🐈
» Forums » New to Upwork » Winning the job
Page options
vectords
Community Member

Winning the job

Hello, I’m a graphic design freelancer and recently I’ve struggled to win jobs even though my profile looks great, and I write every cover letter tailored to the job I’m applying for. I would appreciate it if someone takes a look at my profile and maybe points out what I’m missing. Thank you in advance!
ACCEPTED SOLUTION

I just want to add: Upwork specifically has a flagging mechanism on people's profiles for plagiarized content. So your assertion that because someone on YouTube told you to do it or that other people are doing it somehow makes it okay is incorrect. Upwork is actively trying to address plagiarized content by making it a flaggable offense. 

 

I'm sorry you were taken in by some bad actors who are trying to sell a YouTube channel by giving "shortcuts" to using Upwork that are also illegal/unethical, but it's time to drop the defensiveness and just fix the problem instead of insisting you were right. Someone pulled one over on you. Accept it, fix your mistake, and move on. 

View solution in original post

35 REPLIES 35
antony_valan
Community Member

Hi Vanja D !!!!

You have completed 90% of your profile and only adding a video introduction and linking a Social Account is remaining. Your Profile is in Excellent shape. All you need is patience to get hired. Please don't hesitate to reply if needed.

 

Thanking You,

Antony.

lysis10
Community Member

right-click, search google for image

 

clients probs do that.

vectords
Community Member

What does that mean?
lysis10
Community Member

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

vectords
Community Member

Thank you for helping a young person earn some extra money!

Why should we help you commit fraud and copyright infringement? If you want to earn extra money, find a skill that you can offer honestly.

I have a lot of designs I’ve worked hard to create, I might not be the best designer on this platform but I’m giving my best, I learned every Adobe software by myself without any education and still am trying to improve. And as a designer yourself I know you can’t say you didn’t draw an inspirstion from somewhere else for at least some of your projects. And also I’m not aiming at clients that post 500$ jobs and most of all the clients that I’ve worked with are happy with our cooperation which reviews show.

However much your clients are paying I’m sure they won’t be too happy to receive take down notices off the back of your stolen designs. Don’t come to the forum moaning that you’re not getting work when you can’t even do the jobs you advertise yourself for and have already been paid for stealing work.

Yes I can do the services I advertise and I have plenty of designs to show for it and if you believe in the opposite I would be more than happy to prove you wrong by creating something that can change your mind.

We're not the ones that you have to worry about. The very first project listed in your profile shows a logo that you directly copied from another designer - it wasn't just "inspired by", it's exactly the same design that you just traced in Illustrator. Maybe you should get in touch with that client and offer to design something original, before she finds out that she doesn't own the copyright to the logo that she paid you for.

Also, your bio is copied and pasted from this guy - **Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

Maybe instead of coming to the forum to complain about not getting jobs you should be grateful clients are hiring legitimate freelancers and not frauds. I hope this is flagged with a mod. 

Why wouldn’t I be legitimate if I posted a bio that also describes my work, you can’t copyright biography Jesus Christ. And you’ve taken one design to summarize my whole work portfolio, which isn’t really intelligent. You can see on my profile a logo for Virgo company, which I’ve created mysefl, Rainow Superfood, also created it myself, Edmondson design, also created it myself, Team Welsh, also created it myself, Leaf Blower, created myself, for the USA motorcycling logo the client sent me an image from the internet to vector trace it and change it to fit his website so he told me to do it, and I have many more designs that I can provide which I’ve done all by myself, I have business cards that I’ve done myself, Website Banners that I’ve done myself and also I do web development outside of Upwork and I can provide source folders for anyone to check my code which I doubt **Edited for Community Guidelines**. I know how to work in Adobe Illustrstor, Photoshop, Dimension, XD, Premier Pro and more, also some of the Mockups for presenting logos to clients I’ve created myself with Adobe Dimension which I also **Edited for Community Guidelines**. I can create a full website starting from web design to ui design, create banners for it and code it in javascript which **Edited for Community Guidelines**, so taking one portfolio items and scrutinized me for it is not the best way to solve anything.


Vanja D wrote:
Why wouldn’t I be legitimate if I posted a bio that also describes my work, you can’t copyright biography Jesus Christ. 

Wrong. Anything that somebody writes or creates themselves is automatically protected by copyright. So you just admitted that you plagiarised somebody else's profile text instead of writing your own. 

 


Vanja D wrote:
for the USA motorcycling logo the client sent me an image from the internet to vector trace it and change it to fit his website so he told me to do it, 

If a client tells you to infringe on somebody else's copyright, that still doesn't make it okay. An ethical designer would have refused to do this. And you admit that you flat-out stole the first logo in your profile? Do know that you did that project for somebody who's an actual Upwork employee?

