: Where to ask for free work? I am keeping a close eye on the question about logo design contests, and I hope that my 1st Question here does not get completely slammed. It never really occurred

@Rivera951

Although I've never used it myself, I came across www.idealist.org/ a couple of years ago.

There are volunteer projects in all disciplines on there, mainly for charities, graphic design included. Here's a graphic design listing as an example: www.idealist.org/view/volop/BW8gSNNb8tnp.

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@Tiffany317

Simon, here's a bit of radical advice: don't ever ask anyone to do anything "for free." Ask, rather, if they're willing to help a good cause for something other than monetary compensation. There has to be some kind of fair exchange involved, otherwise at least one of the parties involved ends up feeling sleazy, and the other feeling ripped off. There are plenty of examples of this kind of non-financial exchange: beginning photographers will photograph models in exchange for prints for the models' portfolios; a rookie film-maker gets actors and crew to help make a short film in exchange for credits and copies of the completed film for their demo reels; a young intern designs, for almost nothing, what turns out to be a multi-million dollar "swoosh" for a sport-shoe company in exchange for experience in their art department. In the last case, the aforementioned footwear folks invited her back, 40 years later (or whatever the anniversary was), and gave her a whopping check, a big celebratory dinner, and some killer PR.

For commercial work (your company's logo), if they don't see the logo as an asset, and they don't put money into it as an investment, you should not try to get anyone, not even a student, to whip something up for them "for the benefit of the portfolio" (which is not compensation). Free or ultra-cheap work isn't often regarded as having any value by the undeserving beneficiary.

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@Sue6373160

I have advised my gf to perhaps put up posters at the local arts uni.


Also try to look for student graphic design clubs/organization within a university. A lot of the graphic design clubs are willing to do graphic design works for free to boost their experience and club portfolio.

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@Chiappetta793

"Where is the right place to ask for people to do free graphics work?"

There is no one simple response to this. It's as much to do with the project as it is to do with locale.

Consider:


colleges and schools that offer courses in the skillset you require. You mention placing ads at the art college - that's a good idea.
make sure any materials or efforts that support the projects carry the message that you are looking for help. This could be in the credits to the TV show, it could be in a project meeting with folks running the channel, whatever.
look for websites where traffic is likely to be of the kind of folks who could help. I know of research projects that posted on SE lists with specific requests for advice that ended up with them obtaining free services. But also consider craigslist, etc.
check in places where people are advertising their services. Often to get a foot in the door folks may be looking for paid work, but they know the benefit of getting real work, even as a volunteer.


As you'll no doubt see from some posters on this thread, it's not everyone's interest or need. But people are out there: Good luck.

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@Shelley591

Where is the right place to ask people to do GIS work? What about plumbing? Where can I ask people to re-roof my house? If you do a good job on my roof, I MIGHT have more work for you...

As you can see, asking people to work for free is a bit of a silly concept.

If you are running a non-profit you can usually find designers willing to donate their time to a good cause.

If you're running a for-profit entity, there's lots of spec-work/"Crowdsourcing" sites where you can get stuff done for cheap. It's typically not good work, by any means. And the sites are dependent on having very naive designers work for them.

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@Ravi4787994

The free in freelance doesn't mean what you think it does, and I can assure you your volunteer based TV channel still has a budget. If money really is your stumbling block then try to think of non-monetary exchanges that could benefit both parties. Ad time, swag, access to equipment, etc.

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@Marchetta832

Girlfriend has a TV show on a
volunteer based TV Channel. We have
had a friend do the logo for free, as
for him it was also good publicity
(name in credits) and looked good in
his portfolio. If we needed more work,
where could we ask?


The show is volunteer based and and a media outlet. You could probably find someone to do graphic design work in exchange for being mentioned on the show or a free ad spot. This is fair trade and would be beneficial to both parties.


The company I work for, the logo for a
product we are developing looks dated.
Problem is, the people that hold the
purse strings will see this as
trivial. Where could I ask for help on
re-vamping our logo? It could lead to
more work.


Lets say your company makes widgets and there is a cost involved with making these widgets. They have to buy the parts for the widgets, they have to pay you to assemble the widgets, they might have other costs involved like insurance, rent, taxes etc.. Does your company just give away these valuable widgets because someone said hey if we like these widgets we MIGHT buy some more if we ever need them?

Graphic designers are businesses no different than any other. A designers time is valuable they have expenses and it's insulting to ask them to do something for FREE.

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