Freebies

I'm feeling annoyed with myself. Just before Christmas someone asked me to do a couple of drawings of family members for them from photos that they supplied. They didn't mention a price for the pictures, and neither did I enquire, imagining that the subject of cost would "just come up". I did the drawings, ordered prints of them, and presented them to the recipient. The pictures were accepted and that was the end of the matter, with no offer of payment for the work I'd put into the things, and barely a thank you.

It brought to mind a conversation I had with a professional illustrator/designer a while back. He told me I had to decide what my work was worth and set a cost. At this stage I know that my pictures are not worth nothing, but I know also that there are people out there who are prepared to let me put my time and work into a project and take the output for free. I should have charged a fee upfront for the work, and will know to do so next time.

There was a reason why I stopped doing pictures as little gifts for people years ago. Generally I found the recipients quite unappreciative - not always the case, but most of the time the reward wasn't worth the effort. I also felt that giving away what I did for nothing was devaluing it rather than being generous.

U2 gave away their last album for free. Rather than feeling impressed with this gesture (free album!) I found myself questioning the quality of the album. Would these guys be giving away their product if it was any good?