2 people want: How to secure pro bono design services

Hi, I have worked for a number of voluntary organisations and charities (all small) and for each have managed to secure pro-bono work from designers/agencies.

I am lucky because I have a lots of friends that have come from art school and for this reason I can approach them directly. However, I do think that a new approach could help you:
Rather than approaching people with a begging bowl, turn the tables.
You have lots to offer a designer. Many are frustrated by the run-of-the-mill jobs that they have to work around. You offer them the opportunity to do something for a good cause, and potentially think out of the box (as long as you are happy for them to do this). You offer them the opportunity to add something different to their CV and can possibly network them into the local vol orgs/charities that operate within your circle. Try to remember this when approaching people.

Have a look at local designers website. Whose work catches your eye, or looks like they come from the same ethos. You have nothing to loose by approaching them stating your needs, and what you can offer in return (be sure to add that you will mention them where ever their work is displayed).

Also think about approaching local design students - either FE or HE. You could do this by going directly to the Head Lecturer and seeing if you could organise a project around your needs (this would require some planning and would need to fit in the curriculum) - alternatively have a look for a student notice board, their facebook page etc. and let them know what you need and what you can offer. Some may even consider an internship so that they have something to put down on your CV

Think about offering a volunteer position. Write a volunteer role description being as clear as possible with regards to what you want creating (e.g. brand, logo, website, posters, leaflets etc), whether you would expect the individual to be office/home based etc and how long you could offer someone the position. Make sure that you could reimburse them with out of pocket expenses (e.g. travel costs). Talk to your local volunteer centre about where else you could advertise this.
I have found that these more unusual volunteer positions get great results...

in Scotland we had a national youth volunteering scheme and I worked along-side some fabulous design graduates who were finding it difficult to get a job, wanted to expend their CV's/portfolios and get a reference from someone that wasn't a tutor. I have a feeling there is something similar elsewhere in the UK - give it a go.

If all else fails think about talking to local agencies about giving some of their time for free. I have worked with a marketing agency that only charged for 25% of their time - the rest they reported in their publications as their commitment to Corporate social responsibility.


So, to conclude
Think about what you offer the designer:
The opportunity to expand current CV/portfolio
Work with not-for-profit sector
Opportunity for them to demonstrate their social conscience
A break from the old routine
A new referee

Think about what you have to offer the volunteer
Somewhere to promote themselves
The opportunity to expand their CV and get a reference
An office base (out of their bedroom!)
A friendly work base
Chance to build their confidence

Also you could let the press know about the outcome (e.g. local designer helps local charity) - they love this kind of thing. And if you approach them they may even put your request in the paper too.... if you want help with writing a press release, that is another tip....

GOOD LUCK

Sam Eccles

We are also a small charity and though we are approached a lot by design agencies that want our business, we don't have a budget for this. (Some designers have argued make a budget for it, given the importance of communications).

We would agree with the previous entry - think of what you can offer the designer: publicity, one of your services, experience. Also remember that some of your users are just looking for the opportunity to help you out so...

Start with your users - once you dig there is an incredible amount of talent in the people who you are providing services/products for.

Don't view the design process simply as the creation of a new image, but allow users to get involved in the process - your design will end up reflecting users more, you will ensure faster recognition among existing users and you are giving users a way of engaging with you in a new way.

We ran a competition for our new logo. We advertised that people would get honey, a t-shirt with their logo on it, as well as seeing their logo in a variety of places. We also provided them with a reference (on linkedin - but would also do a paper version).

We invited local college students on design courses to participate, as well as using our social media presence to advertise. In total we had 40 submissions!

Among our users was someone who knew about commissioning and writing briefs. Even though she did not have the time to do the designing, she made sure our brief communicated our needs.

We then posted our logo submissions on the wall and asked people what they thought - it gave us a great reason to interact face to face with many users in a more direct way than usual. (The process itself is worthwhile).

We also posted the designs on flickr and advertised this through social media, extending the group who we included in the consultation, extending the exposure of the designers and this was probably the best way to launch our new logo. We cycled through our logo pictures on twitter and facebook.

