You draw the line where you have the clout to do so. Paul Rand once told us the story of working on the Ford Identity project. He said the Ford PR guys first flew him up to Detroit to see the glitzy airbrush takes on a new logo they had done to show him their "ideas" for a logo. It was a big bash with spotlights and fanfares. Randy said, "I told them to take me back to the airport and call me when they were serious about the identity project."

Paul Rand could get away with that, you and I would have been dumped at the bus station.

ChrisL

In this economy I just do what it takes to get paid. Nobody has the clout to do otherwise right now.

But I don’t do ANY volunteer design anymore. I’ve gotten burned too many times by people at nonprofits who jerk volunteers around every chance they get because it never costs them any money. The last straw was with a guy who would make appointments with me and not even be in the building when I arrived. The next time I want to volunteer I’m just going to go clean up at an animal shelter—at least the dogs appreciate the help.

It's such a weird state of affairs that people who need the free/low cost work the most are the least appreciative of free/low cost labor, when in reality they should be the _most_ appreciative.

If you consider that money is a measure of value (appreciation), it makes perfect sense.

zing! Nice one Mark!

In my limited and largely second-hand experience, non-profits are notoriously toxic places to work, let alone do business with. So yeah, no surprises there there, Dan.

Screw the economy. Everyone wants to squeeze a little more blood and blame it on the economy. It's way too easy. Sure things are tough, but things cost what they cost, and a good design job is not a luxury. I think that (with the option of being more flexible in your back pocket), you lean as far in the direction of "call me when you are serious" as possible. I've been learning you don't get a lot of respect for being agreeable. Even less for being cheap and agreeable?
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