Top 8 Dreaded Favors Asked of Web Designers
Long before you officially take the profession of graphic or web designer, your friends and family will support your ambitions by developing your talent. At first, your loved ones inspect your work and if they like what they see, you’ll get flooded with their requests for one page flyers, t-shirt designs, logos, and company websites. When you are just starting out, you welcome their requests because it gives you a chance to grow your skill set as a designer. After all, it’s almost like dealing with real clients, right?
The drama comes when you actually become a full time designer. The friends and family who drew upon your talent during your newbie years are still standing around with their hands out, and now you also must contend with two more groups of favor askers: clients and anonymous foreigners who contact you through Twitter.
Here are 8 of the most common and eye-rollingly annoying favors all designers encounter at one point or another. For ease of reference, we’ll call the offending party “Dude.”
1. “Hey, can you take a look at my site and tell me what you think?”
At first glance, this seems like a harmless five to ten minute project. Dude asks for your opinion, and you both know that you are an esteemed and dedicated design pro. You optimistically click on his website link, and you’re teleported back in 1998 with a Geocities-reminiscent design so horrifying it makes MySpace look professional. After you try hard not to lose all respect for Dude, you carefully suggest that he get rid of the Flash intro. You are then met with an uncomfortable defensiveness, where Dude refuses to accept your professional advice.
Lesson learned: Decipher whether your friend is looking for actual advice or just a pat on the back.
2. “Um, would you mind designing my site… for free?”
It’s shocking how many people feel truly entitled to a free web design. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of introducing yourself as a web designer, you may notice the wheels instantly starting to turn in your acquaintance’s mind. Everyone, even those without any product or any relevant thing to say, want, demand and need a website. These are the people, especially, who will want such a website produced for free. They may lure you with the distant hopes they use to fuel their own insanity: “Once I get some visitors, I’ll direct them to your services” (Standard practice, regardless).
Lesson learned: Limit your charity cases to those you can do in your free time and only do it for charity because the only reward you’ll reap is psychological.
3. “Can you help me design my site to look like ______?”
This request is closely related to the first two requests. Perhaps Dude has taken it upon himself to designed a website, already had a moment of epiphany and now realizes that it sucks. At least you’re on the same page. Then comes, “I’d like my site to look just like Avatar. You know, all 3D and stuff.” Once you realize that Dude is serious, another realization also sinks in. If you take on this “consulting” project, all of your time and energy will be engulfed by this vortex, and you won’t be getting paid for your trouble. What’s the solution? Direct Dude to Yahoo! Answers? No, he’ll never go for that, because this is a top secret idea.
Lesson learned: Find your inner ineptness and apply it to this situation. Feign ignorance, suggest peripheral design ideas such as blue color palettes and wait for your friend to get bored of the idea and come to his senses.
4. “I think I have a virus.”
No one likes to hear these words, and if someone’s sharing this information with you, they usually want one of two things: sympathy or help, sometimes both. When you hear these words come from a client, you must assume they are referring to a computer virus (let’s hope). This your client’s passive/ aggressive way of getting you to offer assistance. If you, wisely, remain silent, he or she will shamelessly ask you for your help. Just because you work in front of your computer all day does not mean that you qualify for tech support. You have to Google things just like everyone else.
Lesson learned: Get the courage to finally direct someone to Let Me Google That For You. However, for professional relationships, avoid the snark and actually lightly research the problem, but make no promises and waste no longer than 15 minutes.
5. “Let me help you with any of your extra work.”
This favor comes in the form of a donated favor. In other words, Dude is suggesting that he’s doing you a favor, when he’s actually just trying to get paid. One morning you open your email box, and there’s an email from some dude you’ve never heard of. He wants you to lend him some of your work. Depending on your level of job-related stress, you may be inclined to offer him some work, but what’s this? No portfolio? No website? No spell-check. Wait, is Dude even located in the same hemisphere as you?
Lesson learned: You get what you pay for.
6. “So, it’s been a minute… How much longer is it going to take?”
