DesignNYC
Out of context: Reply #7
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- monospaced0
I see where you're coming from, but I have to disagree that this is "creating a (lazy) culture" where NPOs (I think this is what you meant?) expect free work.
This is more of a collective of designers coming together to provide an avenue for NPOs to more easily acquire pro-bono help. See, the thing is, many successful designers love doing pro-bono work because it's satisfying on many levels. No salary would ever compare with the satisfaction of helping a real cause through design. The well-paid designers out there spend most of their time working on utterly superficial work where the goal is nothing but to make more money, so when an opportunity comes along to do something like this, it feels good.
Another satisfying aspect of doing pro-bono work is that it gives the designer — in my experience — more creative freedom. Since they aren't paying for it, clients are less picky. They're grateful for the blessing of good design and the opportunity to stand out from so many other non-profits.
So, while I do see how your logic led you to believe this, I don't think it's necessarily bad for the industry. What it's good for is design, and with this organization in place, anyone can contribute regardless of their salary. On on the note of applying for funds to pay for design work, that just doesn't happen easily since branding isn't usually that important on the long list of priorities most NPOs have.
That's my two cents, and I am really enjoying this discussion. I hope someone else joins in.