What a great testimony! Love u babe!

This is so similar to my own story. I didn’t do tons of spec work, but the little that I did made me realize that it’s a terrible way to work.

I am also a Christian and I have seen God working to bring my passion and skills into a way to glorify Him AND provide for my family. It’s a fun ride!

Thanks for the article.

@Vin – Thanks man! It’s amazing what God can do when we allow him to use us

Great post Sean. I started out as a pay-per-post blogger and the pay was peanuts. I was just so enamored with the fact that I could work from home whenever I wanted. I am extremely competitive as well, so all I cared about was to continue winning bids. It didn’t last long however, and I’m glad I broke away from undervalued spec work and companies who didn’t really care.

I think if anyone is on the fence about spec work, they should just look at what you have been able to achieve.

I agree. Contests are a huge waste of time & energy. I’m glad you came to your senses and stopped like I did.

Hi Sean,
First of all, I want to say that I am a big fan yours, love your style, especially all the stuff you have for sale on Brandstack.

Secondly, I just wanted to share a little bit of my take on design contests and spec work in general.

I own Hatchwise, so I am obviously heavily involved in the whole “spec thing” and it should come as no surprise that I am heavily in favor of it.

I am, however, the first to admit that it is not for all designers. I think it works very well for people starting out, testing the water, or doing design as a hobby, and I think it can be a great part time solution for the experienced freelancer during those times when there is nothing going on, or as part of a overall strategy (using iFreelance, sites like Brandstack, advertising locally etc..). I do not recommend relying on it as a full time job, (although we do have a number of designers making $2000+ a month from contest earnings, so it can obviously bring in a decent chunk of change), simply because it is obviously not guaranteed income. If you are booked full with paying clients then design contests probably don’t make any sense at all in your business plan.

I do think that the experience designers gain from working on design contests is severely underestimated, even if a designer is, as you say, “doing the bare minimum to try to win”, he is still working on real projects for real companies, and is building up a portfolio that is going to help him (or her) win clients in the future.

Just before I read your post here I was reading a post over on the Hatchwise forums and a designer was talking about his experience on the site (in a positive light) over the past few years, and he said (I quote) “This site has actually sculpted me into the designer that I am today, because most of my practice came from just doing logos here”, and in my opinion he’s a pretty awesome designer. Although I agree that there the designers that are just in it for the cash, there are a lot more that truly love design and are doing it to improve their skills and build their portfolio.

Lastly, I just wanted to say that while I completely respect your decisions, I wasn’t clear if the religious side of the post was just your personal experience, or if you feel that God also hates spec (I hope it is the former).

Best of luck with your future endeavors, and thanks for sharing your story!

George Ryan
http://www.hatchwise.com

Sean- great perspective here thanks for sharing! I’m really glad you posted on this as I’ve been mulling over where I stand on the whole spec work issue of late. I’m in the same boat as you- a professing believer and a working artist who makes his living doing design. I know it may sound odd for someone who makes their living working for paying clients to even have to think about this, but thus far I haven’t been able to clearly distill my thoughts into a discernible answer. I’m going to, once and for all, try to hash out my feelings on the subject here…

The short answer is this: I’d strongly urge ALL designers to stay away from design contests and spec work most of the time BUT I can’t come out and definitively proclaim them as ‘evil’ or ’sinful’.

My view on designers who participate in design contests / spec work: I think designers who participate in these are generally getting shafted… they pour hours of work into a concept only to be rewarded with either nothing at all OR a poor excuse for compensation that mocks the time they have put into the concept (for the most part the former unfortunately!). In addition these designers are working in a void- there is virtually no community interaction to sharpen oneself- to understand why a logo concept has to be much, much more than just a pretty icon- it has to be intuitively smart and functional. Many designers are just churning this stuff out and bastardizing their art in the hopes of making a viable living. Most every designer I’ve talked to quickly realizes this though and moves on. In fact I’ve know a great many fantastically successful designers who have participated in stuff like this during their early days. I think designers who participate in these contests suffer more from naivety then stupidity- lets face it many of us (myself included) have been caught in this. I’m thankful for the experience I gained from it and I’m happy to say that I’ve matured and moved on.

