A past client of mine recently sent me an email with the subject line
"Option for artists to become kown".
Kown.
I had to laugh before even opening the note, because I knew in a moment
exactly what the email was about. It had to be about begging for free
work under the guise that you'll get "famous" or in this case "kown".
The misspelling is just so perfect in that it embodies the lack of
respect that followed in the body of the email. My past client has so
little regard for designers that even spell checking the email wasn't
worth the time. "Those designers are dying to get kown, I'll dash this
off in a moment then sit back and watch designers pour through the open
floodgate chomping at the bit for the opportunity to work on this
project."
Yuk.
Look, at times, especially when you're just starting out and need to build up your portfolio you may take on some free work. In fact, when you're just starting out you almost have to. I used to make up projects just to give me the chance to practice. As you get more established the requests for free work may diminish as people start to understand that you're a professional, but you now have the option to pick and choose with more discrimination the people that you'd "like" to help.
But regardless of your situation, the client
needs to know that they are not doing you a favor by giving you
something to do. If there is no shared understanding of the value of
your "free" work then you're ultimately doing a disservice to yourself
and the occupation.
You may give your work away for free, but don't give away your self
respect, just to get "kown".
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