This one has been itching at me all day. Probably because I'm working at much lower than my given rate for a friend on a project that isn't any good.

And probably because everyone I know who works in any sort of creative position - advertising, web design, graphic design, composition, you name it - EVERYONE bitches about being asked for free stuff. They post shit like this on Facebook daily. They slag on their clients daily. They make it clear that they hate working for a living and every person that ever attempts to hire them is a fucking moron.

And probably because Reddit turned on me for slagging on a kid who basically asked for someone to give him a full multi-week campaign for free and ruined my life for six months... all because I was defending the rights of graphic designers to earn a living.

BUT HERE'S THE THING.

nobody would ask for free stuff if the industry wasn't always in the habit of giving free stuff.

How many of these positions are "I have money and I want to pay you?" How many of them are "I have skillz and I want to be paid?"

And how many of them are "revenue share?"

Know how many designers I know that have never given a "friend rate?" none. Know how many entertainment professionals I know that have never given a "friend rate?" none. So yeah. Make fun of the poor bastards that are trying to get work for free. But you know what? They wouldn't try to get work for free if they didn't have a reasonable expectation it would work.

And that's the fault of people who draw scornful caricatures of the people who ask for free work because dollars to donuts, they've all worked for free at some point in their careers. And if they've got the time to slag clients on Twitter, that point is now.