I’ve decided to attach the No!Spec logo to my site, because I believe that good designers should be paid for the work that they do.

No Spec

You couldn’t get away in any business with asking someone to do work for you, then paying them if you like what they did. You wouldn’t eat a diner, and only expect to pay if you thought the food was good enough. Nor would you get a haircut and only pay the barber if you think he did a good job. So why would you treat a designer any differently?

Here’s why this is an issue with me. I have been asked on multiple occasions by clients to do early designs for free, to see if they think I could do the job. This takes time away from clients who would rather pay me for me work, and degrades the quality of my portfolio. Who wants to have a collection of things they designed that didn’t make it into production?

I’ve also seen people who think it’s a good idea to have a “design contest”. They say they will have a monetary prize, and invite people to do designs for them. They will then pick their favorite design, and give away the prize.

This is a horrible idea. The typical design process has a healthy conversation between the designer and the client, to discover the goals behind the campaign and effectively communicate the message for the client. A design contest is typically crowded by young designers who don’t get the chance to have that dialogue. And the client ends up picking “the prettiest picture” with no regard to the effectiveness of the solution. You’re trying to solve a problem, but you’re just making a mess.

Suffice to say, I will not do spec work. I will, on occasion, do pro bono work for a charity that I believe in. Charities often run on very tight budgets, and giving my time to a charity (like doing the road signs for the Hope Fund) is a good way to help.

What do you think of spec work? Please let me know in the comments below!