No!Spec
  • AboutAbout NO!SPEC Spec work and spec-based design contests are a growing concern. So in an effort to educate those working in the Visual Communication industry and the clients who use their services, a group of designers banded together to bring the NO!SPEC Campaign to the public. With legitimate design opportunities turning into calls for spec work at an increasing rate, it is our goal to arm designers with the tools they need to take a stand against this trend. We also aim to provide businesses with information on why spec work harms our industry. The NO!SPEC Campaign includes: interfacing with designers, educators, businesses and organizations; creating NO!SPEC promotional materials; sending protest letters; writing petitions and posts, and more. With the international support of NO!SPEC we ask that you join us in promoting professional, ethical business practices by saying NO! to spec. If you are unfamiliar with the term spec work, read What is spec? and FAQ About Spec Work before dipping into the rest of the site. But before embarking on the NO!SPEC initiative, please read our participation protocols and disclaimers. Questions or suggestions? Then go ahead and contact us.
  • Articles
  • ContactPlease be patient. The nocturnal gremlin running this site is usually swamped, so a reply may will take awhile.[contactform]
Illustration of a bird flying.
  • A client’s argument against free-pitching

    John Scarrott and the Design Business Association thought it would be interesting to get a client’s perspective on free pitching, so asked Tom Foulkes, marketing director of Peter Brett Associates, about how he buys design expertise. “Fundamentally, we believe the creative pitch is commercially toxic and is a tradition the marketing profession can do without.…

    February 26, 2014
  • In for a penny, in for a pounding

    Joe Rinaldi, VP of business development at Happy Cog, wrote an excellent article aimed at design clients about how spec work doesn’t just threaten the design businesses that take part, it threatens the clients’ companies and their projects, too. “Each time agencies pre-invest in spec work, they mortgage their organizations on winning the work and…

    January 2, 2014
  • Refuse to work for nothing

    DA&D’s past President Mike Dempsey shared his thoughts on the recent speech given to young design graduates by D&AD chairman Dick Powell. Mike Dempsey said: “This attitude dovetails into the alarming increase in free pitching that now runs throughout our industry, from the smallest to the most prestigious firms. Every company that embraces this and…

    July 23, 2013
  • Donating the unpaid labor of others

    Steve Douglas wrote an in-depth piece about “the arrogance of crowdsourcing,” where he talks about the design contest for the Dallas Mavericks. He also reviews “unofficial” contests for Sony Playstation, Daft Punk, and Manchester United, where spec work websites “have nothing to lose — they’re donating the unpaid labor of others.” “It’s a copyright and…

    June 5, 2013
  • The dangers of speculative design

    Lisa Barrett of Birmingham-based Sixth Story published the studio’s experience of speculative design, where the “pitches” they ultimately lost ended up looking very similar to the designs that were actually used. “We produced some branding work, name generation and packaging concepts for a start up business in order for them to secure funding and investment…

    May 9, 2013
  • Powerhouse Museum tries crowdsourcing for Sydney Design, then pulls contest

    “People are free to decide what they do with the efforts of designers of any stripe – that’s entirely ok. But when a publicly funded organisation (whose entire justification for their funding, and thus their existence, turns on promoting and championing design) chooses a crowdsourcing model, it’s incredibly disappointing to say the least.” Quoted from…

    April 18, 2013
  • Obama crowdsourcing to support American jobs?

    A tweet from Niki Bivona (@nikibivona) on Twitter says it all: “RT @nospec http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/artworks-submission Obama is now crowdsourcing a poster, about job creation. Irony.” Obama, if you aim to support American jobs, then perhaps paying designers to create your campaign posters would be a good start.

    October 8, 2011
  • US Department of Interior is crowdsourcing their logo?

    Here’s a petition found via Twitter that you might be interested in. @LogoMotives Petition: Stop the US Department of @Interior from Crowdsourcing a Logo | @nospec #nospec | http://bit.ly/NOSPEC-DOI “The U.S. Department of the Interior currently has posted a design brief on crowdspring.com (http://www.crowdspring.com/project/2296807_logo-us-department-of-the-interior/details/) asking for graphic designers to work for free in order to…

    June 5, 2011
  • No more spec shooting!

    If you plan on being in Las Vegas this Sunday, Ben Chen is scheduled to speak at the SPAA Convention. SPAA: stands for Sports Photographers Association of America. No More Spec Shooting! Sunday, February 20, 2011, 1:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. “After more than 10 years of speculative shooting of several youth sports, Ben Chen…

    January 28, 2011
  • Spec work and design students

    We regularly receive letters from design students and those new to the design industry. In their correspondence the students often explain how they were not educated about spec, and/or were sent to contest sites by their instructors. Earlier this year we discussed the subject with a design student, Thomas. One thing led to another and…

    December 9, 2010
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No!Spec

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