/Big Question/ Give it away
01/07/2009 | Filed under Discover > Big Question
Is it ever okay for web designers to work for free?
Software specialist
Siim Vips
Modera
In my experience, whether or not it’s okay to do free work is largely related to the size of the project, the number of decisions involved and importantly the number of decision makers.
For large projects it is likely that spec work – including wireframing and deep analytical documentation – is inevitable. For this to be done properly and to a high standard requires a budget to manage the internal production time and the materials used. I don’t believe that any creative person would be in favour of delivering production work without being paid, however, most in today’s marketplace there all too often seems to be no other way to reach a desired final result and manage the whole project from concept through to delivery without going through this process.
For companies with fewer decision makers looking to work with a similar sized creative design team (or a single designer), the process can be more organic and often be managed without detailed spec work. Since the brief in its entirety should be known at budgeting stage, then additional work on top should be minimal to non-existent.
With larger briefs, projects and the culture of pitches, the process is more complicated and at times unfair to all parties involved. A battle therefore ensues between new entrants to an industry and established providers that at times can be pitted against each other where budget can perhaps outweigh talent – which doesn’t reap the best result for all concerned, including the client.
More challenging times brings the need to shave budgets from everywhere, but at what cost when the provider that is chosen can have such an influential impact upon a brand?
Siim Vips is founder and CEO of Modera
Creative guru
Marc Peter
on-IDLE
I am definitely a no-spec advocate. For younger designers it may give a chance, but it devalues the work of professional designers and the benefit their experience brings to a project. In most free spec cases, design is seen in isolation e.g. a logo for x, but design is an integral part of the communication process. It’s not the competition that I object to; it’s the expectation that it’s ok to demand free work.
I give my free time to projects that need it such as a charity or a young start-up, on a long-term relationship, mentoring or barter basis, not commercial businesses who simply want a bargain for their design buck.
Marc Peter is the creative director of on-IDLE
Marketing guru
Gary Reid
Nude Design
It’s a sensitive argument. Ultimately as a business proposition I think it’s wrong that creatives should be asked to work for free. Would you ask an Accountant or a Lawyer to set out your annual accounts or defence strategy before you engage them to work for you, so you can see if you like the look of it? No, they would laugh at you! Yet there is the question of how you can truly understand a business’s problems without working with them to some degree at a strategic level.
But in an undervalued and over populated market like the design industry it has become an obstacle and is now the expected norm, especially for new agencies trying to enter an already very competitive marketplace. Another issue is that, as creative’s, the challenge of proving we are better than the rest is like a red rag to a bull so we have no problem attempting to prove it.
At Nude we have an approach to flexible working and a level of expertise that I hope would prove our worth without needing to go down the spec work route – our ideas are worth more than that! We have chosen to work in such a way so we are able to work on our terms, and working for nothing does not sit comfortably with me when I could be spending time with my kids.
I would want at least some level of financial commitment from a client before engaging in work for them.
Gary Reid is director of Nude Design
Interactive expert
Paul Dawson
Conchango
It’s never okay to work for free, but when pitching you always have to assume that the ‘other guys’ have done more than you ... so you always end up going the extra mile if you want to win the work.
The key thing is that the brands we’re pitching to don’t take advantage of this – and equally importantly, that they make their decision based on the people they want to work with, not the work they see on the day. There’s a big difference between work you do in isolation and work you do with the full collaboration of a client.
Paul heads the user experience, design, branding and digital strategy team at Conchango
Hosting specialist
Neil Barton
Hostway, UK
In most walks of professional life, there are times when people are expected to work for free. Most graduates today do work experience for free in order to secure a paid position later on, and any organisation working on a proposal for a potential customer will do so for free, with the expectation of payment if they win the contract. It is also not uncommon for up-and-coming photographers to pay for entry into competitions, with no expectation of winning.
However, whilst designers can, will and often need to work for free, they should certainly be careful about how often they do this. Working gratis with the expectation of a small prize is hardly a viable business model. Although it may be useful for aspiring designers to work for free in order to gain experience, the companies commissioning this should be aware that the work they receive may be of a lower quality than they’d get from a professional contracted designer.
After all, if you’re a professional designer, you’ll have paid for training to reach this standard. For this reason, you should be paid for your work. There will certainly be situations where it is appropriate to work for free, but there does need to be some kind of sensible consensus in the design community regarding how much work should be done on this basis, and with due consideration for the value of designers’ time.
Neil is the director of Hostway UK
Usability guru
Jonathan Lovatt-Young
Fortune Cookie
Work for free? Are you mad?
Having said that, if it’s a clear situation with a great brief that you’ll enjoy working on, then why not go for it? The experience you’ll get could be worth its weight in gold.
Jonathan is creative director at Fortune Cookie
Business specialist
Dickie Armour
Fibranet Services Ltd
Some businesses such as ad agencies have to pitch for work. One might argue that in most cases their portfolio and client testimonials should suffice, but it’s become the norm for agencies to do spec work for free in order to win the business.
