Poster design by @DavidAirey
Once again the Twitter-sphere is crackling over a controversial spec work story—this time originating from a somewhat surprising source: the Obama election campaign. The campaign posted a call for “poster submissions from artists across the country illustrating why we support President Obama’s plan to create jobs now, and why we’ll re-elect him to continue fighting for jobs for the next four years.” The irony here is rich.
Clearly this is an ethical misstep by the Obama campaign, but one that seems borne from ignorance rather than malice. As with other recent examples like the Huffington Post logo competition, I tend to favor the rhetoric of opportunity rather than the rhetoric of shame. I would encourage the campaign to view this moment as an opportunity to connect with an important constituency—the community of professional designers—and engage in a healthy dialogue about the value of design and the importance of strong, mutually beneficial professional relationships (not to mention paying jobs). Likewise, designers should seize the opportunity to sharpen our articulation of the value of what we do and to reconnect with our own networks using this as a living case study.
AIGA has a clear position on the issue of spec work that states that professional designers should be compensated fairly for their work. However, I also believe that designers must be careful to focus on the value of design rather than getting distracted by a debate about the evils of crowdsourcing and social media. These forces are here to stay, and this is a battle we will never win.
5 comments
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October 10, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Drew Davies (@drewoxide)
Doug, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the matter. I wholeheartedly agree that we need to use these opportunities to focus on the value of design instead of simply complaining or flamestorming. I’m curious about thoughts you have about concrete steps the design community could take in situations like this. I think there’s a lot of designers in the world who see a scenario like this and want to take positive action, but don’t know where to start. Ideas or suggestions for the masses?
October 10, 2011 at 9:14 pm
lasertron (@lasertron)
thanks for this article–I think it’s an issue that is a blind spot for many business owners and public figures. When people need design work done, sometimes if you don’t know the expectations of designers and the “etiquette” of the industry, you can be painted with a bad brush. It’s good to keep the dialogue going and hopefully this misstep from the obama campaign will be an opportunity to bring more voices into it.
December 1, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Robb Smigielski
Perhaps I am missing something, Doug. Are we really saying that it’s wrong for a political entity to ask it’s supporters to pitch in a help the campaign in this way? Is that not an in-kind support on the designers part that is well within the realms of not being considered spec work?
January 5, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Khoi Vinh
I’m coming to this late, but I’ve long found the argument against spec work to be specious, at best. I don’t see how this open call for posters truly devalues the design profession. The link would seem to be hypothetical at best.
August 20, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Chris Korbey
I have to agree with Khoi. The conversation around spec work has become increasingly broad and relentless. Political campaigns largely run on volunteered time and expertise. I have a hard time understanding how designing a poster differs from any other form political volunteering.