Saving your sanity in the Digital Design industry
Or, how to keep your cool and carry on when you are being used!
Okay, today's topic is a bit tough, as it is a very personal one for me. I have been abused so many times as a digital designer, I can’t even keep count. And this will never cease, people are so used to getting design solutions for free. They consider this as a hobby, one we do in our spare time, we are still human and need to care for our loved ones and ourselves. Of course we know that, but why is it that so many people consider asking for a free logo or flyer, such a harmless and normal thing to ask for. Let’s talk about that!
In our time and age, there is little to do to prevent people of coming up to us and asking free solutions to their business ideas as the damage has already been done, so to say. The “Free pitch to win” model has been soaked into the conscious of most people and they think it’s the regular way to go. I have touched upon the subject in one of my blog posts, however I want to talk about dealing with this phenomenon, rather than look at why or when it happens. Because it will happen, and when it does we need to be prepared to deal with it, and keep our cool!
The first thing we need to understand is that people are usually uncertain on how to approach us and usually don’t mean they want us to work for free when they say they want something designed for them. The responsibility falls solely on us how the conversation goes from this point on. We, as practitioners of our craft need to exhilarate confidence. No one will order a suit from an uncertain tailor, you will wear that suit or dress and represent yourself after all! It is the same with a logo. If you have talent and want to show it, be confident (I am not going to touch upon the topic of confidence with nothing to show, just yet) Confidence is the first thing that will land us a paying job.
The next step is how you tackle the situation, based on previous experience. If you are a designer like me, who has developed in an environment where being a graphic designer is as useful in society as being someone who calls upon the water in the river to flow, you get treated like a hobbyist, who has to do work for free and pay to get exposure. Believe me, this is a circle that is unbreakable. So in this case, what you need to do is be firm in your policy, never mind if you are a freelancer or have your own company, stand by your own policy, you will be surprised how people react when something is “policy” and we need to make sure that working for free is not ours!
After showing confidence and standing by your work principles or policies, what do we do to “survive” a potential client who is trying to get free work out of us. At this point, believe me on this one, the shaken one is the person who approached us and not us, he is no longer in control of the conversation and has lost footing. This is where we are responsible to “stay cool”. By doing this we assert our position as the professional and we lay the terms on witch the conversation will continue. If the person is a serious client with an actual intention of doing business, they will recognise us as a serious practitioner of craft and a secure investment.
In the end it all boils down to the way we act. Never let people walk on top of you, stand tall.
Thank you for reading, please leave a ❤ or a comment below and come back for more every Tuesday and Thursday.
/Mike
