At some point in every creative person’s career, the question of taking on spec work is contemplated. Creative industries from photography to design all seem to agree that generally it’s not a great idea. For most students “real world experience” is the hook used to lure folks towards it along with a (usually hallow) carrot of “I’ve got more work that I’ll pay you for later, this is just a trial”, and other such fluff.

NO!SPEC aims to unite those who support the notion that spec work devalues the potential of design and ultimately does a disservice to the client. They have great articles and a useful 10 reasons spec is a problem and Why Speculation Hurts.

Back in 2005 I wrote Spec Sucks for Everyone, a write up on spec work for Adland, which contains lots of useful links and quotes from design and advertising groups around the globe on the subject. AllGraphicDesign also has a nice assortment of links to articles on the subject.

A lot of spec work is typically done in terms new business pitches. During the past few years, advertising groups around the world have been working tor wards putting together pitching fees and copyright retention regulations for work presented during a pitch. Recently the USA’s 4As put together a best pr actives guidelines designed to help shops retain ownership of the ideas they present during account reviews. You can view the PDF here.

Don’t Design for Free is a fun yet poignant little animated gif on the subject found at Digg.com (just wish they proofed it).

At some point in your career you’re bound to be asked to do work on spec. Understanding the pros and cons (and are many more cons) will help you make the right choice.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Design, Design Careers, Web Design. 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.