At some point as a mediocre designer (or a beginner or ultra designer), one of your friends will ask you to make them a site or work with them on a project. I’m going to break this down into two parts. Today’s post will cover making a site for your friend and the Part II will cover working with friends on a mutual project.
You want to complete this project while keeping your friendship intact – depending on the size and nature of the site, the stress level could be high. Remember that your friend is now your client. Repeat that with me: Your friend is now your client. I will expound on this further in a moment. First, however, I want to discuss what to watch out for:
- Does your friend understand what’s involved? Many people feel it’s Geocities-style building, where you just click some buttons and it’s done. Your friend may not realize the time involved.
- Will your friend be making constant updates? If so, you’re going to want to show them how to do that themselves, otherwise you WILL always be the go-to person. Be clear on your responsibilities after the hand-off.
- Sometimes, if someone doesn’t pay for something, they value it less. Consider asking for a trade of services or slight monetary compensation. Naturally, if you’re setting up the whole thing, purchasing space or domain names, you’ll want to be reimbursed. Clear all costs with them beforehand.
- Consider making a small contract. You could make it a “fun” looking contract so it doesn’t scare your friend, but this will serve the purpose of clarifying your role(s) and responsibilities on the site’s construction (see #2). Mention any monetary or trade compensation, if there is any.
- Figure out a timeline. Work it into your schedule. If you don’t think you can get this done within, say, 3 weeks or a month, don’t take the job. There will always be other things you’ll want to do rather than your gratis work, like play video games. Putting it off means possibly upsetting your friend. If your friend is bugging you about “is it done yet?” then you’ve probably put it off too long.
- Don’t slack. Seriously. I realize that you may have been coerced into making the site, and you aren’t really into it, but this is YOUR chance to shine. Make a site that will look good on your portfolio. If your friend doesn’t really know much about web design, you can probably get him to allow you to design whatever you want.
Back to the your friend is now your client thing. You know how when you meet with clients, you are respectful, professional and clear? Yes. Be that way with your friend. Have friendship time and professional time. Do not mix the two else you find yourself forgetting things: “Oh yeah, I was gonna discuss ____ with him, but we started playing video games.” Right. Don’t do that.
Hopefully, this is all clear. Questions?
Posted by graphicdarkly 
