Topic: Design

Spec work remains an ongoing business issue for designers. Maybe it’s the “free” in freelancer that makes some business people think they don’t have to treat solo designers like other business professionals.

As an example, here’s a recent posting I came across on Craig’s List:

The [company name] Design Challenge
Attention Designers: We’re looking for someone to create an updated look for [company name]!

After more than 25 years of success in [the industry], based in part on highly recognizable signage which features the [company name] logo, it is time to give our image a facelift…and we’re seeking the right designer for the job.

The task is simple: create a clean, contemporary, cohesive look for all [company name] marketing materials, from staff bios to flyers to the web site to company collateral sheets, etc. The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a design template that can be applied to any future types of materials we develop. Requirements are:

• No aspect of the [company name] logo can be changed, and it should preferably be positioned in the lower left hand corner of all materials
• An “Arial-esque” font must be used–no serif fonts
• [company name] red is PMS 185, although other colors may also be used
• Templates must be created in Adobe InDesign, PC only. (Candidates must have their own software.)
• Other than that, the sky is the limit. For questions, or to submit samples of your work, contact …

I know, “design challenge” in the heading should have been a clue that this was some sort of thinly-disguised contest. Plus, it was on Craig’s List, which has a lot of sketchy postings, and they specified a lot of constraints. But a “design challenge” is part of most marketing projects I work on, it’s a local company, there are always constraints, and the posting read like it might be a legitimate search for someone to help solve their specific business problems.

So, I responded. I sent a friendly introduction, a link to my online portfolio, and requested that we meet and discuss their business needs in more detail. Their prompt response:

The responses we have received to our post for a designer have been tremendous….many talented folks who’d love to have a crack at redesigning [company name’s] corporate materials. Because designers all bring their own unique flair and creativity to the table, however, it would be difficult for us to select among the respondents without first getting a good sense of how they would approach our specific materials. So as a next step, you are receiving this challenge:

I will forward to you, via yousendit.com, samples of some of our current brochures. Keeping in mind that [company name] red is PMS 185, that the logo cannot change, and that no serif fonts may be used, how would YOU redesign it?  Take a stab and let us take a look. If we like what we see, we’ll have you in to discuss the entire scope of the project.. (this is a soup-to-nuts plan…..everything needs an overhaul, from the web site to presentation materials, etc).

Thanks again for your interest—I look forward to seeing what you’ve got. Please let me know if you have any questions.

It was pretty obvious to me that the odds were rather slim that any designer they selected would ever become a long-term, respected business partner. Out of curiosity, though, and since I wasn’t familiar with YouSendIt, I downloaded their InDesign files — all 37 Mb worth.

At this point I informed them that I was excusing myself from this “design challenge.” Here are the three reasons I gave them about why a contest like this is a bad business idea:

1) Designers solve problems. Since you’re asking prospective designers to GUESS at your business problems without discussing things with you, you’re reducing the likelihood of getting an optimal solution.

2) To ensure a consistent look for all your promotional materials, the redesign for your brochure(s) should be done in the context of understanding ALL of your promotional needs. Otherwise, your brochure may need to be redesigned yet again — essentially wasting the designer’s up-front time.

3) If you aren’t looking to establish a long-term business relationship with a designer, you might want to hire a part-time student intern or a desperate-for-a-job recent design school grad. But if you’re looking for a long-term creative services partner, a better idea is for you to meet with some established design professionals. Look at their web sites. View their existing work samples to “see what they’ve got.” Assess their design style, work ethics and personal communication skills. And then decide whether there’s any chemistry — i.e., are they someone you’ll want to work with over the long term?

As a customer, I select service vendors based not just on price, but on whether they do consistently good work, do it in a timely fashion and have professional business practices. And whether I enjoy working with them.

As a vendor, I want to work with clients whose selection criteria are similar to those. There’s really no excuse for a business to treat any service provider unprofessionally. It’s as unreasonable to dangle the “do free work now to get future business” carrot in front of designers as it is to do so with printers, plumbers, lawyers, accountants and other service providers. In my experience, that future business carrot is frequently dried out and shriveled up, if, in fact, you can ever grab it.

The bottom line is that designers — actually, all service providers — should refuse to do spec work. And they owe it to their profession to help educate prospective customers about why spec work is a bad business practice.

Visit the No!Spec site for lots of additional information.