subject: To Spec or Not [print this page] To Spec or Not To Spec or Not
Picture this: You are a graphics design designer working on a project where your client wants you to design corporate identity logos before hiring you or paying you for your services. The problem with the above mentioned scenario is that the client wants you to work but will not agree to hire you and pay you for it unless you showcase your ideas and concepts, and what if in the end of it all, they decide to hire someone else!
Design industry is up in arms against, what is more commonly known as, "Spec Work" or Speculative work. Crowd sourcing is being blamed for the rise of this spec phenomenon. To get a cheaper solution, companies create graphic design challenge for their design projects. Graphics design designers from all over the world take part and only the best design receives the promised award. But does all the noise against spec work' make it bad for you or the design industry? Not necessarily! We know there is a market for cheap work and crowd sourcing fills this gap. Startups looking for corporate identity logos have a cheaper option for them since they cannot afford more expensive logos. Spec work also gives a chance to new and budding graphics design designers to showcase their work and build their portfolio. The level playing field provided by speculative work inspires competition leading to increased creativity and quality.
It's not just the designers who are champions of this speculative design work, some of the clients too are the biggest advocates of it. They are the ones benefitting the most out of it as the risk involved is low. Also, spec work offers a wide range of choice for a client at prices that are low and set by the clients themselves. There are both pros and cons of speculative work but the choice lies in the hands of the graphic design designers. If you don't want to do spec work, just say NO. But there is a market for cheaper designs and crowd sourcing has democratized the design work. If you don't like it, don't do it. As they say, to each his own!
