WATCH | 'I've never waited for someone to pay me to do stuff' — Shimza reacts to exploitation claims

When Shimza took to Twitter to call on graphic designers to pitch their work to him, he didn't expect to get backlash.

“Graphic design Twitter, I’m looking at changing my logo. Please send me design suggestions for me to check out,” he tweeted this week.

While many were grateful for the opportunity and said they would submit their work, others called him out for his proposal, claiming it was exploitive.

Shimza reacted by posting a video claiming he was misunderstood. He said he was simply trying to encourage people to use their skills to get noticed by prospective employers.

“I'm looking at all these tweets and I'm thinking Twitter is something else. When I think about what I just tweeted, I'm like actually this is how I've been doing stuff. I've never waited for someone to pay me to do stuff”

Shimza went on to explain that he landed a big gig by taking the initiative.

Shimza also shared the example of a lead Drip Footwear designer who bombarded CEO Lekau Sehoana with design samples before working with him.

“Imagine if he waited to be paid based on ‘Twitter standards’.”

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