Nate Update

I consider myself a professional, therefore I don’t do spec work. I’d like to do my part to educate other creatives about the risk they take by participating in spec “contests.”

There’s a website dedicated to the cause here.

The AIGA agrees with me, too. Check their response here.

There are 2 exceptions: 1) If I voluntarily agree to do a job for no compensation, (shame on me) I probably want to practice on new software or something – knowing full well I won’t be compensated from the word “go” – or 2) it’s a non-profit job that’s for a cause that I believe will change the world for the better, and I’m proud to be a contributor to the cause. That’s it. Period.

If you are a designer who does spec work, expect a response from the rest of the industry. Namely, the part that has to pay bills and taxes and pays for their software, fonts and computers.

Also, expect them to not be too happy with you. You see, you’ve driven costs down and diluted the talent pool, in some cases. In other cases, you’ve duped the world into thinking design can be “good enough” and you can get paid “just enough” to buy your new Wii game or an Affliction T-shirt. Grow up, see the bigger picture and think about what your time and talent are worth.

Here’s an article that agrees with me by Andrew Hyde.

*EDIT: For some reason, this debate is really heating up. Okay, in my world it’s heating up. However, there are a few great articles I’ve read that support crowdsourcing and spec-model businesses. But, in the interest of debate, I’ll post the links and let you decide for yourself.

Here’s an article that has a solution, albeit quite extreme.

Please join me in watching the streaming debate this weekend at SXSW.