As an aside- I’m thankful for a service like Brandstack that has become somewhat of an intermediary step between crowdsourcing and contract jobs. While I don’t think it should ever be seen or used as a primary source of income, it does give one the ability to set his/her own prices and to design either 1) just for fun or 2) to reuse old concepts that are just sitting dormant on your hard drive. There’s no client except for yourself in that case and you can choose how much or how little time you sink into it.

My view on the contest/spec sites themselves: This is where I’m going to get many people disagreeing with me. I honestly don’t feel like these sites are threatening to the design community in the least. The work they produce is generally dull and unfocused. I think we are underestimating the perceived value of design in today’s community- we act as if we must hound these organizations to extinction. Why not just let them continue to produce mediocre results and continue to provide a community that welcomes designers out of their initial foray into supposed ‘paying’ design. Has anyone even noticed a visual shift in paying jobs due to directly to crowd sourcing sites? I sure haven’t. If someone has an unrealistic budget for a requested design I just don’t take the job- there are many other clients out there willing to pay a fair price for the service we provide. I guess what I’m saying is- the buck stops with me. I have a choice of whether or not to participate in something that may or may not benefit me- I am responsible for those decisions.

Admission time: I recently participated in a contest. The difference this time around as opposed to 5-6 years ago? I don’t feel bad because of the specific circumstances.

This contest was a case of it being one of the big clients setting up a contest for press as much as concepts. I chose to deliberately participate in this contest- why? How could I possibly justify this after spending so many years loathing these types of things? For one thing it was a big client that I wanted an opportunity to get my work in front of. Second- the contest was not about money for me- it was honestly just a really fun theme.

I spend 40 hours a week designing for a medical software company- its a great job and I love it, but sometimes subject matter shift is needed and I need an excuse to design something fun for a different industry. Could I have designed free stuff for a musical artist or a non-profit instead? Sure I could have (and I actually do so regularly!), but this theme was the one I was most inspired by. Does this make me a horrible person? I don’t think so. I have no plans to participate in contests like this anytime soon, but if I need a ‘just for fun’ project and it happens to be for a big client that I’d love to work for someday, I MAY take the opportunity. Again, I don’t ever really see these contests as replacing or cutting into the territory of contract design… so I guess I just don’t see them as a threat.

As a Christian I think we have to walk a careful line between calling something ’sin’ that isn’t sin. Sean I’m not sure if that’s what you’re calling spec work or not, but I wanted to clarify the point. I want to be careful not to bind someone’s conscience over participating in spec work. I believe that Romans 14:12-23 is a good scriptural passage to keep in mind. In Paul’s day he was making the distinction between those who felt as if eating food sacrificed before idols was sinful and those who felt it was not sinful to eat the food. In Paul’s case he had no moral quandary eating food sacrificed to idols because in the end it was just that, food. However he did say that someone who’s conscience is morally bound from eating food sacrificed to idols, they ought to refrain so as not to sin against the conscience God had given them. To take Paul’s words to heart, I’d urge that neither side make an issue out of it since God will ultimately be the judge of the motivations and convictions of our heart.

I think this kind of applies in our situation- we need to be careful of being so bold as to call something like this ’sin’. I don’t think spec work is sinful- but I do think its, as a general rule, not a smart practice to be in. It shouldn’t be a regular, primary practice, but I’m not going to scold anyone for occasionally participating just for the fun of it.

Sean- I don’t think you are calling spec work sin (and perhaps I’m really over thinking this) but I just wanted to be clear on this so that young Christian designers out there don’t get the wrong idea. I’m really glad that you listened to the Lord’s urging and did as you felt Him leading you in that situation- praise God!

Also a gentle reminder to everyone- God doesn’t always financially prosper those who do His will. He may do so, but He may not. Sometimes he gives His children financial and/or physical hardships despite their obedience to Him. A Christian who loves the Lord understands that trials and hardships are ‘blessings in disguise’ as he/she is able to learn even more about the greatness of God through trial. My wife and I recently experienced this first hand with a very personal loss. It was so painful and yet we were able to totally praise God knowing that he had this happen for a reason.

Job is an excellent example in the old testament of God taking everything away despite his obedience. God did of course prosper Him in the end but it was not because of Job’s actions- it was because it pleased God to do so. As Christians we know that our ultimate reward is eternal life with Christ. Even if it seems like hardships hound us to the very end of our life, it doesn’t necessarily mean we are being disobedient to God, it could be that the Lord counted us worthy enough to endure trials in His name.

