Actually, I’m lying myself a bit in this post. The folks who have slipped this beauty by me never really became clients. Read on and you’ll see why.

Little White Lie #2: Just fool around with it a little. If you come up with something I like, I’ll pay you.

Wow, total creative freedom! I’ll just work up some designs and they are sure to like one of them, right? Well, there is a chance they could like one of your designs, but most times these people are window-shopping. They have likely done this before with a different designer and will do it again in the future. And you probably won’t get paid for your time and efforts.

Called working on speculation or spec, this “hit or miss” approach doesn’t allow for project analysis, constructive client feedback (“it’s good or it’s bad” isn’t constructive), and doesn’t build trust, or a working relationship.

The No!Spec website is a treasure trove of information on the pitfalls of spec. It may be tempting to submit to this type of agreement especially when starting out and trying to build your portfolio, but get the respect (and the money) you deserve. A simple contract requiring a deposit before work commences will position you as the professional you are.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 5th, 2007 at 2:22 pm and is filed under Design, Design Careers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.