Ok, I can see what you’re saying, but as a designer and an owner of a graphics shop with a staff, I can say that it's not that easy to make graphics. It's not simply copying and pasting images on a canvas and blending them together-- there's all sorts of brainstorming that has to go into it to get good placement and originality and making sure that the colors work, etc. Then, there's also the fact that you need to take into consideration that what you're requesting is not necessarily what the designer wants to make. The lack of inspiration could make it harder to make graphics. I try to be able to finish my requests within 2-3 days, if possible, but I can understand why something may take two weeks because simply, being overloaded with having to balance graphics and exams, homework, work projects, being sick, relationships, family, and anything else from the real world is hard. Sure, 'our customers deserve to be given better services', but what has more priorities: graphics or real life?

I’ve seen what @perifairy said down below, and I have to disagree with “It can also be juggled down if there are staff members (if it's not an independent shop) if the requests are distributed evenly” I can’t agree with that. With personal experience of owning a shop, I can definitely say that the requests are NOT distributed evenly. People tend to favor one designer over another, and so when they select designers, they always choose the ones who they like better, even for their first and second choice of designer. So, while 2-3 designers at my shop have been getting overloaded with requests, the others haven’t, and that cannot be argued. Therefore, my shop can be constantly in a status with let’s say, four requests to one designer, while the others only get one, or maybe even none. I have definitely asked requesters to choose another designer so that it’s even, yet even so, it doesn’t help. Many just tell me, “sorry, but I really want so-and-so designer to make my request; I don’t mind the wait.” So, thus, in the end, I am not the one who picks which designers get requests and which don’t, but the requesters, and that’s why I have to disagree with the statement.

You’ve compared this to the real world, and I can’t agree with that statement either. Firstly, is this the real world? No. It’s online. Why would you apply real-world logic to digital online things? It’s like saying, “when you comment, you have to reply immediately and you can’t go back and revise your comment before you post because in the real world, people don’t wait five hours for you to reply and you can’t delete what you’ve said in the real world.” Secondly, this cannot be applied to shops in real life because in those shops, you’re PAYING them. Most graphics shops on AFF are FREE. The whole process of requesting is basically just a nicer, more organized way of asking someone a favor. And if you’re asking for favors, you should be understanding of the other side, and not pressure them constantly. So what if you’re waiting a week or two? You’re getting something done for you FOR FREE. Designers barely gain anything from making a poster for you, besides experience and virtual things like that.

You say that designers have an obligation to finish requests, and I believe that requesters also have an obligation to respect the designers they’re requesting from. Why can’t you wait two weeks? Does it harm you to simply wait? Are you in a rush? Do you have to have graphics for your story immediately the moment you request? Patience is a thing. If you really can’t even wait a while for quality work to be given to you for free, then go to another shop. Unlike what you’ve said above, us designers are not obligated to make graphics for you. We have every. Right. To. Reject. Your. Request. Even if we accept it, and we’re working on it and find that we can’t make the poster you’re asking for, we have the right to reject it. You cannot force us to make a poster for you. That is simply unreasonable.

I’m sorry if I sound rude, but I cannot accept it when people speak like this and treat graphics like nothing. I wouldn’t appreciate it at all if someone was yelling at me, “THEN DON’T FREAKING OPEN THE SHOP.” Sure, we open our shops to provide services to people, but that does not mean that you have the right to be disrespectful like that. You have to understand that graphic designers are people, you’re asking us to make something for you for nothing, and that by not showing any gratitude and ranting about the fact that you can’t even wait two weeks for you request to be finished is just absolutely absurd.

Yeah that can be understandable I guess with covers but not with trailers.