

Thank you so much, this video was exactly what i needed as an architecture student

Great content and great advices, thank you Henry

Awesome video, Henry. I love your channel

Mmm kay, you're just a phenomenal artist. ❤

thank you for sharing!

Giving me a lot to think about. I graduated my architecture degree and have found a job in a building design firm as a building designer. Today really hit hard in realising that what I'm doing is not architecture and I was more or less told that I will not be making architecture in this job. I'd like to apply more of the skills I've learnt from my study partly to make more money, part not feel like I've wasted my time studying architecture and partly to keep developing a folio and series of ideas to try and make an impact on the built environment. I really need to look at what I was good at during my study and what I enjoy and develop the skills more. I'm glad to know it's possible. I'm going to look into rendering I think

Great video! Thanks a lot

Thank you Henry! Really needed this video. You earned yourself a subscriber ;)

I'm 31, switching to interior design for the past 1.5 years, and thrilled, but money is serious shit. I'm currently an intern at an architectural studio (it took already a long way to be there) but I obviously couldn't make the same money as my previous job (business). it's hard to crack the way into doing what you love and be able to live with it comfortably. Thinking about going back to business while finding ways to practice design, but time is limited. what a headache! thanks for your sharing.

You’re a hero, man… I too am so dissapointed with how architecture profession is so underpaid. In a way, I understand why that is…but a tech person with less years in university than me has 3-4 times my salary when he begins…not to mention the possibility for growth in the field. And architecture is a difficult profession as well…

Stunning drawings 😍

This video was great. Thanks!

Thanks for producing that online piece. It was well put together, and has made me think that it was about time I made more of an effort to earn online. Not sure how as yet, but it was inspiring. Thanks!

Yes, I'm about to finish up school and have an etsy store and daytrade the futures market haha. Preparing myself ahead of time!

thank you really informative and helpful!

Well done Henry. I wish I did when I was a young architect.

I really really want to be like you, Thanks for shearing.

Really enjoyed listening to your skills and am very impressed by your sketches. Details are so well proportioned. I am a B.Arch grad and completed a B.A. in asian languages simultaneously. It was the latter that led me away from studio work to field work when I apprenticed as a garden constructor in Japan for 5 years. Today I yearn to do more design/build projects in residential architecture as the combination of home and nature is regaining popularity, especially in rural places.

I'm a professional engineer with 15+ yrs experience and a MASc in Sustainable engineering, but I'm contemplating going back to do architectural technology to start my own design firm. I'm tired of having ideas and expertise that clients don't use to actually do great things! Love the advice, very practical and real. I'm trying to claw my way into the hands-on side to get things built, but I may consider Canadian Arch Tech'y programs that bridge into an accredited MArch program to complete an architecture degree (ideally with some added benefit such as landscape or interior design capability being gained for the extra time and $). I have a lot of side skills to develop, business, marketing, photo/videography etc. Thanks!

Food for thought! Loving the channel. Almost went the Architect route but ended up in structural engineering. Love the content nonetheless.

This is great! Also your renders are amazing! If you made render tutorial video’s I would definitely watch those.

Super talented dude

Hi Henry, Its a bless stumbling upon your channel! We met at one point in naoshima, good to see you are still in the architecture discipline Bay Area. We should reconnect some time!

Yeah, arch viz used to be a great side hustle. Started doing it while still in college and after a couple years found enough recurring clients that I was making an extra $2k a month from only 4-5 days of work. Was never able to find enough clients to justify doing it full time, so I stopped, but as a college student it was a great way to pay rent.

Omg i can so relate, the expectation vs reality did slap me to horror of real life work. Especially the pay! 😮‍💨 Been practicing for years already and i’m thinking of shifting to a new career since I don’t really have any fulfillment yet on the job unlike the one that i’d imagine to be leading or managing lol and the pay! Yes the pay is a major letdown too, since we’re a thinking workforce yet the pay doesn’t match the stress we have. And maybe because I keep moving to different countries that I really hate starting from scratch again but oh well.. now i’m thinking of staying when I stumbled upon this… so maybe it’s the sidelines that will make it work instead of the main job 😐🤐🤭

Great video content! I just discovered you through a recommended video and quickly subscribed.

