Spec work: work for free and compete to get paid

Competitions, crowd sourced or contests are just some names for spec work.



Spec work or speculative work means "your chances of getting paid for your work are non existent". Well, you can argue that in a competition somebody is going to win. But it is also true that you may never win a competition, no matter how hard, or how many times you try.

Avoid participating in photography contests and design competitions. If you read their terms & conditions you'll find that in most of the cases you give to the competition organizers the ownership of your creative work. It is not just the winner of the competition (if there is a winner), all of the participants gives away the rights of the work. For what? What's the prize? A night in a hotel? A couple of tickets for a concert? A ride on a unicorn?

I have seen these type of competitions in magazines and newspaper. All they want is a huge stock of images they can later use, and sell. Sell it in the form of a printed book or to another stock image agency.

Crowd sourcing is even worse for the creative industry. Hundreds of professionals are trying to compete for a cheap reward, and only one gets paid.

“Pay $50 and get 100 customized logos to choose from”

Why this is happening in the graphic design profession? Can you imagine this happening in other sectors? I can't get 100 architects to make a plan for my house and then pay to only one of them. Or cooks, or doctors, or tailors. or lawyers ...

This idea is really hurting the design profession. It creates the perception of easy work, the belief that anybody with a computer and some software for editing images can do it. But there is a lot of time involved in learning and practicing to develop the necessary skills. And it should be valued and respected, and paid fairly.

I'm not talking about what is the fair price to pay for graphic design work, that is another issue, I'm talking about design work being recognized as labour and the design created as a valuable product that the customer can benefit of.

Don't let your dreams be taken advantage of. Don't give your photos or designs for an iPad that may not even exist. There should be a law against it, or at least a clear warning to people. Once you know this, if you still want to participate, you should be free to do so.

Designers, writers, photographers, artists, creatives and any person with the hope of wining something, please don't play the spec work game, keep respect for your self and your work.