Sorry I’m preaching now and have expanded this way beyond my initial intent! From spec work to the Gospel.

This whole topic has been on my heart. In spite of every urge I have to condemn spec work, I just can’t bring myself to completely denounce it without properly giving a legitimate reasoning to either side of the coin…

So to reiterate, my short answer was this: I’d strongly urge ALL designers to stay away from design contests and spec work most of the time BUT I can’t come out and definitively proclaim them as ‘evil’ or ’sinful’.

Yo Sean,

This is a well written post, thank you very much. I believe that God has really helped you and I know that He has (and will) help me on my way to become a better designer.

I think I have come across your work via Twitter or Logopond, I don’t remember, but I do know that I totally dig your work. You are a really good logo designer, you don’t just make a pretty design, you make sure it matters and fits. Seriously, kudo’s on the passion and effort you put into them. I was seriously surprised that you have been doing this just since 2008, without former training! I thought you had been doing this since you were 10, as if you were raised by Von Glitschka himself. You are for sure in my top 5 logo designers.

I know the pains of starting as a designer. (I’d like to thing of myself as a designer.) I have always been visually inclined. I just cannot stop looking at logo’s and design and ponder how they can be improved. I also love to study the effects of design on people’s thoughts, actions and behavior. I started freelance designing in late 2009, after I made some logo’s for my brother Jonno ( http://www.jonnotie.nl ). I started with making logo’s for just $100, but that turned out to be not profitable at all, taken the amount of time I like to put in a logo, and then PayPay fee’s and taxes. Since then I have started to ask more.

At the moment I am not taking any new assignments, as I am busy with graduating. I am not doing a design related study, more in the direction of marketing, branding and advertising. I have a little bit of former schooling in the design area, but that was more about learning to work in Quark and print on big Heidelberg’s, oh, and binding my own books. Anyway, I have basically thought myself Photoshop, Illustrator and Indesign. I am planning on working in the design business for the rest of my life, I just love it.

I admire you and your work is an inspiration and an exertion to improve my skills.

@Stephen – Thank you for your response, it sure did give me a lot to think about. I in no way, meant to give off the impression that participating in spec work was a sin. I just wanted to share that working 100 hours a week but only getting paid for 10 of them didn’t seem like a plan God laid out for me.

I would also agree that brandstack is a great concept and I use it regularly. I don’t consider this spec work at all.

And while I half agree half disagree about competitions, I do think they do take away from the community. Not only are clients not receiving the best input for their design, but they are getting a false sense for the future for what pricing should look like (should they ever use a non competitive based freelancer). Expectations are set to high and often that is where the idea comes from “can I get 15 logo concepts for $150.” Will they continue to provide mediocre work? Yes. What if the clients settle for that mediocre work and never know the difference?

@Jord – thanks so much for the compliments, seriously means a lot. We have a very similar style and you have an awesome future ahead. Yeah $100 for a logo doesn’t cut it anymore.. but it beats the $20 I was doing it at — It is an awesome industry and looking forward to seeing more of your work after your done graduating.

@Toni – completely, if anyone is on the fence, they should really strive to at least cut it out all together or wean themselves off of it.

Sean- totally agree! I figured that wasn’t the road you were taking, but just thought I’d clarify to be sure. I do agree- its a thin line. Your point about expectations and precedents being set is well placed- I’ll definitely stew on that for awhile a let it sink in. Thanks for bringing this topic up brother. I appreciate you and your work- God bless!

@George – Completely the former, I hope I wasn’t coming off that way. I can somewhat agree that if you are new and treading water then spec work may be a viable option or if you are just starting out. I would however, recommend over that option designing for non profits.. you still gain clients, referrals, real jobs/briefs, and everything is a write off. If you lose a contest, you can’t write that off.

I will say this which I forgot to mention above in this post. 99designs did help me learn about design and really shaped me into the designer I am today… However, it was a struggle, filled with anger and frustrating projects.. and wouldn’t recommend that path to anyone.

It may work for some, since spec work is heavily looked down upon by top design agencies, firms, and freelancers, I would have to say that it doesn’t seem worth it, reputably or financially.

