I first saw that old video 'Revise Until You Die' years ago. Back then it was just funny. Watching it again, it hit differently.
In the beginning I designed PJBlog skins purely for fun. If people liked one, they could use it; if not, they could ignore it. I made dozens of styles that way, and the encouragement and support from friends meant a lot to me.
Later, some friends asked me to customize skins for a fee. I thought that was fine. I was designing anyway, and earning a little money on the side did not seem like a bad thing.
With paid custom work, though, I was more careful. I did not treat it casually. A design rarely reaches its best form in one pass, so revisions are unavoidable. Sometimes the issues friends raised were genuinely necessary. Pushing each piece closer to something polished was part of what I wanted to do.
That is why I do not fully agree with everything in 'Revise Until You Die'. People miss things. A designer can overlook a detail they never noticed, and when someone else points it out, it can improve their ability to make the next thing better.
But the relationship between designer and client should still be equal. Neither side is above the other. The client can make requests, and the designer does the design. I do not accept the idea that paying money makes the client the boss or somehow superior. I am not dependent on this work to survive. Without an order, I will not starve. I do it because I like it—just a hobby.
I have also made interfaces for friends for free. So I think a gentler, more equal attitude usually leads to better results. You do not hit a smiling face, as the saying goes, and the same logic applies here.
I do not want designing skins to become something that makes me unhappy. That would go against why I started. Doing things happily and designing with joy—that is what I care about.