Designer's Exploitation

haeyder

New Member
What would you do if your client asks you for a logo and you deliver the files. The client uses these and do not pay you.

I always ensure that I receive amount for the efforts I am putting in so that no one can exploit my skills and time.

What's your thought on it?
 
I'd have partial payment up front, a contract and then final payment at the end (I do allow up to 30 days, depending on size of job, for final payment though unlike Stationary Direct)... if they don't pay the first one then the work doesn't even start, if they don't pay the second I have a contract which enables me to take them to court etc if needed.
 
Impossible for me, as final files don't get released until I have received full payment. Work doesn't even start until I have received a deposit which is 50% of the total amount.

The only files that do get sent before the final payment are low res/ watermarked medium res files during the design process, in order to receive feedback from the client.
 
Impossible for me, as final files don't get released until I have received full payment. Work doesn't even start until I have received a deposit which is 50% of the total amount.

The only files that do get sent before the final payment are low res/ watermarked medium res files during the design process, in order to receive feedback from the client.

^^^As above^^^
 
Thanks everyone for your generous feedback. However, it varies from region to region. In a countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where designers go below the belt and would quote such rates that one won't imagine. Moreover many of these don't even respect their skills.
 
Thanks everyone for your generous feedback. However, it varies from region to region. In a countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where designers go below the belt and would quote such rates that one won't imagine. Moreover many of these don't even respect their skills.

If you're in a market where you yourself have devalued what you do by making it dirt cheap, you cant expect clients to respect or see any value in the work you do.

Charge the going rate based on how much you need to make a living and you'll put off the clients that see you as a disposable commodity whilst attracting the type of client who will value your skills, will sign a contract and most importantly.. will actually pay you.
 
In a countries like India, Bangladesh and Pakistan where designers go below the belt and would quote such rates that one won't imagine. Moreover many of these don't even respect their skills.

What bigdave said.

This quote seems to suggest that the designers are blameworthy for charging so little that their clients don't take them seriously, Q.E.D.
 
Well with websited its easy as you make sure you stay in control with logins and kill scripts until paid. Logo design i usually request 50% deposit from a client and then when i present draft i try do it in person. However if i have to email its watermarkd and a low quality..... Despite all this what happened to me once was somebody received the draft design and then proceeded to try recreate the design so they would not have to pay the balance of the deposit.

These people tend to have businesses so what we do as a graphic design community is we hit up the business facebook , website all over social media bassically naming and shaming the business. The buety of it is , whilst this could get you in trouble for slander , i dont do it my friends do the naming and shaming, and if one of them gets a bad deal i help out. When the person in question asks me to stop i just say i am doing nothing , what my friends do is not in my hands.

He ended up paying after a month of trying to ban facebook accounts.

I think the cost in reputation to his business was ten times my deposit lol.

JUst reffering to some of the above thoughts, when i started as a graphic designer. A decent price shows you have confidence in the quality of your work. Yeah you may be full of it maybe ? but a low price is going to show you dont value your skills, land you crappy customers looking for a cheap deal.

As a business owner however would you like somebody to do your advertising whom is confident in what he does ? or somebody who is looking to take any job for any price ?
 
If you're in a market where you yourself have devalued what you do by making it dirt cheap, you cant expect clients to respect or see any value in the work you do.

Charge the going rate based on how much you need to make a living and you'll put off the clients that see you as a disposable commodity whilst attracting the type of client who will value your skills, will sign a contract and most importantly.. will actually pay you.

U know Big Dave i agree fully with what you say , you will find however as i have. That some companies/ businesses specifically look for student designers and emply them on whats called a flexi time base, basically a temporary contract , and because they are students still they will take whatever is offered. I myself infact have advertised not citng any qualifications and i get more work like that , because many assume oh this guy is still a student his work wont be that much. However i so charge what i consider a good rate and many times after a quote from those answering to my " student ads " i never hear from them again.

The problem is however that some student is going to take that job somewhere along the line, what i try do or we , is keep the graphic designers in our town sort of unified , obviously this doesnt always work so the second option is bassically to make sure your work shows what the difffrence between a student and a "established designer" is.

Best way of doing this is making sure that the company a who is using you is killing company b ( the one who hired the student ) in Eg Social media marketing . Sometimes i go out of my way to make this happen. However its not fool proof , some students are incredibly talented.
 
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