FreeLAncer anyone?
Kiran.fyi x The Quiet Life: The hat for LA freelancers.
Months ago, my buddy Andy and I started talking about the possibility of doing a product together for his shop (The Quiet Life) after Sunday pickup softball (our version of church).
He usually approached products from a design perspective, but was open to the idea of brainstorming with me.
We had lots of ideas, but agreed that we should go with what we feel like had the most potential as something people might actually buy/wear. And hadn’t been done before.
The idea: FreeLAnce
At the beginning of the year, I found myself out of a once-secure corporate gig with a blank slate of what to do next. I followed the advice of a Holstee poster in my studio that reads “Just keep making” and came up with a concept that hits home for many Angelenos.
Yes, it was an iteration of a larger trend of using the Dodgers word mark within other phrases, but much to our delight, we couldn’t find anyone doing it yet.
It seemed like the perfect nod to the Los Angeles creative industry, which for better or worse is made up of a helluva lot of individuals freelancing their dreams. My goal is that it sparks a few new conversations and opportunities.
🧢 Skip the rest and let me see it »
The Process
Idea in hand, we did what any creatives do in 2026. We made a Figma board to prototype.
After exploring different combinations of typefaces with the LA word mark, we started to realize how important readability and scan-ability would be. We wanted people to “get” it right away. Our friends also gave us some good feedback that FreeLAnce made them wonder who Lance was (Lance Armstrong?). Even though that’s a dated reference, it was good to know what is still lodged in people’s memories. We decided to change it to FreeLAncer to make the concept more clear.
In the meantime, we played around with messaging that could potentially be used for product pages, social media, or media pitches.
With the design getting closer, it was also time to think about what kind of hat(s) we wanted to use. Our buddy Jeff suggested taking a look at this place Decky in the LA Fashion District because they had a massive selection. They sure did.
This place is a merch paradise.
More deliberation over the hats.
After getting to a consensus on what hats to use, we ordered samples of the hats and made the prototype a little more real.
We then ordered the blanks and sent them to Andy’s embroidery guys for test sew.
Closer, but not quite right.
We scaled down the design and made a few minor design tweaks.
Finally, the hats went to a different vendor that stitches on custom Quiet Life labels and gives the product a more premium feel.
We think they came out great and are excited they are now available for purchase at The Quiet Life Mini-Mart in LA or online, in snapback and dat hat styles.
🧢 It’s a limited run, so get yours before they’re gone🧢