A little thought on Speculative Work
January 11, 2009 in Bussiness Development by Richard

Consider this scenario:

Chris from creative fruit designs gets contacted by a new clothing store for a redesign of their logo that for the purpose of this scenario we will call “New Threads”. Chris who never really got any large clients like that gets excited about this job, furthermore New Threads informs Chris that this is a competition and whoever designs the best logo gets picked to redesign the logo. Chris designs something great and then gets rejected. Nine months later Chris is walking by a new clothing sore in the mall called New Threads and notices that their logo looks familiar and is in fact the same exact logo he designed for them. Now a nasty lawsuit has to ensue which leaves Chris with no more money and no clients who want to deal with him anymore.

That is speculative work. When one person contacts you but tells you that they have to see your design before they take you as a client. Do not do it, number one it is a waste of your time, number two it is a waste of your resources. Speculative work is in my opinion on the same border line as a scam, in which they trick you into giving a free design. Even if they do not steal your art work away, they should choose you based on your portfolio.

Warning signs of Spec work:

1. They do not want to talk money yet or do not ask you any price.
2. They set a deadline for when they want a concept, with no down payment.
3. Keep using unsure words about maybe you will work for them or “I want to see how your design is”.
4. Never ask to see your portfolio.

Possible things you can do:

1. Remind them that speculative work is heavily looked down upon by the design community.
2. Explain that their money and the effort for a new design would be better spent sitting down with one artist and working with them.
3. Your time is valuable and you have a portfolio if they want to see the kind of work that you do.
4. Present a contract.

The bottom line is no matter how slow your freelance business is going, speculative work is never a good idea, it is a waste of your talents and hurts the design community as a whole.

Visit this site to learn more NOSPEC

And a Link with a letter furthur explaining why spec work is bad for bussiness (PDF).