Your time is money regardless of whether you're a student or a seasoned professional. If a project takes you ten hours, don't charge for two because you're worried about scaring someone off. Look up what the industry standard rate is for the type of work you're doing and if you're concerned about being competitive as a junior, go a bit lower than that. Not dramatically lower. A bit lower.
You went to school and paid a significant amount of tuition to develop your skills. Doing a logo for twenty dollars and a firm handshake is just undervaluing your own time. Clients who push back hard on fair pricing aren't usually the clients you want anyway. The ones who understand what good work costs are the ones worth working with.
You went to school and paid a significant amount of tuition to develop your skills. Doing a logo for twenty dollars and a firm handshake is just undervaluing your own time. Clients who push back hard on fair pricing aren't usually the clients you want anyway. The ones who understand what good work costs are the ones worth working with.
If someone is asking you to do spec work for them without paying you, that's a different situation. The pitch usually sounds reasonable. It's good exposure that might lead to paid work down the line. What it actually is, is free labor with a maybe attached. If a client is serious about working with you they'll pay for your time. If they won't, that tells you everything you need to know about how the rest of the relationship would go.
Spec work on your terms is fine. Spec work on someone else's terms at your expense is not.
Separate from spec work is the broader pitch that doing something for free or heavily discounted will be good for your career. You'll get your name out there and people will see your work, or so the pitch goes. It'll open doors. Maybe. Devaluing your time on that bet rarely pays off.
Early career designers are particularly vulnerable to this because the insecurity around whether your work is good enough makes the validation feel like currency. It isn't. Build your reputation by doing good work for clients who respect what it costs. That compounds in a way that exposure never does.
These three volumes cover the questions we get asked most. But the list keeps growing and so will this series. If you have a question you want answered in a future volume, send it our way.
And if you haven't read the earlier volumes yet, this is a good place to start. [here]
