My Letter to the NEA Regarding Request for Spec Work
The following is my letter to The Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Contracting Officer. The first line is an ironic passage from the Request for Proposals to design an Art Works logo:
“…arts workers are real workers with real jobs who are part of this country’s real economy…”
This is a laudable claim, and a sentiment that I whole heartedly agree with. However your Request for Proposals for the NEA Art Works logo is a request that a whole class of American worker should work for free. This is speculative work pure and simple, and it is wrong. Graphic design is a profession, its practitioners are also real workers and have every right to be compensated fairly for their work.
A more effective and ethical approach to requesting speculative work is to ask designers to submit examples of their work from previous assignments as well as a statement of how they would approach your project. You can then judge the quality of the designer’s previous work and his or her way of thinking about your business. The designer you select can then begin to work on your project by designing strategic solutions to your criteria while under contract to you, without having to work on speculation up front.
Please withdraw this RFP, and rewrite it so that the speculative and free labor aspect is rescinded.
Sincerely,
Mark Kaufman
2 Comments
Mary Conroy
February 2, 2010I completely agree and thank you for your request. As a graphic artist, sometimes struggling graphic artist, the thought of spending hours on concepting a logo design without compensation seems utterly unfair and a wee bit insulting. Your proposed RFP reformat is on mark and appreciated.
Mark Kaufman
February 3, 2010Louise it is strange. I see a lot of government contracts and they are filled with legalese, and confusing language, but this one is downright farcical.
Cheers, and thanks for the link.