Graphic Designers and Spec Work

No matter how long you’ve been in the graphic design business, you probably still get asked to work “on spec.” If you haven’t heard the term before, spec work is work done without any promise of compensation. Despite the arguable benefits of gaining experience or building a portfolio (“exposure” is a common euphemism), more often than not, spec work rarely benefits the designer or the client. Not only is it usually a waste of your time, but spec work usually isn’t your best work, and it can affect your reputation among peers and prospective clients alike.

Know It When You See It

One of the most common types of requests for spec work goes something like this: a prospective client needs a website, for example, and he’d like to see what kind of ideas you have. To that end, he asks you to put together some concepts, and if he likes what he sees, he’ll hire you. Another typical tactic is the design contest, in which multiple designers are asked to submit entries, and the client pays only for the “winning” design.

You Only Live Once

One of the biggest problems with spec work is what it costs you. All other considerations aside, the commodity you trade in most heavily as a designer is neither talent nor skill. Although both are important, the mosr precious commodity you have is time.

You’re not like other businesses that can take back a product and resell it. The time you spend doing spec work is gone forever. If for that reason alone, spec work is a practice you should avoid. It’s unfair to you, because you could be spending that time on other pursuits, whether professional or personal. There’s also the distasteful possibility that the client could decline to hire you, but still end up using (read: stealing) some or all of your ideas.

The Iron Triangle

Spec work is unfair to your client, too. From his perspective, it’s a bad idea because his project is hamstrung before it begins. When someone asks me what it will cost to for me to design something, I often respond, “There’s good, there’s fast, and there’s cheap. Pick two.”

Ideally, which two get chosen should be the client’s decision, but the nature of spec work dictates it for him. As the designer, you’re forced to limit how much time you invest because you cannot assume you’ll get paid for your work. Accordingly, time and cost necessarily eclipse quality.

Good design requires creative exploration and a dialog between you and your client. Those take time, which is something spec work just doesn’t allow.

But What if I Want to Work for Free?

In this discussion, it’s important to distinguish between working on spec and working pro bono. In the case of spec work, the prospect is asking or perhaps even expecting you to work for free. Pro bono (from the Latin pro bono publico, or “for the public good”) means to render your services free of charge for the benefit of society.

If you are an animal lover, for example, you might choose to design some marketing materials for your local Humane Society chapter for free to benefit their cause. This sort of work for charities and other non-profits you feel strongly about can be a great way to gain experience and build a portfolio; the bottom line is that to qualify as pro bono, it should be your choice to do so.

Responding to Spec Requests

I believe that most people are generally good. It’s unfair to assume that everyone who asks for spec work is looking to get something for nothing or steal your time and ideas. In many cases, such a client may simply be ignorant of the ethical and business implications of her request. How you respond to these requests can go a long way toward either educating or alienating a potential client.

Generally, a good approach is a polite and professionally-worded letter or email that informs her that you don’t engage in spec work, and briefly explains why. Direct her to your online portfolio, or enclose some relevant samples of previous work. Explain that you take her organization’s needs seriously, and that you would like an opportunity to meet and discuss them further.