Now I’m doing a design job for free for a friend of mine. She is the other Japanese interpreter in my work place. Now I work night shifts and she works during the day, and we worked together for a while before I started working night shifts. She is just like me; she came to Canada to work here, but found it difficult to get hired because she does not have work experience in Canada though she is a talented person, and currently do an “easy” job to acquire job experience in Canada. She is thinking of working as a freelancer, and I recommended her to make freelancer’s business cards, and suggested that I design it for her for free.
Why free? I hesitate to charge my friends for my design work, and this is only one of the reasons. Now I am thinking of working as a freelance designer, and I need to show examples of my design work. I will add her logo and business card design to my portfolio. I am also simulating working with clients. Ideally, in the future, she will give her business card to her clients and mention that her friend, which is me, designed the logo and the business card, which advertises me. If it works, it’s a good deal for her and me, isn’t it?
Today I met her to show some design ideas and to refine them with her, and she enjoyed it. She told me that it is fun to see her logo coming along. It is fun for me to see someone enjoying my design work. Now I know this is what I want to do. Designers’ role is to realize other people’s idea with design skills. This is a good simulation.
Whether it is a freelance job or a job for free, designing for people is fun.