6 min read
When & Why I Do Work For Free
I like to give a little back to the community when I can. I do so now, and for the 12 years that I ran Design By Day.
When I ran the agency we were a small team with a strong ethos. Motivated by so much more than money; our love of design, passion for technology, eagerness to keep learning and a desire to help those who help worthy causes that would otherwise be unable to afford our services. The same is true now I’m a solo freelancer.
Here’s a run down of the type of work I like to get involved in (with example mostly created by the team in during my time at Design By Day). If you have a project that you think fits, please get in touch. If I have the availability and the project is right, I’d be happy to help out.
1. Homeless organisations, charities and local work
Living and working in Manchester, homelessness was very close to our hearts and an issue we could not help but see every day in the city centre. Helping homelessness was something the Design By Day team and I was very passionate about at DBD and feel with have a lot more to give, especially at grass roots level.
Nourish Bar
Sanna Manir, Freedom Project Coordinator at Mustard Tree, got in touch about a personal project she was cooking up to help raise money for the homeless in Manchester. Sanna came up with the great idea of creating a health bar which would not only help raise money from sales but could be given out to homeless people on the streets as well.
The Design By Day team helped Sanna by designing the logo and packaging of the bar.
The Gift of Giving
The Gift of Giving is a project that ensures that homeless people are given a gift at Christmas. We had the privilege of designing their logo for Xmas 2016.
Lifeshare
For a number of years Lifeshare was our chosen charity at Design By Day. They are the oldest homeless charity in Manchester and do amazing work helping homeless and venerable people across Greater Manchester including first line support and referral, emergency accommodation, resource redistribution and education. We designed, build and maintained their website at no cost to the charity – so they could spend their money on helping people.
2. Social Causes
As creatives, we have the power of design at our fingertips to make a positive impact on society.
Stockport Women’s Centre
Remember the early days of the pandemic? Before anyone knew what Furlough was? And agency clients were putting their projects on hold left, right and centre? This down time was the perfect opportunity offer the agency’s services to organisations that needed a little help with design materials. Spotting a request on Facebook from a representative from Stockport Women’s Centre, we were able to help them with their need for a welcome pack with COVID-19 information for new residents.
3. Environmental Groups
An area we haven’t really dipped our toes in, but would certainly love to!
Salford Bee Collective
A long while ago, when Design By Day was based in Islington Mill in Salford, we met the Salford Bee Collective. The Salford Bee collective is a locally produced food Co-operative based in Salford. A group of like minded individuals who provide community groups and members of the public with access to beekeeping and it’s products.
Back in 2012 we proudly designed their logo and a label for a batch of honey which quickly sold out at the Christmas at the Mill event held at islington Mill. We were also invited to go Bee Keeping with them!
4. Health & Well Being
Association for Pelvic Organ Prolapse
Pelvic Organ Prolapse is a non-life threatening condition, but can be hugely life changing for many women (and some men). It is extremely common, but sadly most people have never heard of it until it affects their life.
APOPs was founded by Sherrie Palm, an inspirational lady who having suffered from POP herself and undergoing successful surgery – made it her life’s mission to raise awareness, offer advice, put newly diagnosed women in contact, and to educate clinicians.
Sherrie herself calls it the ‘silent epidemic’ as it’s one of those things that people like to talk about, including those suffering from POP.
We contacted Sherrie to see if there was anything we could do to help her cause – and as it turns out our timing was spot on! Sherrie was working the 3rd edition of her book, Pelvic Organ Prolapse, The Silent Epidemic, and asked us if we could create professional medical diagrams, 2 of which are displayed here, to replace the hand drawn ones used in the 2nd edition.
Life in the Zone
Three of Team DBD learned meditation with the UK arm of Transendental Meditation. To give something back we offered our branding, web design & development services to our instructor to take the technique to sports professionals to improve performance.
Although not in operation under the same name any longer, Life In The Zone offers athletes a unique service; the chance to gain focus and ultimately perform better through learning and practicing Transcendental Meditation (TM).