 


Vanja D wrote:
I can provide source folders for anyone to check my code which I doubt you would know how to do. I know how to work in Adobe Illustrstor, Photoshop, Dimension, XD, Premier Pro and more, also some of the Mockups for presenting logos to clients I’ve created myself with Adobe Dimension which I also doubt you can do yourself. I can create a full website starting from web design to ui design, create banners for it and code it in javascript which I also DOUBT you can do yourself, so taking one portfolio items and scrutinized me for it is not the best way to solve anything.

You're right, I can't do some of the things that you've listed, and I can't create a website either. But I didn't claim that I can create a website, then steal somebody else's web design and sell it to a client. Do you really not see the difference?

 

Hi All,

 

A few posts have been edited from this thread for Community Guidelines. We encourage our Community members to be professional and respectful to one another when posting here. Please, be mindful of the Community Guidelines and avoid making personal attacks.

 

Thank you!

~ Nikola
Upwork

I'm interested as to why this freelancer's profile has still not been taken down when he has admitted to plagiarising both his Bio AND his work. This has been reported both on here and many of us flagging his profile to you as well? 


Nikola S wrote:

Hi All,

 

A few posts have been edited from this thread for Community Guidelines. We encourage our Community members to be professional and respectful to one another when posting here. Please, be mindful of the Community Guidelines and avoid making personal attacks.

 

Thank you!


Does Upwork have any guidelines when it comes to plagiarism and copyright infringement? Just curious.

 

lysis10
Community Member

Well, as long as there is only a little bit of copyright infringement, I guess it's ok.

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

vectords
Community Member

Btw when i started using Upwork i went on youtube to see how to start my journey here and some of the respectful members of this platform that have earned great amounts of money here have youtube videos in which they give an advice to copy someones bio and put it on to your profile as they already know how the platform works, so if this created such a **Edited for Community Guidelines**, I would say much bigger problem is that respected freelancers are giving bad advice more so than me following their advice, and again one design does not represent my complete portfolio, also the images I’ve vector traced are downloaded from websites that provide them for free meaning they are not restricted for public use.

lysis10
Community Member


Vanja D wrote:
Btw when i started using Upwork i went on youtube to see how to start my journey here and some of the respectful members of this platform that have earned great amounts of money here have youtube videos in which they give an advice to copy someones bio and put it on to your profile as they already know how the platform works, so if this created such a fuss, I would say much bigger problem is that respected freelancers are giving bad advice more so than me following their advice, and again one design does not represent my complete portfolio, also the images I’ve vector traced are downloaded from websites that provide them for free meaning they are not restricted for public use.

ooof, that explains why there are so many templated bios where you can tell they were copied. I knew there had to be someone with very little money earned pushing this stuff. btw, people with advice like that haven't made any money here. Always ask to see their profile before taking any advice from anyone in regards to upwork. I have not come across anyone who peddles that garbage with an amazing profile with lots earned.

vectords
Community Member

Most importantly every single person I’ve worked with on this great platform is never in a milion years going to get copy striked as I’ve used free designs that ARE for public use only for two jobs. First one is as I’ve said for a client who sent me free png image which he deliberately told me to trace and I CAN DO that if the image provided doesn’t have copyright and second time is when the client had a really tight schedule and needed a design quickly, I’ve provided 3 designs and one that was downloded from a website for free for public use and she knew that and decided to go with that design.

Do you know that even free to download stock vectors also require you to pay 9/10 times for a license if you are going to use the logo commercially? Which would not make sense as you would have paid more for the logo than you would have earned on the job? So it's safe to say both clients are very much at risk from infringement notices. Also, it's very very unbelievable that an Upwork employee (the MS design) would allow you to do this. 

 

 

*Edit - Christine said it better. 


Vanja D wrote:
I would say much bigger problem is that respected freelancers are giving bad advice more so than me following their advice, and again one design does not represent my complete portfolio, also the images I’ve vector traced are downloaded from websites that provide them for free meaning they are not restricted for public use.

It's not just one design - you have multiple pieces in your portfolio that you didn't create yourself. As a designer, you should know what copyright infringement is and how to avoid it - it's part of the job. But even if you didn't know before, you know now, and you still keep pretending it's okay. If a client didn't want an original design, they could just download a vector file for free themselves - why do you think they'd go to the trouble of hiring somebody here?

 

Upwork's contract terms state that clients own designs after they've been paid for; but your clients CANNOT own the designs that you've given them, because somebody else owns the copyright (even free websites prohibit vector tracing or passing off designs as your own). And if your clients go to a lot of trouble to get signs and stationery and merchandise printed with "their" new logo, and then find out that they don't own the design, what do you think will happen? They'll come after you. 

Okay so if the shape vector is provided for free, allowed for public use in a all black color and I trace it and change the color to blue its going to get copyrighted? And to answer your question why clients don’t do it themselves, not every single person on this planet knoes how to use software that we use on this platform.

not every single person on this planet knoes how to use software that we use on this platform.

