Understanding No!Spec

Why say No to Speculative Work?

After visiting the website (no-spec.com), I realized that I have indeed taken spec work in the past and I was not getting paid for it. It was such a waste of talent and creativity.

What is Spec?
by Mary Beth & Paul Trautwein
About.com Guides to Graphic Design

Speculative work historically has been practiced in Advertising and Architecture. In those professions the winning firm would be offered a long-term contract resulting in years of revenue. Graphic design differs from those fields in that most work is issued on a project-by-project basis. The award for a free pitch is only for the project just completed. Compensation for the work going into the pitch usually exceeds the monetary award of the project. Free pitching is now a discouraged practice in advertising and copy writing. As stated in …

Thanks Mary and Paul!

Spec Work Hurts Graphic Designers

Clients want free work and ideas. As a creative professional you should just say NO!

About a year ago I was asked to bid on creating the design work for a magazine for a small liberal arts college. … We really like your work, they say, but we’d like to see a 4-page page mock up of what our magazine would look like if you redesigned it. At this point, my spidey sense is tingling and I politely agree to the request as long as they reimburse me for my time. We consider this an “audition”, I am told, and they will not pay for my services. This is spec work. Thanks, but no thanks, was my reply.

For the rest, go to Spec Work Hurts Graphic Designers

Will The Real Style Shady Please Stand Up?

… this debacle makes a great argument against design contests and spec work, in this case not only did all the entrants lose out, but the so-called winner was also screwed.

Read the rest of the story at www.leihu.com

SHARK-INFESTED WATERS

It took me five years to realize that whenever a potential client said, “If you do this one cheap, there’s a lot more work down the line,” it was, in each and every case, a load of number two. It wasn’t around when I was a tender wee lad but No!Spec is a great resource for independent designers.

Please read the rest of this wonderful article: The Biggest Challenges Facing Independent Designers (I) at position : relative.

Dear Designer

I am looking for a good designer to revamp our website and to redo our logo. I have spoken to my bosses and they think it’s a good idea, but we don’t know how much we want to spend yet. The cheaper the better of course!

We’re not sure what we want our new look to be, but since you’re the professional, we’ll leave it to you to propose. Show us 3 mockups of what you think our new company website and logo should look like. We want to be professional yet friendly, serious yet creative. Something like what Apple has done.

If we like your mockups, we’ll choose one and hire you for the job. If we don’t, we’ll let you know also. And if we like your ideas but you’re too expensive, we may ask someone cheaper to do it, so please quote as low as possible.

But rest assured, we have plenty of design jobs in the future! I have to go now, I have a free lunch waiting for me at a restaurant.

Your sincerely,
Client

Design Melt Down gets it with Yellow

Yellow is somewhat of a less popular color. It doesn’t show up very much in web design, at least not in very prominent ways. Lets look … to see what kind of meaning was gleaned from the color.

The no-spec.com is the first to stand out. They clearly use yellow to reinforce the purpose of the site, to warn people about the down side to accepting spec work.

The entire site is a great big caution sign, it is only appropriate that they use the color yellow. Caution is one of the most common connotations of the color yellow.