Why I Support NO!SPEC...

NO!SPEC is a grassroots campaign that is near and dear to my heart. Once upon a long time ago, I fell into the trap of doing design work on the speculation of being paid, should the client deem it worthy (also known as "spec work.")

As a relative design "newbie," I was thrilled at the opportunity to work for a client, and absolutely disheartened when they turned out to be nothing more than someone looking for some free design ideas, vanishing into thin air when presented with an invoice. Had I not had another source of income at the time, it would have been enough to make me consider a career change - a truly devastating idea, as I'd always known I wanted to be a designer and couldn't imagine doing anything else.

After being duped not once, but twice, into providing design work on spec, I became very protective of my services. Just as any other professional expects to be paid, I decided that with my skills, experience and talent, that I, too, deserved to be paid for the services I provided.

I don't just "make things look pretty," I research my clients' industry and their competition, find out what makes them unique, and develop personalized design solutions based on my findings and information provided to me by the client. If the target audience is young and urban, I will design something a bit more edgy, more contemporary. But if the target audience are retirees, the design solution would be completely different, something designed specifically to attract that market. These things take time, experience and skill, and when done well, can make a campaign successful, a promotion a huge hit, and take a growing business to the next level. So it's only reasonable to expect that we, as designers, should get paid for our services.

Which brings me back to NO!SPEC. In February 2006, a group of designers from around the world, who were tired of seeing their peers being taken advantage of by clients wanting work done on spec, banned together to create a website dedicated to educating both designers and clients on the harmful aspects of spec work.

Just as a doctor would not perform an operation on the speculation of being paid if the patient is happy with their performance, and a mechanic would not work on an automobile based on the hopes that the customer will find their work satisfactory enough to deserve reasonable compensation, I believe the majority of business professionals understand the need for designers to be paid for their services, as well.

So here is my challenge to you: visit the NO!SPEC website, download one of the NO!SPEC logos (available here), and put it on your website with a link back to the NO!SPEC site (www.no-spec.com), to show your support. You can also buy NO!SPEC merchandise at the NO!SPEC store, with all proceeds going towards providing information to schools and universities, organizations, and more.

With your help and support, we can get the word out that the design industry is like any other profession and deserves to be recognized as such.





Until next time...
Tamar Wallace
TAMAR Graphics