I really need to stop taking on non-paying freelance jobs for friends. Otherwise I’m going to end up in the looney-bin talking to my fist and singing that Mananana song while rocking back and forth.

The problem that I continually face as a designer is boundaries. I’ve been trained and operated for years based on principles, foundational ideas that are resolute and non-wavering. The rule of thirds, placement issues, typography rules, size relationships, etc. These are the laws of design that I’ve learned to operate within. And much like civil laws that judges, lawyers and officers are paid to uphold, designers are to do the same. To violate this is to go against everything you’re trained to do, and everything you believe in.

The problem in this civil law vs. design law model is: money. See, with design, the client pays you to do what they want. Actually, the set up is that they’re paying you for your “expertise.” However, since desktop publishing singlehandedly signed over the “right” to do “design” yourself, professional designers are really just paid to do things that clients don’t have the time to do, or the technical prowess. Little is left for “professional advice.”

So when a client tells you that this font must be 200% larger, purple and blink…what choices are you facing?

1. Tuck your tail between your legs, roll over and do whatever they say. To hell with doing what’s right!
2. Artfully inform the client that perhaps this is not the best choice, and suggest a better one.
3. Drop the job, fly the bird, and take a shot of whiskey. You’re going to need to be intoxicated when the reality of your actions sets in.

Obviously, #2 seems logical and professional. The problem is, however, that it never works in reality. Every Tom, Dick and Jane out there is absolutely convinced that they know what they want, and that they in fact know better than you. So you’re left with no choice (if you want to please the client/get paid) but to violate principles of good design. Like nails on a chalkboard or writing with your opposite hand, it feels completely against human nature.

My current issue is with non-paying clients. Normally, since you’re getting a check in return for your “professional service,” there is at least mild comfort for your dissidence. If you’re going to intentionally make something suck, at least you’re getting paid, right? But with a pro-bono job, there’s not a ton of incentive to throw years of training out the window. And when your name is attached to a job that looks like a second grader off his Ritalin did it, when other people see it you might as well lock yourself in your room and cry until it no longer hurts inside. Or until the voices stop. Because yes, yes the other designers will laugh at you when they see what you’ve done.

Some days I just don’t think I’m cut out for this. Working against people’s egos and ignorance is single-handedly the worst part of being a designer.