The Dangers of Spec Work
What's the easiest way to get a creative professional all riled up? Bring up the hotbed topic of spec work.
In its most common form, spec work happens when a company or individual hosts a "contest" in which artists (or writers or just about any other creative professionals) are invited to submit their best work for a given project.
Out of the dozens/hundreds/thousands of ideas that are entered in the contest, they will choose one entrant to (sometimes) win a prize and have their work published.
To the average person, this many seem like a pretty good arrangement.
The client gets lots of options to choose from and one lucky artist will get his/her work showcased.
But in reality, this type of arrangement does nothing by devalue designers and produce sub-par work for clients.
Let me elaborate: DESIGNERS: Would you work for free - or the hope of possibly being compensated? Well, if you enter a contest, you just did.
The client usually retains 100% ownership of any and all work submitted, regardless of if it was chosen as the winner.
Technically, it is theirs to then use (or resell) whenever they want.
So don't even think about re-purposing that logo design for (heaven forbid) another design contest.
Also, how much is that "carrot" of a prize you're chasing? $100? $500? How much would you have charged to do that design normally? And what are your odds of actually winning that contest? Think about it.
S-C-A-M.
CLIENTS: Let me break this down for you.
Real designers have years of experience and always do a great deal of market research before they even think about creating a piece of creative; they charge a fair rate based on their skill set and will produce high-quality work with a strong rationale behind it.
Wannabe designers (or worse, poor college students) have very little experience and are desperate for money and portfolio exposure; they will work for peanuts and produce work that they think is "pretty" without any logic to back it up.
Which of these two types of designers do you think are going to be entering your design contest? Let me assure you, it's the latter.
I've had more than one client come back to me after using a spec-work website like 99 Designs complaining of shoddy workmanship and poor communication.
Wonder why...
With this understanding, I stand in full support of the NO!SPEC movement, whose mission is to educate the public about the dangers of speculative work.
I hope you visit their website and take the pledge for yourself.
In its most common form, spec work happens when a company or individual hosts a "contest" in which artists (or writers or just about any other creative professionals) are invited to submit their best work for a given project.
Out of the dozens/hundreds/thousands of ideas that are entered in the contest, they will choose one entrant to (sometimes) win a prize and have their work published.
To the average person, this many seem like a pretty good arrangement.
The client gets lots of options to choose from and one lucky artist will get his/her work showcased.
But in reality, this type of arrangement does nothing by devalue designers and produce sub-par work for clients.
Let me elaborate: DESIGNERS: Would you work for free - or the hope of possibly being compensated? Well, if you enter a contest, you just did.
The client usually retains 100% ownership of any and all work submitted, regardless of if it was chosen as the winner.
Technically, it is theirs to then use (or resell) whenever they want.
So don't even think about re-purposing that logo design for (heaven forbid) another design contest.
Also, how much is that "carrot" of a prize you're chasing? $100? $500? How much would you have charged to do that design normally? And what are your odds of actually winning that contest? Think about it.
S-C-A-M.
CLIENTS: Let me break this down for you.
Real designers have years of experience and always do a great deal of market research before they even think about creating a piece of creative; they charge a fair rate based on their skill set and will produce high-quality work with a strong rationale behind it.
Wannabe designers (or worse, poor college students) have very little experience and are desperate for money and portfolio exposure; they will work for peanuts and produce work that they think is "pretty" without any logic to back it up.
Which of these two types of designers do you think are going to be entering your design contest? Let me assure you, it's the latter.
I've had more than one client come back to me after using a spec-work website like 99 Designs complaining of shoddy workmanship and poor communication.
Wonder why...
With this understanding, I stand in full support of the NO!SPEC movement, whose mission is to educate the public about the dangers of speculative work.
I hope you visit their website and take the pledge for yourself.
