Is it really an opportunity?

It never surprises me when someone asks me "Hey, would you like to design our team t-shirt?" or "Would you mind making a flyer for such and such event?" or "I saw a painting blah blah blah could you paint one like it?" While these projects never excite me like my own sketches and paintings, I am always happy to help out. It does frustrate me though, how most of this stuff is not good to put in my portfolio. Copying the idea of a painting isn't portfolio-worthy.

But this week I decided that I had come across a real opportunity. A small PR company asked me if I could help them with a campaign pitch for their client. They have four commercial concepts and they needed a sketch artist to lay out a storyboard for each of the commercials. I was thinking "Wow, this would be great for my portfolio!" and "Wow, I could maybe make some good connections!" I also thought that the process would be exciting and fun.

But after meeting with the PR company I realized how completely unexciting and unfun this process would be. Most of the time I don't mind doing free work for people. But I feel like I am being taken advantage of. In a three day period I somehow have to have four storyboards finished (that is a lot of drawing!)

Is this really an opportunity? Probably, but it's a pain right now. But if I am presented with the same opportunity later on, I think I will have to decline. This is too much work to do for free.