The dangers of Spec work.

The launch of the No-Spec campaign reminded me of an experience I've had that points to the danger of speculative designing. In 1999, after moving to Roanoke from Radford to work as Art Director for Leisure Publishing Company, I decided it was time to dive head first into the freelance world as well. I was new to town and didn't know anyone, so I hit the street looking for freelance clients.

At the time one of my friends from college was working downtown at a small restaurant called "Chris' Big Dog" which had recently opened and had no visual identity. I met with the owner, who had also attended RU and who I'd met on several occasions, and we discussed the possibility of my putting together a brand identity for his business. I let him know I'd bring him some ideas in a week and he could decide whether or not he liked what he saw.

With very little experience in branding or logo creation, I set out to create what in hindsight was a mighty rough looking logo for the Big Dog business. After creating an Illustrator file from my initial sketches, I placed the cleaned up logo on a number of speculative uses for his new identity: bumper stickers, business cards and the like. I met with the Owner (Chris) again and showed him my work, and left the mock ups with him so that he could suggest any changes that he felt might be needed for the work to suit him.

One week later I stopped in for a hot dog and to check in to see if he'd reached any conclusion about the work. It turned out that he had.... the logo I had created was displayed ubiquitously throughout the place: on the menus, on the wall, on the door, on table fliers.. everywhere. I had no idea what to do, and Chris was nowhere to be seen.

In the end, my inexperience and eagerness caused the loss of my own creative control and product, and my only payment was the 150 or so hot dogs that my sympathetic friend slid across the counter every time I stopped in to look at the stolen work (Thanks Christian!) While some of the dangers of Spec work are a bit hard to visualize, this one is easy to see. Creating Spec work can render your work completely worthless, and give a dishonest businessperson a free ride.

This experience poses two questions: How can a young designer get enough work to establish a strong portfolio and a solid foundation of clients? And what would you do in the above situation to deal with the theft of your work?