Dear Church Marketing Sucks,
I saw your recent “An Open Letter to Rick Warren about Spec Work” concerning his contest to design a cover for his new book. I get where you’re coming from – I’m a freelance web & graphic designer myself, so I understand the time that goes into designs and working with a client.
But…come on. I think the whole no-spec deal makes sense for corporations, businesses, etc., but when people are just having fun contests that NO ONE IS UNDER ANY OBLIGATION TO COMPETE IN, turning it into such a big deal is ridiculous. John Saddington’s fun contest to design him a business card was also hijacked by the no-spec crew who poo-pooed the idea until he eventually shut it down.
Again – I get the fact that if a professional designer sees this and spends a whole day coming up with a killer design, and it’s not chosen, they’re out hundreds of dollars and precious time. But to host a contest to spark creativity and open it up to anyone – with the possibility of getting their name out for a sweet business card for Human3rror or a book cover for one of the most well-known evangelical pastors in the world, what is wrong with that?
You ended your Open Letter by citing the fact that “spec requires the designer to invest time and resources with no guarantee of payment.” I know – I get that. But you know…? It’s absolutely and totally optional and up to the designer whether or not they enter into such a contest or competition.
The no-spec conversation is an incredibly hot debate – but I think people just need to get over it. If designers and freelancers and amateur folk want to enter into a design contest like this – and if they find it a fun creative outlet for themselves (regardless of the end result) – why do we need to try and stop that from happening?
Thanks for your time Church Marketing Sucks guys.
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{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I agree, Adam. The complains against contests like that just seem silly. If you don’t want to potentially waste your time, then don’t enter!
You might be right if you’re okay with mediocrity…I’m not, neither in work or in the way we treat those doing the work.
If you’re a struggling designer, you absolutely must, are forced, to enter…if you want any chance to make the money offered. What you miss is that most of the specs (including the one you mentioned) have $0 even attached to it and are often excuses for cheap labor.
We should be above that.
Or maybe this is a new model of design work? As someone who has hosted a bunch of contests for logos/designs… I find it to be a very rewarding process for both the designer and the client. Like Adam says, if you don’t like it… don’t enter. There’s plenty of work out there.
I’m with you. I got their overall point, but I didn’t really agree with it.
It’s not that it’s “silly” or a “waste of my time” that is the issue. Contests like this devalue the creative industry. It’s simple economics, if free work (even if it is sub par work) in an industry is readily available via a contest or whatever, the value of the work I (and many others) charge for is lessened. Take any other occupation and insert it into the same scenario, it doesn’t looks so good then does it.
“Take any other occupation and insert it into the same scenario, it doesn’t looks so good then does it.” Actually, that’s not true. There are many professions where many people fight for the work and only one earns the prize.
Name one where you complete the work before knowing if you are going to get paid. This isn’t competing for work, that is what a bid is for. This is finished work.
Sales. Farming. Construction. Anything retail. Actually, it seems like a large amount of commerce is based on the “spec” system. You bring the goods to market with no guarantee of a payoff.
Again, don’t like this type of thing. Just don’t participate. But its here to stay. With the success of this one don’t you think its drawn the attention of tons of clients looking to get design work done?
Seems like a net win for graphic arts to me.
Bravo and well said Adam!
I’ve got to agree with you too, Adam – and I’m speaking from experience as a freelance writer and designer. For years I have combined my regular, paying work load with a few shot-in-the-dark, once-in-a-lifetime, non-paying opportunities. And actually, I think it’s a good business strategy.
I labored for two years on a book project that I pitched to agents/publishers with no guarantee of pay. It turned out to be one of the smartest moves I ever made professionally. I got a book deal out of it .
This could end up being such a great opportunity for an up-and-coming designer. Seems like kind of a dumb thing to get worked up about.
I’m a designer, and what I do with my time is up to me. Who cares how others think I should spend my time. Seems Biblical to keep your nose in your own business. Annoying to see so much “Captain Me Planet” talk going on within the church these days. Techies and designers thinking they found the Holy Grail…..sounding more like Al Gore than they realize.
first the thing on Church Crunch the other day and now this…LOL about “Captain Me Planet”
Great post man.
I am a designer as well. And any freelance work I do does not come cheap. My time is valuable to me and I have to be very choosy about the projects I accept.
That being said, I love entering design contests. I know there is no guarantee that my design will be picked. I’ve designed a ton of stuff for both threadless and canvasthreads. I’ve had no winning designs at threadless and only one winning design at canvasthreads…and that’s okay. It was a chance for me to do something fun, to broaden my skills, and get a little exposure.
I think the post at churchmarketingsucks is way off. When I was a newb designer and trying to get business, often times I’d take initiative and find a business logo that I thought looked crappy and redesign it. Then, I’d contact the business and present it to them. Never got a single project. But it certainly wasn’t a waste of time. I learned a lot in those self-initiated projects.
If I’d had the chance back then to enter a contest for a book design for Rick Warren, I would have absolutely jumped at it. I would have been incredibly pumped about it. I would have researched – – strongly considered color, type, and graphics – looked at countless numbers of other book designs.
This contest is an incredible opportunity, and I guarantee you everyone who enters it will whole-heartedly disagree with churchmarketingsucks.
Good for you in writing this post Adam. A couple thoughts…
I see both sides of the issue. However, what the Church Marketing Sucks guys are missing in all this ironically is the “marketing”. No matter what side of the issue you are on as far as the “no-spec” is concerned, this is really great marketing. Look at the profile this is getting – for the designers and for Rick Warren. Not all PR has to be good. It’s how you manage and leverage it.
The same situation applies to marketing as it does for design. As a marketing guy, I have taken on submitting projects in contests too just to get the shot at having the “job” as part of my portfolio. Anyone who runs a small business or a freelance operation should do these type of things so they can take a shot at marketing themselves. I look at it as a way to invest in yourself from a marketing angle and if you”win” you get the payoff. If you don’t, you learn a lot in the process and it doesn’t cost you money…just time. I realize time is money, but it is a cheap way to promote yourself if you don’t have the “cash” to invest in marketing yourself.
I agree with David. Both Rick Warren and CMS are getting great marketing including comments and trackbacks. I also agree that everyone has the choice to enter or not enter. So lets all be happy and get back to creating instead of fighting – we will be better off! : )
Adam…nice job on the response!
One thing is for certain… the person the too-be-chosen designer already has some mad publicity and the book isn’t even on the shelf yet!
Wow, I really should finish my thoughts (and proof-read) before control-tabbing through windows. :/
i appreciate your perspective on this.
perhaps the most troubling part of the open letter, the comments from designers and the comments in the church marketing lab, is the arrogant attitude. some have suggested better ways rick could have done things, as if he needs to consult us.
the argument for contests like this devaluing work are shallow and short sighted. poetry writing contests do not devalue poets. preaching contests (yes, there are preaching contests) do not devalue preachers. battle of the band competitions do not devalue musicians.
if you don’t like spec work, then don’t participate. it’s really that simple. but whining and complaining about it really won’t do any good.