by Doug Anderson

Graphics and Commercial Art

Stephanie is a second year Graphics/Commercial Art student at Utah Valley State College. She is a talented student and is very serious about finding employment in the highly competitive field of graphic design.

Stephanie's teacher encourages the students to prepare a portfolio that is representative of their best work and which demonstrates student talent and skill. Students are taught that the portfolio will be their most important tool in obtaining employment. The portfolio should contain not only typical classroom assignments, but also some professional work for which the student has received compensation from a paying client. These professional pieces are the most important part of the portfolio. They show the prospective employer that the student has had experience working with an actual client and is able to complete a project to that client's satisfaction.

Stephanie has found a client and has designed a symbol for them. They are willing to pay for the work and are planning to use it as a company logo or trademark. However, the client does not feel that they should pay as much for the work as if they had hired a professional designer, after all, Stephanie is a student. Stephanie has asked her instructors how much she should charge for the design.

Questions:

What should her teachers tell her? Consider the following:

Industry compensation standards for this kind of work can easily be over $1000.00.

If industry must pay the standard rate, they will not use student work. Students will be unable to gain experience or portfolio pieces.

If a student charges less than the going rate, are they driving down the market price for this kind of work?

Since a portfolio is the key to obtaining a job, how can a student hope to gain employment with no paid work in the portfolio?

Is it even ethical for students to do this kind of work? Is it creating unfair competition with the local designers?

Equal pay for equal work?