Doing a job for free?
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- bainbridge
I read about designers doing work for small theaters or friends bands for free.
How often do the designers on here do small jobs for free? And at what point do you decide the person is just being cheap? If it's not for family or for fun, maybe?
- pango0
It is completely up to you. No set rules.
If it's for friends and it doesn't take up too much of my time i wouldn't mind doing it for free.
It's it's just a stranger who's not related to any sort of none profit or anything i'd tell him to fuck off.
My family has stopped asking me to do free stop for them because they know I'll be bitching about it for a few months.
- SlashPeckham0
Do it if you can have autonomy and final say over the creative direction of the project - you could turn this into an opportunity to do something interesting.
Show your client a few ideas and if they like the way things are going then carry on... otherwise run away - there is nothing worse than a high maintenance cheap client getting you to execute something you're not comfortable with
- fadein110
timeline
- animatedgif0
90% of the time it's just not worth the hassle, even with friends.
Would they do work for you for free? In most cases the answer is no so why should you.
- pango0
^ ya what they said.
and usually I do free work for people who has thing I want in the future. some times they know people I'd like to know. I use it as a networking tool.
but generally small project only.
- hellobotto0
I regularly donate time/ability to clients/causes. In the past, I've also discounted rates for companies/organizations who were just starting out and/or could offer back something that I determined has value to me and/or my business interests.
In both cases, I established a threshold of time/talent. Once the threshold was crossed the project would be wound down. By doing this, you won't ever see the person as being "cheap" because you've taken measures to protect yourself.
Non-paying clients are just like paying clients in that they both reside on one's schedule. If someone can afford to allow non-paying clients to consume the majority of that schedule because their paying clients demand little time for large reward, then brilliant. But if those same non-paying clients are allowed to negatively impact a balance sheet at each month's end, then the issue might not be "cheap clients." It may the designer who allowed their P&L to go upside-down.
- d_rek0
If it's not for family/fun then it's not for free.
The work I do for friends' bands is infrequent at best and usually takes up less than a full-working day of my time when all is said and done (maybe a band logo + poster).
Anything else that's for a legitimate business enterprise needs to be paid for.
- vaxorcist0
years ago, I worked for a smart creative agency that did some pro bono work. It seemed our criteria for choosing a pro bono client was...
1. Creative freedom and "can we win an award with this?"
(we did win some Cannes awards for pro bono work)2. If it's a nonprofit, is there a board of directors who we might meet after showing some work that will get us other clients through connection networking?
3. is it something bizarre and amazing ..can we can use it as a feather in our cap to get other business and massive PR, something like... "bollywood bungee jumping"
4. Can we do it in a day or so? in between other work? only a small number of meetings? only ONE decision maker who is a very good friend willing to let us do whatever we want?
- monospaced0
Girlfriend was putting together a "spa" day at her work for the assistants at her company and asked me to put together a flyer/email invitation. I considered just tossing in a warped, low-res, watermarked photo of some bamboo and using Papyrus to create it (because that's what people like this actually expect), but instead I "designed" it really nice. I even did it in PowerPoint because that's what they understand and use. I did it for free because, what the hell, what's an hour for some design good, right?
Three picky revisions later I send it over, done. They started changing it, they didn't understand it and ended up rejecting it altogether. No joke, they ended up using a stretched photo of bamboo and Papyrus. I don't even know why I bother if I'm not getting paid.
- Come on, pics of your original design. We all wanna see! Name and shamepig
- the first conversation has to be "if I work for free, I have total creative FREEDOM, NO REVISIONS":... good luck!vaxorcist
- LOL, it was my girlfriend, and I DID say that, but even then...monospaced
- Don't make fun, I was just fucking around in PPT. Mine and theirs:
http://www.benwexlar…
http://www.benwexlar…monospaced - Theirs:
http://f.cl.ly/items…monospaced - "Put a bird on it!"monospaced
- oh shit - they're making bath salts!bulletfactory
- hehehe, right?monospaced
- ideaist0
FREElance
- SimonFFM0
If they promise, it'll be a very very big thing and will give you a lot of follow up work... don't do it.
- mekk0
'free' means no money, but I always want something in return for my work.
And I never, really NEVER work for friends or family, or their friends etc. there is always too much room for a lot of trouble I don't want.
- set0
New rule:
Never
- scarabin0
if it's something you believe in i don't see any issue with lending your skills to the cause as long as you don't give the impression that your work isn't valuable.
i designed an album cover for a rising DJ i dig, and a logo for another. both knew it was a gift and understand its value
- dibec0
no.
- qTime0
The problem is the more people work for free the more clients will expect it.
Basically as someone mentioned above, if you work for free you should demand total control.
- monospaced0
I do wedding invitations for free for my closest friends, but they appreciate what they're getting and they try (tentatively) to respect that I'm doing them a favor and that my services are, in fact, their wedding gift. Payment comes in gratitude from their guests and their families.
- moldero0
when I have down time (not getting paid)
Ill do shit for free, but only for stuff I like to do and it has to be cool and it has to be my concept, and im not taking direction from no mother fucker.
paid work usually sucks, but its money, and we have to survive financially, but I need a creativity fix, this is 1/2 the reason I got into this biz.
- cannonball19780
The only three reasons you would work for free is:
A) You want to see someone else's something a certain way really bad.
B) You still need to prove to other people you can work for other people.
C) For some illogical reason it makes you feel like a good person.