Just when you’ve got your Good Samaritan on and decided to help Dude during your free time, he starts becoming a diva. Never mind the impossible requests to make his website look just like *let your imagination run wild on this one,* or the countless revisions to a perfectly designed logo, or the endless hours you spent over IM trying to explain why putting an invisible list of keywords at the bottom of the webpage is unnecessary. When you least expect it, expect to receive a phone call, email, direct tweet saying, “Hey, so, um… when’s the project going to be finished?” You reply back, “Dude, I told you I was going to fit this in between my actual work from actual clients that actually pay.” To this, Dude replies, “I didn’t think it was going to take this long, maybe I should just get this professionally done.” Oh, that’s a killer. First of all, Dude has no consideration for the amount of time you’ve invested in this project. Secondly and more importantly, you are a professional. Why not offer you money so that you can prioritize his project?
Lesson learned: Clearly state from the beginning that it will take you some ridiculously long amount of time to complete the project for free and if Dude’s still on board, he’ll be happy if you finish it sooner than expected.
7. “Can I use your server until I get my own hosting?”
What’s so wrong about this request? You have extra space and you can afford the bandwidth. The problem is that Dude will never get his own hosting, and eventually he’ll forget about his site. A year later, you’ll remind him, “Hey Dude, you know you still have your stuff on my server? I’m moving to another server, so is it alright if I get rid of it? You have a back up, right?” Dude will do one of two things: he’ll respond with indignant anger, upset that you’re rushing him to get his act together or he’ll pretend to be okay with it, all the while, holding a grudge.
Lesson learned: Friends don’t let friends use their servers.
8. “Hey, I volunteered you to re-do my co-worker’s step-daughter’s wedding album.”
You can replace this with any task in which your mom volunteers your services for free. It’s always lovely to deal with someone who’s happy to accept your honest labor for free, because we all know they won’t make any unreasonable demands. The most difficult part of this ordeal is having to contend with your mother in her role as the merciless middleman who nags you for quality, timeliness and her good reputation.
Lesson learned: Grin and bear it? There’s no real way to avoid this nightmare.
What are some of the most annoying favors your friends and family have asked from you?
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Apr 23, 2010
I agree with No.6 and 8 i work as Php web Developer coming up so i decide to help one of my uncle’s Boss in the bank on his Joomla Site for free.now that i have actual clients that pay this dude request for more features that actual client don’t and yet he request like it’s his given right.Now ave learnt my lesson nice article i totally relate with this
Apr 26, 2010
I’ve got an other kind of recently-asked favor
I’ve been having a BBQ party with some of my Dudes who didn’t even know me and they asked about my job? I’ve answered the truth and right at this moment I’ve made a huge mistake. One of them immediately realized that I’m able to create a stunning (or not stunning whatever, everybody loves free stuff) website for him and he offered the most fabulous business ever for me. Apparently this business was based on a website and not on the product, and apparently all the people realized that they don’t even need to pay for a design anymore and suddenly the BBQ party turned into a let’s talk about our ideas Aaron will make us successful 
A hour later I beg to remark that I won’t do anything for free even if I really like them all and silent. Everybody was sad and disappointed for 20 seconds 
I wasn’t too proud on myself, but it was unavoidable and I was happy to get rid of 3 year of free-work 
They haven’t called me for 3 weeks 
Strange 
Apr 29, 2010
I also have something to add: “Could you provide me with wire frame before starting the project?”. You spend many hours to create a prototype in Axure and adjust it many times and then when your are ready to receive 50% retainer to proceed with design and coding your client disappear with ready prototype that you’ve made for free.
May 2, 2010
Being a web developer has taught me one of the most paradoxical parts of human nature: people don’t respect what they get for free. Something gnaws at them when they get a free website from you, because they think there must be something WRONG with it. When I started out I did a free website for a lady with a smoked fish business. It was no-frills design-wise, but it worked, it was reasonably attractive, and it had ecommerce. She was never happy with it, and in the end she went to a local developer and paid him to do her a hideously ugly site (based on a free template), that had stuttery flashes when clicking on links, and no ecommerce! And to this day, I will bet money that she thinks she has a better website now.
