Discuss: Spec Work Results from Web Design Survey

It would be interesting to see experience stats next to votes. My guess is that people with more experience are less inclined to participate in spec work.

In common with other commenters, I would like to know what professional level the responders are at. Universities pop out thousands of “web designers” every year: keen, eager, creative and desperate for their first commission. They’ll happily work for nothing in the (usually) misguided belief that it’ll bring paid work.

Those of us that survive those early days (and there aren’t many, by comparison) understand the value of our creative energy and time, and the low success rate of Spec work, and are generally against such practices.

Not all spec work is bad. While I agree that competitions for designs are generally a bad idea (especially by firms that have huge marketing budgets- I’m looking at you, JC Penney), not all spec work is competition based.

While job searching, I came across a lot of positions that asked me to complete a small project after a first or phone interview. Even though I disagree with spec work as a whole, I understand why companies are interested in this sort of thing. I still consider this spec work because the designer is working for the company before even being hired. The chances are better, but still no guarantee of being paid.

I know that past work should be judged on a designer’s portfolio, but enough companies have been burned by false portfolios that it’s sometimes necessary. It also gives a prospective company a chance to see how the creative process flows between the designer and the team they will be working with.

So I can see why there are such varied opinions on spec work. Companies like 99designs etc. are really putting a bad name out there, but not all spec is run like that. For perspective, I’m a graphic designer with 12 years of experience, and even the most recent position I applied for asked for a spec project. And I did end up getting the job.

Count me as one of those crusty over-50 creatives. Which means that if you want me to do work for you, pay me at my full rate or go away, sweetie.

The people I know who are less inclined to participate in speculation work are people with a lot of experience that command high rates and frequent projects, aka people who shouldn’t have to do spec work, and people who only think they’re that good even if they’re new to the scene (let’s be sincere, they exist), and even they shouldn’t dedicate too much time to work for no pay.

I do spec work on occasion. Mostly it is because a lot of clients expect it, and if I turned down every client wanting free spec work I’d probably never get enough work in the end. If Amazon or Google came to me asking for spec work? Heck, I wouldn’t hesitate. If it’s a competition I choose to participate in, that has the potential for a lot of exposure for all involved, winners and all, then it can be fun. But I usually don’t do spec work for demanding, small-time clients who don’t seem to grasp the fact that all the work I show them beforehand, aka previous projects, is meant to serve as portfolio samples. I shouldn’t have to make something new, for free, to land a small job. It’s not cost effective.

I have read all the comments up to here and it is depressing to see that maybe 2 at most grasped the actual consequences of spec work. Saying that clients who expect it aren’t your clients is beside the point and very short-sighted. The true issue is that every time a designer or developer agrees to participate in spec work of any kind, under any circumstances or for any reason, he/she is reinforcing the perception that design is a commodity whose most important feature is price. This tells our market to view spec work as a reasonable expectation, and the normal way to acquire design and development services.

You may assume that doing spec work is OK if you are a student, and that when you have paid your dues as a newbie, you will automatically graduate to the level of paid, respected work. If you continue to undermine the stature of the profession as a whole, that level will dry up and disappear, buried under the demands of a market that you trained to devalue your craft. Every piece of spec work is another nail in the coffin of our profession.

Saying you need to do it because you’re a needy student, or because you think you’ll get exposure, or because you won’t get hired if you don’t comply, are all just ways of saying, “You can pay me whatever you want (or not), because what I create is really trivial and has no actual value. It’s just eye candy.” Do other professionals put up with requests for spec work? Ask your lawyer.