(school work, not spec work) (school work = spec work? hehe)
I came across an article today on why designers should tolerate spec work (*see article). All designers have their different routines and different things they like to get involved in, such as design competitions. I am anti-spec myself and after reading the article, I still haven’t changed my mind, but author Conor Odriscoll provided well thought out insights on why spec work could be tolerated.
I’m assuming you know what spec work is, but just in case, I’ll quickly explain it. Spec work is doing work for a client without a contract and without any guarantee that you will be paid.
*Conor states that, “If you feel that you can do a good job on a design brief, then take it on and hope that the client will like it. If you don’t feel you can do a good job on it, then don’t do it, and leave it to people who can.”
And thats exactly it when it comes to doing this type of work. There are quite a few designers out there who are using sites such as 99designs.ca to help promote themselves, others are doing it just for fun, and for others, it’s a way to make a living. If you have a real passion for design, in the end, it really doesn’t matter what kind of work you are doing.
In my opinion though, the thing about working on sites like 99designs and creating concepts is that if you lose, you don’t really get anything out of it other than hours of wasted time. If you do win though, that’s great! Fantastic! All your hard work paid off, you will eventually get paid, and you have something new to add to your portfolio. You’re thinking that things will all go your way next time around as well.
This all sounds great, but in the end you never really gained a new client, and that client probably won’t be referring you to their friends. They’ll simply refer to 99designs.
What are your thoughts on spec work? Design competitions?
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