Should I work for free Flowchart

My former studiomate Jessica Hische put together this flowchart answering the question “Should I work for free?

30 Comments leave a comment below

  1. Awesome chart, will come in handy, I think in some occasions I may even share the chart with the person I’m declining so they can see the logic!

  2. This is hilarious! I am currently struggling with this … I was just asked to do a logo for my boyfriend’s dad’s new company. gah! awkward!

  3. My favourite is the “are you masochistic” question. Love it.

  4. So funny well done!

  5. Everyone, especially beginning designers, should note that all the answers in the “Is it a legitimate business?” category are “NO”. If they are making money with it, so should you.

  6. LOL, made me smile right 10 minutes after getting up – which is not easy to do.

  7. Haha this brightened my day, I love the masochist question!

  8. oh it is so humourous!
    love it., esp: “22 hours of labor and you can’t do ONE goddamn garage sale flyer? COME ON!”

  9. This is hilarious and so very true. I’ll be printing this off as a point of reference if any client has a problem with me charging them for work. Brilliant.

  10. I love your blog and have been a follower for quite some time. There have been many posts that I have been close to commenting on (because they are always packed full of interesting things) but even though I follow many I NEVER comment on blogs. This flow chart pushed me over the fear and here I am. Can I just say AMAZING! as a graphic designer I am constantly being asked to “do a quick favor” and often find my self in unpleasant situations where I usually end up feeling used and unappreciated.

    Keep up the great work I always look forward to seeing swissmiss in my inbox for my dose of inspiration.

  11. OMG – that is funny! And surprisingly accurate. :) e

  12. so good. Although shouldn’t the Make it Rain Bitches be a YES? confused on that one…

  13. I agree with one of you earlier commenters – I never normally comment but this is brilliant. Well done and thanks.

  14. just boring. smart-pant-ness from early ninties.

  15. I’ve never commented on your wonderful blog before either, but jeez — this is fantastic.

  16. Love it, now present on my behind-desk-wall =)!

  17. This is awesome. I love “You may end up broke, but you’ll be knee deep in promised organs.” Already a classic in my books.

    I actually just had to fight for a good rate and turned them down, when magically, the first proposed right was just fine. Its sad to see how experience is not valued sometimes.

  18. Oh god, I’m stuck in the whole horrendous just-starting-out spin cycle of do-I-work-for-free-cos-I-need-publicity vs I-need-to-goddam-eat-people malarky. Gees… :)

  19. Nope.

    The ONLY one that should be “yes,” is working for your mom.

    Otherwise, do not work for free.

  20. This is really, really funny. I’m a musician but have some design chops (as I had to figure out how to make my own website when I was 14, and, well, you know how that goes… 10 years later and I’m still making websites for people *and almost all the time it’s for free*). So yeah, I can definitely relate to this.

  21. If I do something for free for someone, like design a site and be a middle man between them and the hosting company, I usually make people give a small donation to those providing the software. For example, if I’m using WordPress for their blog, I’ll make them give like around $10 to the foundation.
    Supporting those who willingly provide libre and gratis software is pay enough for me.

  22. That’s a flowchart. We love flowcharts. Any flowchart. They look so pretty. We don’t mind if the information is superficial or questionable. We are designers and we are not supposed to read a flowchart.

  23. love it! must have it as a big poster for my home office !!

  24. Just love this, it’s wonderful :-)

  25. Love it!!

  26. I am really impressed along with your writing talents and also with the format in
    your weblog. Is this a paid subject matter or did you customize it your self?
    Either way stay up the excellent quality writing, it is
    rare to see a nice weblog like this one today..

  27. My spouse and I stumbled over here coming from a different web address and thought I might check things out.

    I like what I see so now i’m following you. Look forward
    to looking over your web page repeatedly.

  28. QUEST also conducted an emissions testing study to
    compare Maid Brigades cleaning practices to three leading competitors.
    IT consultancy is a service provided by IT providers that offer help and advice on what
    type of program and IT support an enterprise or corporation might need.

    The savings would include change orders that the consultant
    found to be something that was in the specifications that the contractor was charging for and overcharges for change orders.