Comments on: Spec work: bad for client, bad for designer

By: Gloria Bender

Gloria Bender — Thu, 26 May 2011 22:15:45 +0000

Thanks, David! I think your insights are spot on.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 26 May 2011 21:14:49 +0000

I think the employer’s taking advantage, Gloria, but try not to be upset, as there’s a chance the request was made out of naivety. You should earn more respect for saying no to the request, and for having faith that your portfolio is strong enough to give the right opinion of your quality.

By: Gloria Bender

Gloria Bender — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:37:55 +0000

I apologize if this topic has been covered before, but what if a potential employer asks for design work as part of the interview process?

Today I had an initial phone interview with an employer who is already interested in me because of my portfolio, but she has asked me to create a comp showing how I would redesign the home page of their website. I agreed to do it (because I was mentally unprepared for such a strange request) but now I feel annoyed and upset, because this will take quite a few hours of my time, and if the job doesn’t pan out, it will be my effort down the drain for nothing — and they will have gotten a free site design out of it. Am I just stuck doing it now, or can I go back to her and explain that I can’t do it?

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:17:00 +0000

I hear that quite a lot, Carolyn (about “contest” sites demoralizing the designers who participate). Thanks for stopping by and reading.

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:49:37 +0000

I am so happy to read this. I trained as a designer 20 years ago and eventually life led me to other things but I wanted to design again and learn to use the latest tools such as Illustrator so I participated in sites such as crowdspring. I have to say that while it gave me good live projects to use for honing my electronic skills it was also incredibly demoralising. Client communication is a real problem and mostly it feels like you are playing pin the tail on the donkey. I value my relationship with a client and communication is key. These spec style sites are undervaluing the designer and and denying the client the opportunity to work with somebody that is skilled in turning their concept into a visual identity – how can they do that properly with dozens of entries and when many are only clip art anyway?.

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:22:11 +0000

Hi Carson, that’s kind of you to say, and good luck with The Happiness Machine.

By: Carson Shold

Carson Shold — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:45:23 +0000

I couldn’t agree more. I recently started my freelance career while finishing off school, and have come to have some harsh feelings about spec work. Unfortunately, my inexperience in the field led me into a few situations where I was clearly being taken advantage of.

Although I am still relatively new to the industry, posts like this one, and others about how to deal with contracts, and different types of clients by you, and many other gurus out there make me feel like a pro.

I recently wrote my own article about spec work, touching on some similar topics. I find logo design contests, specifically, to be outrageous. Yes, some sites are legit and require payment before posting the ‘contest,’ but I’d say most do not. I think designers should take a stand against this in order to give this industry some integrity.

I have been there, and for those of you debating whether or not it will be beneficial to you – your experience aside – I assure you it is not.

You can take a look at my blog here, but David has summed it up very well – http://www.carsonshold.com/blog.

David, your posts range from inspiring to genius, keep up the great work!

By: David Airey

David Airey — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:41:17 +0000

No worries at all, drifter. Sorry to read of your past issues with spec work. I can’t say I’m surprised, but it’s a shame most people have to learn from experience.

All the best.

By: akindofdrifter

akindofdrifter — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 02:56:10 +0000

Hello David,

I’m glad you’ve highlighted this, because I myself have (unintentionally? TRICKED!) Into done spec work before. Sadly, I was new in the industry, out to expand my skills and quite (very) naive. All that was achieved from doing spec work was wasted time, no money gained and bittersweet memories, to say the most. That was the first and last time it’s happened and I’m very grateful that you’ve brought this subject up to educate people.

Yes, people think spec work’s valid because there’s more competition in this world, but when was there none? People should not feel intimidated by their peers/superiors and steel themselves to do better. In the end, if people wanna be good so bad (oh my), they’ll do what it takes!

Thank you again, David! :D

By: James Kurtz III

James Kurtz III — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:02:13 +0000

Just want to throw in my “here, here” comment, as spec work is one of the few things that makes me lose cool.