The NO!SPEC Campaign

This poster has been donated by Von Glitschka to the No!Spec Campaign

Okay, so here's the Bread Crumb trail that led me to finding this yesterday. I signed up Design Float after browsing through the Social Media Directory for Designers, then found this article: 5 Ways To Break Your Design Habits - Just for Fun on Spyre Mag. I spotted this small banner in the side bar and followed the link:

Here's what I found on the No!Spec website

The NO!SPEC campaign: Serves as a vehicle to unite those who support the notion that spec work devalues the potential of design and ultimately does a disservice to the client.

Our mission: To educate the public about speculative, or 'spec' work.

Our target: Those who use creative services, as well as creative professionals (designers, photographers, illustrators, typographers, writers and those in marketing, branding and advertising).

What you can do: Read NO!SPEC's Protocols. Place a "NO!SPEC" logo on your site. Sign the NO!SPEC petition. Distribute the "NO!SPEC" posters. Contact us with your thoughts, comments, articles and insights.

Requirements: The only requirement for participation is putting the appropriate value on your profession.

This poster has been donated by Jeff Andrews to the No!Spec Campaign

This is a really important initiative and it needs our support. We didn't realise that things like this happened until we began working in the industry. It's really shocking but moreover it's a disgusting practice which is being self-perpetuated by both misguided designers and so-called 'clients.' It makes us angry that people out there who do this don't value our work, or even realise the sheer work that is involved in the creative process.

Speculative work definitely DOES NOT include doing unpaid work for charities (this type of project has great ethical and moral value), or 'freebies for fun' for your mates. Obviously, its your choice which projects you focus your energies on, but be careful that you consider all your options thoroughly before you agree to do unpaid work (check all the T&Cs before entering design competitions too!). Just look before you leap ;)

How many of the designers reading this post have heard any of the following?

This poster has been donated by Rob Gough to the No!Spec Campaign

Also, be sure to have a look at this article by Mark Rushworth. He mentions QBN.com in the first paragraph (hence yesterday's blog about World Toilet Day - What can I say? Wave something shiny at me and I'll get distracted ... a bit like a magpie!) but goes on to describe a recent case where the company Aquent 'a talent agency for designers and marketers' put an advertisement up on the 99designs for a 'contest' to design a new website for them, with a 'prize' of 500 dollars for the 'winner.' Unbelievable!

Aquent Vs the Design Industry

Keep yourself informed of Creative Industry News by checking out websites like Design Float and QBN.

"Design Float is a social media site dedicated to the design industry. Design Float aims to collect and organize design-related content from across the web while letting the community float the best articles to the top pages of their categories and sink the most irrelevant one’s to the bottom." Design Float