I’m not sure whose idea it was for publishing and creative professionals to do work “on spec” before getting a job, but I’ll betcha it wasn’t a creative pro! It was probably a greedy CEO who didn’t want to pay for something that he might later regret. According to Answers.com, “spec” has been used to mean speculation since the 1700s. “On spec” describes “work, such as advertising that is done for a client without a contract or job order, for which the client will pay only if the work is to be used. When a job is done on speculation, the person doing the work takes the risk in the hope of making a profit, gaining a valuable credit, or for some other reason. In the advertising business, creative talent will often work on spec in order to establish a name in the industry.”
Why is it that anymore, it seems like the creative markets are the only ones expected to produce work on spec? Why can’t doctors or lawyers all take time to draw up plans for our wellness or our legal matters and then we just pick whoever’s got the best plan? Well heaven forbid we take up a doctor’s or lawyer’s valuable time! That’s horrible that some pros’ time is considered more valuable than others. We are all people. We all produce something that someone else wants or needs. We should get paid for that, even if we’re just asked for a sample. It’s our right!
Whenever I see a job that says it requires an unpaid, original sample, I always walk away. My time is too valuable for someone who’s not paying me to get! Someone I don’t even know for that matter! Who do these people think they are?
I know designers are upset; I’ve seen plenty of blogs about them being asked to create a design on spec for many clients. Some clients even come to expect it, it seems. It’s just a big scheme many times for companies to get free, fresh ideas from people whose work they never intended to use anyway.
I know that newbies need to build up their portfolio, and when I was in college I did write for free. But, it was an internship and I knew I wasn’t going to get paid. I did get some good contacts from that internship though, as well as good experience. But, please, to all the creative pros out there: don’t do anything on spec! There are many more horror stories than there are success stories. And, the more people do work on spec, the less creative pros get paid down the road. Every time someone produces work for free, that lowers the bar for what is a decent wage. And that doesn’t exclude those that are doing work on spec; it’ll come back to you too. Our time is just as valuable as any other profession so treat it that way!
Designers are communicators, plain and simple. They just don’t communicate in the way people usually think of first: with words. They communicate with images.
Just because designers think with their right brains most of the time doesn’t mean they don’t have the ability to tap into their left brain strength from time to time. I’m pretty sure they didn’t get through school by drawing their term papers!
The seeds of writing have been planted in designers’ brains since learning their ABCs; creative weeds have just overgrown the writing plant. But, with a little nurturing, designers can grow their writing plant. And there’s no better time to do that than in the present.
In today’s age of dwindling creative budgets, designers may be called upon to write and design everything from brochures to direct mail postcards to posters for the big wig’s presentation. It can be intimidating, but for those who take the risk it can be quite rewarding. But as with anything, it takes practice. Writers aren’t born with innate writing talent (at least not most of them anyway). They have to practice their craft every day. So designers can practice their writing skills and become good, if not great, writers.
Here are some tips and techniques to try out to get that left brain pumping:
Sketch words. To designers, it feels more comfortable to start brainstorming an idea by sketching out images and then adding words as they go along. But instead, try starting with words first – write whatever words and phrases you think you might need to create the message you’re trying to come up with. Words will help you focus on a concept and then you can create images that complement those words.
Review marketing materials or magazines or whatever medium you are trying to write for. By carefully reading high-traffic Web sites or popular catalogs, you can gain insight into what good writing reads like. Note the techniques and tone used in the various formats (brochures, postcards, magazine ads) of which you might be working with. Just getting familiar with the different styles of writing will help you become more comfortable with writing that way.
Brainstorm with a mind map. A mind map is a diagram that represents words, ideas and other items that are linked to a certain key word or idea. Start with the one idea you’re trying to write for, say sales. You’d write “sales” in the middle of a piece of paper and then you would write whatever words come to mind based on the word “sales.” From there, you do the same with the new words you’ve just written down. Wikipedia has a good example of a mind map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mind_map. You can get a lot of ideas from a mind map by writing down every single thing you think of – there are no wrong answers! Besides, you’re the only person who’ll be looking at this. There’s no one to judge you, except yourself. And that’s a topic best left to another blog.
Just write. When you sit down to write, just write whatever comes to you. You don’t even have to write in full sentences. Just let it flow. Then you can go back and …
Edit and organize. Or organize and edit. Whichever seems easiest to you, do first. Read through what you’ve written and put a star next to the ideas and phrases that are on the same topic. Use another symbol for all the paragraphs or sentences that have to do with another topic. Then group them all together and edit what you’ve got.
Remember, the fewer the words, the better. Don’t use five words when you can say it in three. As Walt Whitman said “The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity.
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