So cool to hear this side of your story! After working with you a few times, it definitely struck an interesting chord. See, back in 2008, I was one of those companies that used sites like 99designs to get some interesting mockups for clients. I only did it once, that’s all it took to find out that, in general, the quality simply wasn’t there. It did seem to be mostly new artists with a few people that rose to the top, lots of theft, and not an ideal experience. So proud of the obedience to the Lord’s leading that you’re talking about, that’s phenomenal!

Wow, I thought there were no comments and all of a sudden, when I clicked join the discussion, the comments popped up and there are some great comments made.

While I don’t think spec work is evil, I don’t encourage it. My past is very similar to yours. I started looking for clients about 4 years ago and when I couldn’t find any, I decided that I would enter contests from this one site that I won’t name here. It was ok at first, I even won a contest. But after a while, it seemed like I was investing way too much time and not making any money at all.

Like you, I did research on it and found out what the experienced designers had to say about it and it opened my eyes. So many great points were brought to my attention.

Anyway, I really enjoyed reading your testimony about spec work and how you’ve made the decision to stay away from it. Keep up the great work Sean! I’m really enjoying your blog so far.

Hey Jad, thanks for your comments. Yah I think any good designer realizes eventually that they are being taken advantage of.

Hey, Sean, great post! I can see that a lot of people had a lot to say about this one, and it was an all-around filling entry, I truly value this one.

You — and everyone else recently in one way or another — have shown me the light! I was completely misunderstanding why I wasn’t getting much of anything ever since Christmas. I was getting blessed with clients all over the place, even in China! And all the sudden I had nothing. NOTHING for MONTHS. And I realized that I hadn’t been giving anything. NOTHING of what I had gotten back to God, or even giving him the glory he deserved for my success. This is also what I heard in church today… and last week… and a few months ago when I first started seeing trouble… I guess I just need to learn how to take hints.

As for spec work: Boo. I totally hear you, George Ryan, and I agree: It’s a great place to get your start and test the waters. But I’ve seen too many terrible logos and designs get picked over some I thought were amazing, or I’d be involved in a contest where the client would be quite sure my design was it, then someone would come in with a design far too similar to something that’s out there on the market and take the cake. Good for some, not for those (in my opinion) with true potential as designers.

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So I’m completely late on this. Thanks for sharing your start to design. I know that for me, I’d love to do freelance work, but the fear of not being able to find jobs and support a potential family have been the prevailing thoughts that consume my mind every time I think about going out on my own.

I’m 20, so starting now would be best, but one thing I’ve learned is that I can’t fear for my provision (cliche word, I know) but rather trust in God.

I’d been meaning to ask you how you got started, well, this answers my question.

Thanks,

@Sky, fear is a nasty thing and can hold us back from so many things god has for us. i once heard a sermon about “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” because fear of failure, ultimately, is what it comes down to.

something that really helped me dream big was listening to sermons by faithlifenow. go check them out, you’ll dream bigger than ever and have the faith to back it up.

WOW who’s the hot babe in the first post? ))
Hey nice post Sean, Thanks for sharing.

You do know thats my wife right Mike she knows already though.. ha

@Sean, that’s pretty much what it is. I’ll check out faithlifenow. Thanks for the suggestion!

OT: have you thought about having a checkbox that says something along the lines of “email me when people reply after me” =D

Hey Sean, extremely encouraging post. I first got to know of you when I read your interview on littleboxofideas.com. I loved the brandclay logo and began look for other logos created by you. I was amazed by the amount and quality of work you had accomplished in such a short span of time.

Then one day, I read one of your comments made back in 2008, on David Airey’s article http://www.davidairey.com/using-freelance-graphic-design-contracts/. I found it hard to believe that this person who sounded so discouraged, was the same person whose work I had recently discovered, enjoyed and admired.

Your success has given me fresh hope for my own career as a designer. Thanks a lot for this post, your story is truly inspirational.

I enjoyed this post. I am have done some design on the side for sometime now. Funny thing is, I just looking at some design contest online. Now I know for sure that that is not the way to go! Enjoyed the testimony sir. Let the Lord let you. He never fails!

I found this post to be very inspirational. I see you said you learned alot about designing from PSDTUTS and VECTORTUTS. Do you have a recommendation for web design?