We are very happy with the resulting logo - it turned out to be no surprise that the winning design was made by someone who took the time to ask us questions, take photos of the farm and generally take the time to understand the organisation.

All good points, but a couple of important caveats! Please forgive me for going on at such length, but I have extensive experience of both commissioning and providing pro bono design work, and the general advice below IS important.

(A) Copyright:
If not completed in the course of full-time paid employment, all 'content creators' (this applies to photographers, writers, filmmakers and illustrators as well as designers) will automatically retain copyright in their work.
I can't go into the full ins and out of copyright law here as (a) it's extremely complicated and (b) I'm not a lawyer! My partner is though, and specialises in Intellectual Copyright law.

'Copyright' is actually a bundle of rights (primarily split into economic and moral rights). The license is the assignment of these some of these rights between the creator of the work and another party. A license can either be vague of amazingly specific (detailing specific uses, time limitations etc), dependent on those involved.

You MUST have a license in order to use creative work or you may find yourself or your charity facing hefty legal bills in the future.

It is particularly important to understand "Moral Rights". Moral rights are automatically assigned to the creator unless they are specifically waived in contract. Note that such a waiver is required in law to be signed and in writing.

The primary aspects of moral rights are:
1) Paternity - a creator has the right to insist on a credit line and (c).

2 False Attribution - a creator has the right not to be identified as the creator or author of a work which is in fact created by someone else.

2) Integrity - The key issue. To quote official guidance "(a creator) can object to a derogatory treatment of his or her works. A derogatory treatment is regarded as any addition to, deletion from, alteration to or adaptation of the work which amounts to a distortion or mutilation of the work or is otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the creator."

So... if you want to later change any aspect of a pro bono artwork, you could find your charity being sued.

There is more info about copyright and license as it applies to visual works available on the DACS website, but it's squarely aimed at creators rather than end-users.

(B) Respect and clear communications:
While I appreciate that Sam is coming from a charity perspective and rightly emphasising the benefits of charitable work to a designer, there is a danger of going too far if you don't respect the real value that good creative work can bring to your charity.

I'm now employed as a designer for a major charity, but have previously done pro bono work myself and had a number of extremely frustrating experiences which I could have, but didn't publicise. These mainly arose because the person commissioning the artwork didn't really know what they wanted, so I produced a number of options only to be told "we don't really know what we want, but we don't like that, can you show us some more?" WHen working for free this just isn't good enough.

HCF is very much on the ball in mentioning the importance of a clear brief.

Before asking a designer to create something for you, you should consider:
1) What are you asking us to do? Eg produce a poster, brochure or web pages.
2) Why? What is this communication intended to achieve? Eg a change in behaviour or understanding, an action etc. Is the stated communication the best way to achieve this (what other ways are there)? How does it fit with existing or other planned communications?
3) Who is the audience? Split into specific groups, and prioritise – who is the most important? What do we know about them – demographics, attitudes etc? What will motivate them to do what you want? What are the barriers that will stop them?
4) Key messages: What are the basic points you want to get across?
5) Distinctive proposition: Given all of the above, what is the key thought that ties together your aims, the key messages and your audience’s motivations,
6) External environment: Are there any external factors we should know about that might influence the solution? Eg, what competitors are doing or plan to do? Sector-wide trends? New technology etc?
7) Content, design and functionality: What should and should not be included, and why? What functionality is required – can you describe how people will use it? Any restrictions on format, photography, design style, tone of voice?
8) Timings and approval: What are the key dates and who needs to approve each stage?
9) Production and fulfilment: What is the final format required (eg digital, printed document, artwork only) and how will it be distributed?
10) Evaluation: How will you evaluate the project?

This may seem over-complex for what might seem to you to be a simple artwork, but if you can answer these questions clearly you are far more likely to get a result that pleases everyone.

Reactions to design are often highly subjective eg "I just don't like the colour blue" and everyone has a different view, achieving consensus on a clear brief before artwork commences is crucial.

I leave you with two classic design truisms; "you cant design by committee" and; "ASAP is NOT a deadline!"

All the best,

Andrew