mattyd81 said:
On a serious note though did you guys do any free work at the beginning to build your portfolios up?
I think the answer for nearly everyone will be yes.
At the beginning of your career it's easy to get sucked into doing stuff for friends and family just to build up confidence and work samples. This soon turns into free work for friends of friends and eventually strangers.
The trouble is it's a slippery slope. If you've done free work for someone and they recommend you to someone else, they will be expecting the same sort of terms.
Every designer has also had the old chesnut: "Do this for free and it'll be great exposure for you." Which is, quite frankly rubbish. It works out for 1 in a million I guess. It's like the design lottery.
A lot of designers will have entered into a bit of spec work too, until they realise it's a scam.
I guess what I'm getting at is, every designer has probably done free work at some point. Usually when they are starting out. Once they progress, hopefully, they realise that they are undervaluing their work and their chosen profession.
I did free work, 'way back when,' I don't regret doing it, but I did learn never to do it again.
If you feel like doing some pro bono work and padding out your portfolio do it for someone that you will feel good about helping, like a charity or organisation close to your heart. They will be far more appreciative of your time and effort than someone who is just out to get a freebie.