 

Clearly, neither do you.

This post adds nothing to the conversation and is just an out right insult, which means you have a lot of free time you can use in a much more positive way.☺️

Hi all,

 

Hope you're having a great weekend. Please note that a few posts have been removed and edited on this thread since their content violated Community Guidelines. I'm closing this thread for further responses. Thank you for your feedback and participation, please do keep in mind our Guidelines when posting in the Community forums.

 

Thank you,

~ Nikola
Upwork


Vanja D wrote:
Okay so if the shape vector is provided for free, allowed for public use in a all black color and I trace it and change the color to blue its going to get copyrighted? 

YES, IT'S STILL WRONG. 

 

Look, either you know how to do logo designs - in which case, go ahead and create original work. Or, you don't know how to do logo designs - in which case, stop cheating clients out of their money.

 


Vanja D wrote:
And to answer your question why clients don’t do it themselves, not every single person on this planet knoes how to use software that we use on this platform.

LOL. If clients manage to post projects here, then they're savvy enough to make a purchase from a stock art website. Are you seriously suggesting that you needed special software knowledge to type somebody's name under that initial logo? You didn't even spend 15 seconds kerning the letters properly.

I’m sorry to disagree with you, but that’s like me going to pixabay or a similar website to pick some of the stock images for my website and than cutting the part of an image or changing the filter, thus if its free and allowed for public use I can download it and whatever I want with it and you should possess this knowledge. And for the other part of your post some people don’t have time to do those things or they maybe didn’t hear about those kind of services. If you have free time and own an instagram account you can check vectords profile on which I’ve showcased some of my designs that are not on my Upwork profile, they might not be top notch but are custom made by myself.


Vanja D wrote:
I’m sorry to disagree with you, but that’s like me going to pixabay or a similar website to pick some of the stock images for my website and than cutting the part of an image or changing the filter, thus if its free and allowed for public use I can download it and whatever I want with it and you should possess this knowledge. And for the other part of your post some people don’t have time to do those things or they maybe didn’t hear about those kind of services. If you have free time and own an instagram account you can check vectords profile on which I’ve showcased some of my designs that are not on my Upwork profile, they might not be top notch but are custom made by myself.

So - for the record - you regret nothing, you don't see anything wrong, and you plan to continue doing this. I'm done arguing.

No, for the record, I’ve done it two times and clients knew about it before paying and I will continue to create designs on this platform myself, but if a client already has an image that he knows is not copyrighted and wants me to work on it I will because I do what clients need. Don’t put words in my mouth, thank you.

What about your plagiarised bio? You've been told that's not allowed but it's still up. Like I and others have said - don't come to the forum moaning about not getting jobs when your entire profile is stolen, the work that is 'legitimate' is shoddy and you are rude and condescending. Will enjoy seeing you being taken off the platform. 

I’ve seen the same bios so many times outside of my profile which means it is not a federal crime, also the person that’s being rude right now is you, and on top of all that I can beat you in computer and software knowledge at any time of day and night with my eyes closed.

Does your welsh real estate agency logo not realize you provided them the same logo as the national assembly for Wales?

 

Maybe go and learn how to use the software you harp on about before you want to get into a competition on who's better at what. Really - you're embarrassing yourself now. 

 

**Edited for Community Guidelines**


Vanja D wrote:
I’ve seen the same bios so many times outside of my profile which means it is not a federal crime, also the person that’s being rude right now is you, and on top of all that I can beat you in computer and software knowledge at any time of day and night with my eyes closed.

Just because some scammer told you to plagiarize a profile does not mean it's ethical or legal. Just because you found lots of other people also breaking rules and laws doesn't mean it's okay for you to do. Once those profiles are discovered they are also reported. You can boast as much as you want about your "knowledge" on anything, but the problem is you clearly don't know how to get clients and run a freelancing business, which is why you are here in the first place. The solution is to take the advice given to you and rewrite your profile so that it is original and not stolen (identity theft is also a crime, btw), and fix your portfolio so that only original pieces that you yourself created without copying from others are included. You also need to take a class on basic business ethics and learn some of the laws that cover your field so you don't end up in this situation again. No one is knocking self-taught skills, but the problem is you haven't learned the ethical and legal issues of your field, and you are putting yourself at risk. 

I just want to add: Upwork specifically has a flagging mechanism on people's profiles for plagiarized content. So your assertion that because someone on YouTube told you to do it or that other people are doing it somehow makes it okay is incorrect. Upwork is actively trying to address plagiarized content by making it a flaggable offense. 

 

I'm sorry you were taken in by some bad actors who are trying to sell a YouTube channel by giving "shortcuts" to using Upwork that are also illegal/unethical, but it's time to drop the defensiveness and just fix the problem instead of insisting you were right. Someone pulled one over on you. Accept it, fix your mistake, and move on. 

Latest Articles
Featured Topics
Learning Paths