Speculative work is defined as work that is created and presented to a buyer of design before getting paid, given a deposit or signing a contract and is often associated with contests.

From the buyer of design’s perspective, spec work can be a way to quickly choose from multiple, finished, examples for free.

From the designer’s perspective, spec work can be a quick way to possibly have your speculative work chosen and to which you can then add live work to your portfolio.

When a buyer of design chooses spec work as an avenue to get as many submissions as possible the buyer skips over important steps in the development of strategic design. Strategic design can enhance market position and provide a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Without strategic design the message is lost and so is the competitive advantage.

When a designer chooses to do spec work for experience the designer skips over important steps in the development of strategic design. Instead the designer in a rush to make the deadline submits designs that fail to meet real-world business and organization’s challenges. This type of experience is often unpaid or with very little real compensation to the designer who’s design was chosen and for those whose submissions that were rejected there is no compensation at all for their time and expense.

Spec work is a risk to both the buyer of design and the designer because it undervalues and ignores the strategic steps that effectively meet and successfully provide real-world solutions.

If you would like to know more about spec work please visit NO!Spec’s website for in-depth information for designers, buyers of design, educators, students, organizations, hosts of contests, and anyone else who is interested in knowing everything about spec work.

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