If you’ve ever freelanced, interned, or simply existed as a designer in proximity to people who need things made—you’ve heard these phrases. Maybe more than once. Maybe this week.
“Hey, can you do me a favor?”
It starts friendly. Casual, even. A favor sounds small, harmless, the kind of thing you do for someone you like. But you and I both know what’s coming next. There’s a logo in there. Or a flyer. Or a full brand identity. Wrapped in the language of a favor, as if that makes it lighter.
“These should not take you too long.”
Ah. There it is. The sentence that manages to dismiss years of learning, hundreds of hours of practice, and the very real weight of creative labor — all in one breath. Said by someone who has never stared at a blank Illustrator file at midnight wondering if the kerning is off. Said with such confidence. Such certainty. As if the measure of a designer’s work is how fast it disappears.
“Your prices are too high.”
After the favor…
After the timeline that “shouldn’t take too long…”
After all of it—this is where you land. The final, polite way of saying: I don’t think what you do is worth paying for.
Does It Make Sense? is a mixed media series I made in 2023 during my advanced drawing class—an experiment in texture and material as much as in frustration.
Each piece is built on crumpled paper and glue layered onto canvas, then coated in acrylic paint and spray paint to mimic the look of a trash bag. Collaged icons of Adobe Illustrator, Procreate, and PDF files are scattered across the surface—the everyday tools of a creative’s life, torn up and tossed around.
The trash bag aesthetic was intentional. Because that’s what it can feel like sometimes—your skills, your time, your craft, treated as something disposable. Something that should be convenient, cheap, quick, and still impressive.
To every designer who has smiled through gritted teeth at one of these phrases: I see you. Does it make sense? No. But you already knew that.
Does It Make Sense?, 2022, on display at Arkansas State University in Winter 2022.