Mom and dad don’t have to pay. No matter how painful the client-designer process may seem, they shouldn’t have to pay when they’ve spent a fortune on you for your first ~20 years of life. This applies to grandparents, two moms or two dads, step-parents, and basically any parental figure. If they offer to pay, decline. If they offer again, decline and ask for a nice meal or outing together in return.

Siblings should pay up. If they take your work seriously, all the better. Give them the family discount. If they’re purchasing several services, charge them for just one. If they don’t take your work seriously (Hint: “Don’t worry, it’s simple!”) decline to help unless it’s truly very simple.

The exception to this is young or teenage siblings. They’re likely not making any money so they can’t outright hire a designer or even enter a contract with one. If it’s a large project, make it clear that you may not be able to complete it sooner than paying work. They might pay you to complete it sooner or forget about it completely.

Other immediate family should be kept at a distance. Aunts, uncles and cousins that you live with or grew up in the same household with can be great clients, but be sure you limit contact during the process. Assure them that you will be giving them updates when appropriate, but discourage constant, hourly check-ins, especially when you have deadlines for paying client work.

In this case I would charge them with discount, or ask for a trade of services for something that would otherwise take up my time.

Charging non-immediate relatives is tough. In most cases I would decline to help, even if paid. Family that hardly sees you may still believe it’s fine to treat you like you are a learner and not a professional. In this case, you’ll have someone who will not take your advice and instead you will be their ‘Photoshop’ hand in creating work that you can’t use in your portfolio. Even worse, they won’t pay you because they don’t like the result.

If the idea is well-developed, the opportunity is promising, the client is understanding, and the pay is there, then it’s fine to follow through with the project.

Acquaintances and friends, no. Not for free, at least. It’s a combination of all the reasons listed above, including the fact that these friends are likely not close to you and for whatever “that’s life” reason, your friendship might be terminated. There goes hours of work down the drain, and now you’re definitely not getting paid. On the contrary, if your friend is in the tech, marketing, or social media industry, then it’s probably safe. Be sure to give them the homie discount. Even in the case of a falling out, they likely still value the work needed for their business, including that tax-deductible.

Best friends, YAAAS. Make the process fun and open. This is the ideal situation, because you can communicate ideas and have the client trust you easily. Make it free for them, but clearly they owe you (in a non-serious way, because you ❤ them).

Significant others make great clients when not in a rush. This applies to any client really, but be sure that with a time-sensitive client, you make sure the ideas are given time to develop. Your partner may want to push the project faster than it can manifest, simply because they see you around and think it’s no trouble to just hop on Photoshop. Only then do you sit there for 30 min waiting for the right direction.

In this case, let your client/lover know that the project needs a break. When this happens to me, I tell him, “We need to develop the ideas more. Let’s come back tomorrow at 5pm with new ideas.” When the time comes around, he has new ideas and inspiration ready in-hand.

Love don’t cost a thing, so neither does this project.