As part of a spec work awareness program, Yasmin Kercher and other design students at the Augsburg University of Applied Sciences have created this video that illustrates some students’ position on spec wok, design contests and crowdsourcing. Their premise is simple – by working on spec, designers are slapping other designers in the face. Judging by some of the reactions in the video, the slaps are very real. (Hat Tip: No!Spec)
Speaking about spec work, another crowdsourcing site has launched, and like the legions before it, promises to turn the graphic design industry on its ear. One small difference with these Logo Vendor cats though. They’re charging designers to work for free. Yep. According to their FAQ –
There is a small fee for Designers on a per project basis. The fee is small in comparison to the access of thousands of Buyers and Designers, easy facilitation of fund transfer, and protection of Copyright materials.
Guess it was only a matter of time before someone pulled this stunt. Cue clown graphic:
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- Belgian design agencies shutter websites in virtual ‘strike’ against spec work
[...] German Design Students’ Anti-Spec-Work Video (Logo Factor Design Blog) [...]
I hate spec work, although I do admit to doing it a handful of times while in college to try to make some extra cash – and when I was bored. I soon found out how stressful it was for me to lose against people who obviously were less talented than me, and having to deal with the witnessing of people stealing stock photos etc. Well, I entered 3 contests and won 1. And, I ended up doing more work for the winning contest holder later that year. (so it wasn’t a total waste of time for me, thank god)
I will never participate in them again, and I don’t think any professional designer should unless it is as a hobby/for fun.
I do want to add that my boyfriend is a voice actor and some of the voice talent websites out there are making the voice actors pay the site so clients will be more likely “see their name in searches”. My boyfriend paid for one month, and not one client contacted him. He is very talented – so I doubt lack of talent was the reason. Sadly, I think many of the arts are getting ripped off these days with bogus talent agencies and gimmicky talent websites. So, it’s not just us visual artists who are taking the flak.