Most web and graphic design companies won’t do spec work, and instead rely on previous work and case studies to win new customers.
I think there are times when it can be worth doing work for free. Perhaps a new web or graphic designer is trying to build up their portfolio and so offers free work; or if a company believes that by doing some spec work free, they will then secure a bigger project or future multiple projects from the same customer.
Having said that; we recently took on a new marketing and design agency, psLondon, and we didn’t expect them to do any work for free. Their portfolio was suitably impressive and I knew from meeting their CEO and creative director that they were right for us.
We’ve done many software development projects at Fibranet Services and we’ve never done spec work for free. In fact, only a very few website customers have asked to see some ideas of what we might do for them first.
They were told that as part of the process they would get a couple of designs to choose from but only after they had agreed to go with us and paid their 50 per cent upfront. Every single customer has been happy with this.
So in most cases I don’t think it’s necessary to work for free – but I can see why people might and why it’s sometimes worth its weight in gold.
Dickie Armour is general manager of Fibranet
Activist
Oxblood Ruffin
Hactivismo
The only time anyone should do any work on spec is if it serves one’s amusement. Kind of like going to the track and placing bets. One takes to the company of punters for the sheer fun of it. If you win, glorious. Losing isn’t much worse since it’s stupid to bet anything you can’t throw away easily. The moral? Don’t bet your efforts will get you anywhere unless you have nothing to lose.
Oxblood Ruffin is the founder of Hacktivismo, which campaigns for free speech on the internet
Ecommerce expert
Ben Dyer
Actinic
I know this isn’t going to make me popular, but let’s return to planet earth! Back here, our economy is in a mess, and the major banks, car manufactures, insurance companies, and many media companies are effectively bust. Money is tight, competition is fierce, cats and dogs are living together.
With that in mind, does it make sense to work for free to win business? Err, I think so. Spec work isn’t evil. It’s competition. Its supporters are not the devil incarnate, they are pragmatists. I totally understand the argument. Spec work can destroy the beautiful relationship between client and designer, but then so does going out of business. The rest of the world has had to learn to adapt, and work leaner and more efficiently. Why should it be different for designers?
Ben is director of product development at Actinic
Media & PR expert
Tim Gibbon
Elemental Communications
In a commercial context, if individuals or firms are offering services, they should be remunerated when a process and working relationship has been agreed (before and work starts); where all parties are clear about the aforementioned and what the outcomes may be. However, we operate in a broader global marketplace now, where the buyer yields much more control on where expertise and skills may be sought and at what price. This is natural, and choice is the buyers’ friend; however, there has been a growing culture across industries where expertise, experience, knowledge and skills are being bowled over and where budget dictates everything – at the expense of the supplier and sometimes the enquirer. A quote in the traditional sense doesn’t exist now and at times it seems activity, campaigns and/or projects need to be near enough completed before businesses part with funds.
A marketplace that experiences changes like more competition due to the recession has an even greater impact upon an industry that can cause an unhealthy environment for both suppliers and users. There shouldn’t be an industry where concepts, ideas and production work etc., can be parted with without paying individuals or businesses for them, but it does. New entrants looking to build their craft, clients, experience and a portfolio are likely to offer lower prices or offer free work which unfortunately is catch 22 of being new blood. However, when this situation is taken advantage of unfairly and even setting established providers and newcomers against each other is plain wrong. There are far too many throwaway requests and real projects falling by the wayside after much has been invested from the supplier side – which doesn’t serve to build confidence and respect on both sides.
With industries becoming more comfortable with this state of affairs, it is part and parcel of business, ramping up final costs that can be avoided with more open and transparent pre-working relationship practices.
Tim is director of Elemental Communications
Social media and comms expert
Rachel Hawkes
Elemental Communications
Whilst I’m by no means an expert in graphic design, in principle, I disagree with the concept and practice of free work.
In many creative industries, there is the expectation that creative ideas and sometimes content is handed over with the uncertainty of any business coming out of it. The pitch process, no matter the industry, needs to be seriously looked at. All too often clients are putting work out to tender, formally or informally, looking for ideas, to compare costs and / or to make sure they are on the right track.
Unfortunately, supplying said ideas for free is a necessary evil in winning work, but given how much time (and therefore money) goes into a pitch I look forward to acknowledging the work put in on their behalf. After all, if a client is really putting out a legitimate pitch and the work is of value to them, then they will narrow the process down a small manageable number of potential agencies and pay a contribution towards their time and expertise.
The only time that free work is understandable and therefore acceptable is for those new to the industry. You need a body of work to demonstrate your ability to do the job, and one way of doing that, unfortunately, is by offering your expertise for lower costs, or worst scenario free. This is not exclusive just to design.
Rachel Hawkes is an account director at Elemental
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Comments
NatalieMac / 01/07/2009 / 22:48 / http://purplepen.com
There's only one case where I'd say it was okay to work for free - donating your work to a non-profit agency that you believe in. You still need to track your time, because you can take a tax deduction just as you would if you donated money to the organization.
