I did not receive a formal business education with my design education. I am learning on the go and take every opportunity I have to advice my students not to make the same mistakes I made growing up as a designer.  If only I knew back then what I know now... right? I tell students to never give work away, even while in school. I hope nobody takes my comments to mean that I am uncharitable; far from it. I am, and have been accused of actually being over-charitable in the past. My wife, the more rational one once said, "Each time you give your work away, you are taking 'bread' away from your children."   I admit I will always be that way, but I am learning that this "design thing" is really a business! It is now my responsibility to teach others that how I conduct my business has subsequent effect on the profession. When it comes to pro-bono work, pay me, then I donate it back--simple!

Every pro-bono work must be recorded. Not recording the pro-bono donations does not give both the design firm and the recipient organisation a true picture of their fiscal health; neither does it give a true picture of the value of the designer's contributions, and it does not translate to "good design practice." Don't shoot yet; this is me speaking personally as a not-so-successful design shop owner.

Designers and studios must set limits for pro-bono work. The wise sage I once worked for told us, his staff, that we must never give away more than a certain percentage of our annual fees/income in pro-bono work---and once we are over that limit, we reconsider for the rest of the year. Another sage by the name of Steven Rosenberg once said, "We typically don't contribute more [in dollar amount] than the printer in any pro-bono work." I extrapolate that to include other service providers. On the home front, my wife whom I fondly call the home accountant would say, "First bring your paycheque home, then we make a donation, even if we have to pay you for your services with it." She therefore pays me for the work I do for her too! Weird woman; she puts the fear of God in me sometimes, especially when she says, "You can kiss your next design conference goodbye if you do that project for free."

I record and report my true income, or the lack of it, even if it hurts. I think this is important. When we do not send an invoice for the work done pro-bono, there is no way of tracking the history or financial impact of our contribution. For example, let's say I do pro-bono work for a certain organisation, even though the person currently in charge at the other end knows the value of our contribution, there is no paperwork to inform their successor about who did what, for how much, and how much they should add to their budget line for design services, in the future. Same goes for non-invoiced work, where a client wants to pay with goods or services in a contra arrangement. In a few years, they are gone somewhere else, crowd-sourcing for free or cheap design because they do not know the true value of design.

I am learning that design currency is more than just doing effective design. I believe some of the actions we take today determines the future in more ways than one. As a designer, I complain that I am not taken seriously or as seriously as I deserve. I know I am not alone, judging from coffee-shop discussions with other designers. We complain about "crowdsourcing," yet we ignore some of the ways we contribute to it. If 'they' don't know the true value of our work, how can they respect it? How can they plan to pay for it? How can we generate design currency and know the true value of design?

The graphic design profession needs to take stock and count the cost. As a profession, should we not be able to measure how much we contribute into the local, national and international economy in pro-bono work each year, and be able to prove it? What if Stats Canada wants to know how much we collectively contribute to the economy in pro-bono work? What data do we have to support design effectiveness; word of mouth? Should we not be able to say, "Hey, we collectively contribute [insert dollar amount] to the economy each year, and by gosh, we demand to be accredited or chartered." Mr politician, please take note.

I am sorry to come at this discussion from this angle. And perhaps, it tells me why I am not so successful in business. But I think it is time to shake off the general "hungry artist" perception of designers who just "draw pictures" or conjure up logos. Design is not an underground economy. Designers pay taxes, EI, CPP and participate in society as viable members.

We must take an active stance in educating ourselves and our publics. I think we ought to ask how we can help small client-organisations and the people working there understand the true value of our work. Even though, sometimes, our accountants may advice different, let us tell them what we choose to do, even if it does not always sound rational. Why, because there is a larger goal in mind. Let us help the funding agencies understand the true value of design, and that design thinking can help propel the cause they support. Funding agencies ought to pony up some design money here and there, and budget for it.

Ahem.. yes. As I was saying, at our studio, we were able to convince a particular organisation to ask for more money from funders to buy design services, and they got the money. Today, they have a new logo and a slew of communication materials (some items thrown in pro-bono, yes), and they were able to employ an additional person/firm to build their website. They also got new signage, new display materials and such. We worked lean and bought images from iStock, yes, because that's what the budget allowed. We would have loved to hire a photographer, but we could not find one who would also bring on unpaid models, and do a shoot for free at the same time.

Clients need to know that they pay for our time, talent and technique. I try to make that clear to everyone, including my nephews and nieces, so that they have an early understanding of the value of design. Yes, our deliverables are our time, talent and technique and we ought to be able to account for it. I believe we must try and help organisations understand the true value of our non-tangible work in whatever way we can. After all, the beneficiaries of our pro-bono work, like the director of the organisation gets paid; the staff at the organisation get paid; the printer gets paid; the web-hosting company gets paid; the courier company gets paid; Google gets paid for the ads; Canada Post gets paid for stamps too! And... oh, I forgot, my landlord gets paid; my bank draws interest on our line of credit; the phone company pets paid; Apple, Adobe, Quark and all other hardware and software providers get paid; FontShop, and Nick Shinn at www.shinntype.com gets paid for the font licence [name-dropping; my bad]. And the designer gets just a mention on the poster? Bravo! Here is where my wife asks, "Is that what you teach those students, to go home to their families with a just a mention on a poster? You had better teach them everything you know and more. God is watching you."

Pro-bono work is good for the community. Pro-bono work also provides opportunities for the designer, especially younger designers, to use their gifts and talents to serve the community and good causes. I believe though, that as a design society and community of designers, we have to come up with the right method[s] to execute pro-bono work. I believe we must teach the next generation of designers that pro-bono work is a good thing, but show them how it's done. Me must find a way to come to a consensus on this very important issue, even if we have three or more working models that take all factors into consideration. In the end, we all want to do good, but not break the bank, especially for those who are still trying to find their feet. As I mentioned at the beginning, this is a very personal perspective and I hope it is worth considering.

What if the organisation truly cannot afford to buy design--what then? Well, in that case, I totally agree with Rob Peters The Sage and quote him directly: "It seems we live in a society where selling is valued more highly than creating or making. We do lots of pro bono, but we give the work away (this is a right we have), without necessarily even putting a dollar value on it. Can you really charge for love? Or tax it?"

Ladies and gentlemen, ready, aim, poke, and smile. Okay, not too close to the belly button, it tickles.

'Segun Olude, CGD
Winnipeg, Manitoba