Why spec work is bad

Do not become emotionally involved when informing a client why you will not work on spec. Instead, find a way to relate it to their business or find another way to explain your position without sounding offended. Professionally explain your value as a designer and what you can bring to their project on contract. Tell them that it will allow you to dedicate the time and energy to designing exactly what they need.

The end product will be better and it will save them time and possibly money. If they truly appreciate your work, they will appreciate the points you bring up. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Use precise geolocation data. Select personalised content. Create a personalised content profile. Measure ad performance.

Select basic ads. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance. By analogy, a client that would like spec work done is like, some would argue, a customer that goes to a restaurant expecting to pay for a meal on a speculative basis. This is not even an analogy, but just spec work in the food industry. First of all, every freelancer should have a rough pricing structure.

My advice would be if freelance is really the way you want to go, invest some time working out how much you feel you should be paid for work. Secondly, get everything in writing and agreed and signed for before you commence a project. Inform your prospective client of all the costs, and explain them. You should also explain to the client that if you are working by the hour, actual costs may vary. If they want to spend a fixed amount, agree a fixed fee for a fixed number of hours of your time.

If you have to go over these hours, charge for them but liaise with the client first. The best thing to do is to get everything written in a legally binding contract which the client signs. They are then obligated to pay you, providing you complete the work.

If you are a designer just starting out, you may have to find yourself charging smaller fees for your work and plying for jobs on community boards such as Gumtree and Craigslist. I have found being a member of Concept Feedback highly beneficial — at first the work I submitted was just for fun but as I became a member of the community I actually was approached for work by people who had seen my designs on the site.

Additionally, the feedback I got has improved me as a designer hugely. Designers must approach spec work strategically in order to create the best experience for both themselves as well as their clients.

However, AIGA defines speculative work as work done prior to engagement with a client in anticipation of being paid. AIGA further clarifies that other unpaid work also falls under the spec work umbrella.

For instance, AIGA includes: design competitions, volunteer work, internships, and pro bono work. Many designers choose to participate in unpaid design projects for a variety of reasons. Internships and volunteering can be very educational. These are not bad things!

Yet, a designer should also agree to spec work for the right reason. Designers also have the benefit of acquiring experience and exposure through a variety of channels, many of which are safer. Nevertheless, spec work has implications that undermine the designer, the creative industry, and the client as well. More often than not, this will lead to hour after hour, day after day of revisions, where ultimately your client is the designer.

David Airey. Firstly, spec work costs the designer. The physics law of the conservation of matter states that an object remains constant despite any changes to its form; it cannot be created nor destroyed. The transaction further occurs when the designer volunteers expertise for which the designer has invested time, money, and labor to educate himself or herself. In the second scenario, the designer risks a negative exposure, such as the reputation that one is cheap, if indeed any exposure is generated at all.

While word of mouth can be a very beneficial, efficient marketing scheme, it should not be the only one upon which a designer relies. Every designer should take charge of his or her brand. In the creative industry, one of the best ways is to let the work speak for itself. Build an extraordinary portfolio! Showcase case studies that will attract the right clients!

This is certainly not exclusive to the design community. Secondly, since a designer is a representative of the creative industry as a whole, the decisions a designer makes regarding spec work impact the design community too.

Indeed, Creative Bloq cites a survey from Approve. Similarly, Irish graphic designer and writer David Airey argues spec work is bad for both designer and client. He explains speculative scenarios chop graphic design down into only its final product—ignoring the research, skills, and experience behind administering the service. Furthermore, the distance causes the designers miss out on developing long-standing client relationships.