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 …

Read the rest of What is Spec? at the about.com Graphic Design forum.

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 this wonderful article, The Biggest Challenges Facing Independent Designers (I) at position : relative.

Design Melt Down gets it with Yellow

Creative pitches are toxic by Andy Budd

I’ve long held the belief that creative pitches are toxic, and unpaid creative pitches doubly so. This view is upheld by a number of professional design associations that actively ban their members from engaging in unpaid creative. Creative pitches are bad for the client, bad for the designer and bad for the industry as a whole, and I’m going to explain why …

For the rest of Andy’s post, go to Creative pitches are toxic.

The Copywriting Maven: Why I Don’t Work “On Spec”

Spec is short for speculation. In the copywriting and creative services world, that means a potential client says to us, “I’m not sure about hiring you, so let’s see what you do with this speculative assignment. We’ll pay you if we like it. And if we do, there will be a lot more work to come. But if we don’t, no $$.”

Even a newbie copywriter’s time has value. If a new client wants to see what you can do for them, show them samples (paid, pro-bono or generic samples you’ve written for youself), give them client testimonials, and/or offer them a great deal to give you a shot.

For the rest of Roberta’s post, go to The Copywriting Maven: Why I Don’t Work “On Spec”

Designing “on spec” - bad for you, bad for us

Creativiti is a supporter of the creative industry’s NO!SPEC campaign. This section outlines why designing on spec is a poor compromise for everybody.

If you invest in a designer’s time and place your confidence in their abilities, they will work closely with you to create a custom solution to meet your needs and requirements, and to help you achieve your goals.

If you demand work on spec, they simply won’t have the means - or the will - to produce their very best work for you if they have no guarantee that you won’t simply take their ideas and walk away with them without payment.

Ultimately, designing on spec produces poor results for you, and is unfair to the designer, and that is why Creativiti wholeheartedly supports the NO!SPEC campaign.

To read the rest, please go to Creativiti’s Designing “on spec” - bad for you, bad for us

The Road to Hell: Now Paved with Innovation?

Designers don’t have many advocates as enthusiastic and highly-placed as Bruce Nussbaum. An assistant managing editor at Business Week, he’s spearheaded the magazine’s coverage of design and innovation for years, and has become an important online voice for how business can use design as a strategic tool. That influence will only grow this week with the debut of INside Innovation, his new magazine that promises “a deep, deep dive into the innovation/design/creativity space.”

Designers, welcome to the brave new world of spec work.

To read the rest of the article, go to Michael Bierut’s The Road to Hell: Now Paved with Innovation?