Who doesn't like a little bit of competition? As kids there were contests all of the time for art, science and spelling. People won trophies, ribbons and some just had the honor of trying. Competition continues into adulthood. Companies request artists to do spec work or ask a group of artists to compete to win the honor of designing a logo, brand or some other piece of marketing. If you "win" you get all the glory that goes along with it. Sometimes you even get a stipend for your trouble. And if you lose, you know you tried. Some designers are asked to compete when bidding on work and the project goes to the lowest bidder.
Companies have been doing this for years. It was by accident that we found out that there is a movement against this behavior. "The No-Spec Campaign," is designed to, "serve as a vehicle to unite those who support the notion that spec work devalues the potential of design and ultimately does a disservice to the client." Meaning, they want to help designers who have done work for free and help clients who are paying for substandard work. Because honestly, how can a client expect professional, high quality work when they're paying someone practically nothing to do it?
Let's say you typically charge $10 per hour. Someone offers you $2.50 per hour and still wants great work. If you are a designer or if you are washing windows, how good of a job do you think you are going get in return? I am thinking you will a lot of streaks on your windows.
AIGA, the professional association for design completely backs this movement. They too question the quality and the ethics of this type of practice. Both the AIGA and the No-Spec campaign are spreading the word on their websites and aggressively approaching companies that do this. In time the movement will expand, and spec design work may decrease substantially as a result.
Ethically speaking, companies should plan to pay designers a fair wage for their talent. You need quality to represent your business and the result will be more people talking positively about your image.
This article may be reprinted when the copyright and author bio are included. ©2010 Catherine Lang-Cline, Portfolio Creative, LLC.
Catherine Lang-Cline is co-founder and owner of Portfolio Creative, a workforce innovation firm that was named the 326th fastest growing company in the U.S. by Inc. magazine in 2009. Portfolio Creative helps companies streamline and innovate their creative work to save time, energy and money.