AIGA Against Spec Work

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AIGA, the professional association for design, believes that professional designers should be compensated fairly for the value of their work and should negotiate the ownership or use rights of their intellectual and creative property through an engagement with clients.

This is a topic that continually rears its ugly head in the Graphic Design Industry. It is something that I had to explain to my students when teaching and to clients now owning my own business. Work is work. One expects to get paid for it. There is no carrot on the end of the stick sweet enough to make someone sacrifice billable time for the potential of getting paid.

There are fine lines of what is Spec Work. For instance, competitions can be spec work. They can also be genuine competitions with substantial rewards. Another area of challenge is writing proposals for a project. This consumes a great deal of time and expertise, the majority of the time it is not paid work. It gets extremely hairy when "Ideas" are included. A proposed idea for a project is unpaid creative work. Bending the definition of what "Spec Work" really is and if those in the industry can truly not participate in it.

Not only because I am President of the Upstate New York Chapter of AIGA I do support the AIGA position on Spec Work, but most, I am a small business owner who is trying to earn a living wage for my skills in design. Read AIGA's Position.

I was fortunate to attend the 2009 AIGA Leadership Retreat in Portland, Oregon at the beginning of June 2009. Sean Adams, Past-President of the organization presented his defense and AIGA's position on the topic. I had my camera rolling and captured his eloquent explanation.

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Yes. I do not participate in spec work. You should not ask anyone, including students and young designers to participate in this poor business practice. If you do, that is your own choice.

Posted by newyorkupstate in News | June 18, 2009

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