I really enjoy watching this video and reading the comments given by others who have side hustles and are doing well for themselves. I am interested and just started out on Etsy.

So pleased that I stumbled upon this particular video 👏

Yes. 30 is still young!

I just want to learn this skill for my Home Remodeling Business

Very honest thank you!

Great video topic. Years ago I worked as a director of leasing in a luxury high rise in NYC. Three young ladies rented a 1BR there and put up temp walls to make it accommodate three. All three were recent graduates of Cornell architecture school, and all three subsequently left the profession for more money in other fields. I saw it essentially as an artistic field, which like other artistic fields has a high barrier to entry, and initially low pay with few making it to the top. Seems unfair for such a rigorous academic endeavor.

从这个视频中开阔了我的视野，棒棒哒👍

I'm a current architectural student and the money is the only thing that makes me nervous about it. Money doesn't mean everything to me and I love the work but school is expensive and paying off a 5 or 6 year degree on a relatively small income for that time frame makes me more and more worried after each semester.

SIDE HUSTLE LIFE! 🤘

I like that you save time for other creative hobbies and not for stupid exotic vacations.

Great video, just an FYI for something that I have seen happen to others. When showing orders you have received, make sure you blur out their details :)

I am an odd case where I work almost full time at a firm and do part-time uni because I have support myself. This can get tough financially and it’s easy to get discouraged and want to move away from architecture because of all the lucrative web based stuff and side hustle propaganda, but this video has really helped with my mind set! No need to chuck poor architecture down the drain.

Yes dear, 30 is still young. Wait till you hit 70!

Thank you brother for that good information may GOD BLESS YOU..Which softwares must a proffessional architect learn at least. I want to architecture as my career

From one architect to another thank you for this video. I'm at a point where an architectural job is not sufficient to support me

would be really great to see the percentage breakdown of all your side hustles! so we know what has been major for you

I am in similar situation. But I choose to focus in architecture for side hustle as well. simply because there are so much to learn in architecture. I would rather spending the spare time perfecting the craft. True about the low income, I am in Australia, most of my friends working in other professional jobs earns at least double. They have all the spare times after working hours to themselves. They progress much faster in the hobbies such as tennis, surfing etc because they get to practice more while I have to work in the second job.

Honestly your hobbies paid you off

Freelancer software engineer. Handling 2 clients now. Earned entire years salary in 3 months.

This content is super inspiring! 🔥 It just confirmed my goals are truly attainable hehe! God Bles you all! 🙏❤️🙌

Hi Henry Great video. Just subscribed. I’m an interior designer with my own business in Sydney. $ not too bad. I have been looking into other opportunities using my skills like rendering. I think Fiver has really killed opportunities for designers in western countries - we just can’t compete with people o/s willing to work for (relative) peanuts. Such a shame architecture and interior design rarely attract pay which is commensurate with the training and creativity required. Looking forward to checking out more of your videos.

Great I have also done this!

Awesome. I need this. Im running around like a headless chicken. I do this for a hobby at the moment and looking to make it a revenue stream. What are the best places to market my designs?

I am pretty good at sketching and watercolours, time to get into business!

Hi Henry, thank you for this helpful content, I got a lot of value from it. I would love to know more about your Etsy store, how you set it up, how you marketed it, printing and fulfilling.

Hi Henry! Love your work and thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! Would you mind telling me what model Cannon printer you use in the video? Thanks so much!

Hi Henry we r in same business I am architect living in Bangkok Your content open my eye and imagination

Eventually your side hustles will be your main source of income. Being your own boss is priceless.

nice video Henry! felt identified lol

I wanted to become an architect, but couldn’t afford the schooling..money or time as I went back to school when I was 50. Instead, became a structural drafter, and on to millwork drafting. After doing freelance work to gain experience, I saw how little money was made in architecture, and I’m glad I didn’t go that route. What has opened up possibilities though, was doing more freelance millwork design. It gives me freedom to get creative, and a fair bit of extra income. I’m still exploring more possibilities though, and seeing your video is getting me thinking. Thanks and subscribed.

This is such valuable information and i’m so glad you’re sharing this. What editing software do you use and what are good resources for learning more about photography/cinematography/editing. Thank you in advance!

Thanks for the motivation to start my side hustle. Also GO BIG RED AAP!! What printer do you use to print your linework drawings?