Designers deserve to get paid for their work, no matter who they’re working for
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010<rant>Matt Giraud seriously ticked me of today.
I have a search running on my tweetdeck for “web designer” at all times – it allows me to respond quickly if I see someone is in need of my services. Today, I saw one come through from Matt Giraud, explaining he was looking for a web designer and the details were on his facebook page…
For those of you who don’t know who Matt Giraud is, he was on American Idol, season 8 and placed 5th. Since then, he has been on the AI CD, launched 2 of his own CD’s, gone on multiple tours and one would assume made a small chunk of change. He has over 29,000 fans on facebook, a solid 59,000 followers on twitter and while he is no Carrie Underwood, he is also not your every day guy. So, when a guy like this is looking for a web designer, you would expect that he is not only looking for the best of the best, but also looking to pay someone very well for their work, right? Wrong.
Here’s what his Facebook page said:

Let’s break this down…he is looking for a web designer to work for free to “build their portfolio” and get some free CD’s and concert tickets? You have got to be kidding me. This reads like an awful ad for a designer from Craigslist, not the request from a celebrity for a website design. Sorry Matt, but concert tickets, meeting you and a few CD’s does not pay my bills. I own a business because I want to help other businesses succeed, create awesome websites and get paid for it. I did not start this to help prima dona celebrities get their sites up for free.
I know there is a simple solution if I don’t like what the guy is doing – just don’t send my info in - but what bothers me is that he is even making a request like this. My irritation is all on the principle of the thing – the fact that he sent out a request like this is just disgusting, rude and shows how little he really cares about people. Just a couple years ago, he was a no body just looking to make it – and would never have had the gall to send out a request like this. Give him a little fame and money and all of a sudden it’s ‘Why should I have to pay for other people’s work’.
The sad part is that he’ll find someone who is willing to work for just concert tickets. “Celebrities” always get what they want, because for some reason, our culture has determined they deserve it. The simple fact is, work should be paid for and being “famous” does not give you the right to ask for work for free. You are not that cool. </rant>
What are your thoughts on celebrities asking people to do work for free?