I've twice been in the situation where I was asked to do work for free with the promise of further work to come or payment to come later after the business or project was successful - neither project resulted in any further work or payment - and one of them was insanely picky and required no less than 14 rounds of revisions on the design! I think that's a pretty typical experience - if you don't think enough of your skills and talents to charge for them, why should your clients value them or put trust in your ability to do the project without being micromanged?
It can be tough to get started and get work when you don't have much experience or have a portfolio, but you can build one up doing your own projects or donating your time and talents to non-profits.
Kevin Heidt / 08/07/2009 / 20:53
There are times that I will offer to do work for free, and it's typically in situations where the work that was requested of me is "sufficient" for what the client needs because of a tight budget. Sometimes in these types of situations I will dedicate some unpaid hours to the deliverable to give them a product that is above and beyond for two reasons:
1) Increase chances of future work
2) Because my work is also my resumé
I do a lot of work for a non-profit organization in which everything I develop is portrayed as the headliner in my portfolio, so I set up a pretty nice work agreement with them. Any changes that come from them are changes that I bill for, so long as they are not due to mistakes on my part from previous work or something that was requested previously that was overlooked. Then, during the slower time of the fund raising year, I have free reign to create, enhance, or reinvent anything on the site that I want so long as I show it to them before putting it in to production. This gives me a great opportunity to create materials that normally aren't too common in terms of freelance projects and to show them off to a MUCH larger crowd than just the audience of my own personal site. In addition, all the extra hours I spend on these kinds of extra projects I can write off on my taxes, which is an added bonus.
However, inspite of my obvious pro-bono mentality, any free work I do comes from me. I have never had anyone ask me to do work for free, nor would I stand for it if it did occur (family and friends are exceptions of course), unless of course it was due to my error.
BZ / 14/07/2009 / 23:53
When I started doing websites for people other than myself, I offered my services for free. Why? Because I wasn't confident in my skills and experience to charge them. I wanted to gain experience through the work they needed, so why should I charge someone when the project benefited me the most? I think of it as an internship. They don't get paid and do the work in order to get the experience, so why can't I as a designer?
Springbok / 31/07/2009 / 16:38 / http://www.design-manchester.co.uk
After starting up on my own again I try my hardest to do any kind of work for free. Although in the small world of design where everyone knows everyone I think it is important to make sure you go above and beyond to make sure not only the client is kept happy ( to hopefully ensure future work ) but to also expand your own portfolio even if that means doing some concept designs that you may not get paid for but you can add them to your portfolio. I have generally found that the free jobs are also the jobs that take up all your time, which can be end up being a very frustrating job for you and the client.
Alistair Whiteley / 04/08/2009 / 20:48 / http://www.alistairwhiteley.co.uk
I know a designer who pitched for a project which included a free re-branding. At the time I thought that's quite a risk but it paid off and he won the job. It gave him the opportunity to show the customer the quality of work he would produce. Fair play. However, if it was me in the initial meetings, could I have offered a free design on a website, probably not and anyone asking for free designs would not end up employing my company.
However, As mentioned above I did start out doing a couple of websites for free, to practice and fine tune my skills - It seemed the only way to get involved in my passion for web design and usually with the free jobs you get most, if not all the say on the design and direction of the project.
As a long term tactic I don't see the benefit of working for free out weighing the risk factor but on special occassions and for a great cause, interesting project or very big client I wouldn't rule it out entirely...
Andy Kinsey / 13/08/2009 / 15:44 / http://andykinsey.com
I've been on both sides of the fence... i've given away free design work, but also denied someone free design work... ultimately it depends what its being used for.
my free design work tends to be for charities, though big projects i clearly must charge for! ... I've also done free design stuff for friends, family and even some other small companies ... though i charged for the development.
giving away free design is one thing, design & development is another! if its a single page site hey why not, just make sure if you've any cost its paid (eg domains and hosting). if its a little bit of a project taking more than 10 hours you really should be charging... again unless its a charity in which case it should depend on the real size of the site and various other considerations.
Jo -SEO Creative / 06/04/2010 / 12:48 / http://www.seo-creative.co.uk
There is no such thing as free!
We have done low cost jobs and freebies when we first started out especially for friends and family but it only caused complications in the end, they often de value your services as thay haven't paid for them and become a nightmare client. This can cause major problems if they are a friend or family as you can end up falling out.
If you do something for free it will take time away from paying clients and being human most people grow to resent the job they are doing for free. It can have a knock on effect on your relationship with paying clients as well.
Be carefull doing anything for free make sure their are strict boundaries and ask them to keep the fact they got it for free in confidence show them that you are doing them a big favour - enough people de vaule the work that goes into web design and development without people spreading the word they got it for free.
Neil Walker / 24/06/2010 / 08:53 / http://www.seomad.com
Free work interesting concept, many years ago when I first got into online marketing I carried out free work or partnerships with the aim of profit share, unfortunately things always get complicated and unless you actually write some form of contract before hand these situations really come to fruition with both parties winning. I do not do free work anymore / occasional discounts but everything is clearly briefed whether friends or not.