Lesson: no freebies, ever. If you give someone something free, they will assume it’s worthless.
Jul 22, 2010
I agree with you 100%
This is even true when you offer a discount to close friends or long time clients. Initially they’re glad to get the break, and then it’s as if it eats at them and they keep asking themselves “wait a minute, why is this so much cheaper than last time/other guy”…
When you make somebody pay full price, and deliver 100%, everyone is happier.
Jul 22, 2010
And beware the potential client who leads with money: “Hey, we need a simple website designed. There’s $600 to $800 in it for you, and it would only take a few hours. How about it?”
First of all, their “simple” concept may be way more complex than they realize. Second, they are attempting to get a fixed price deal up front when you haven’t even had a chance to assess the scope of the job. Even if you do decide to evaluate the job at this point, you’re going to be tempted (especially if it’s a friend or acquaintance) to figure out how to give them what they want for the money they’re offering. That’s unfair to you because it compels you to try shortcuts that may not (and often don’t) work. So you end up going the full distance for cheap. The result: They’re happy and you’re broke.
May 7, 2010
Biggest warning sign for a web designer/developer.
“The client doesn’t have much money…”…really meaning they have impossible expectations and are cheap. WALK AWAY. NOW. DON’T LOOK BACK…
May 22, 2010
nice and realistic article…i just happnd to xperince the same this or the other way…
Jun 9, 2010
The less client pay, the more troubles will be with him.
Jun 15, 2010
Couldn’t agree more with all the points in this article! Also, it’s a bit stupid to be told “my nephew can create websites” then one year later they come back and say “we need you after all!” People I beg you to consider how you would enjoy the services of a cheap mechanic, a cheap doctor or a cheap restaurant meal. Good web designers who know what they are doing are not cheap!!!
Jun 23, 2010
It’s normal to do mistakes but cmon, some to fall in some of the situation pointed here you have to be REALLY naive – not just inexperienced – I mean NAIVE as a person in general.
Jun 23, 2010
I have one that seems to pop up all the time (probably because I am doing more design than i need to!).
“I like all 3 designs templates, it would be good if you could merge all of them together!”
Jun 23, 2010
Designing web pages are already pretty complicated. Additional stress, not cool.
Jul 4, 2010
Totally agree! Fantastic article.
Jul 22, 2010
And how about clients who think that a contract equals total power for them to make endless changes for no additional money? Always include a scope of work in your contract and the stipulation that YOU and YOU ALONE determine whether a requested change is outside the original scope. The goal isn’t to nickel and dime them to death, it is to make sure you get paid for it if they decide they want major changes three-quarters of the way through the project. If a potential client doesn’t like the idea that extra work will cost them extra money, you don’t need them for a client.
Jul 29, 2010
It is true that there are a lot of people out there think that web designing is as easy as counting 1,2,3 – that they even asked people to do it for free. And it is true that there are customers who always bothers their designers and not just leave the work to them. Though there are designers who made mistakes and their clients will not be satisfied.
That’s why choosing a web designer is really tough, and in my case, I’ve choosen the best designer for my site. They’re Create Webworks of http://www.createwebworks.com/.
Jul 30, 2010
Jul 30, 2010
I loved this article! When they offer you exposure for your work, tell them designers die of exposure.
You can’t pay your bills with exposure.
Aug 2, 2010
Loved it! Very funny and completely true! So glad I am not a web designer! But I think, to be fair, a lot of people could apply this to their business, I know I’ve heard one of two of them before!
Thanks for starting my day with a good chuckle Jacqueline!
Nathan
Aug 10, 2010
I get a variation on number 4 all the time. ‘Oh you’re a web designer? Can you fix my computer…’
Aug 17, 2010
Virus problem is common now a days.
Aug 21, 2010
Great Post. As a web developer i get a lot of similiar requests.