Amidst the flurry of controversy along with over 100 angry and sarcastic comments, The Huffington Post (HP) closes their 'design competition'. The outrage was in response to HP's offer :
"Do you know your way around Photoshop or other design programs? Have a cool idea for a logo that screams 'awesome politics coverage'? Enter it in the HuffPost Politics Icon Competition…If yours wins, your icon will be used to represent this channel all over the interwebs -- with credit to you, of course."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/01/huffington-post-politics-icon-contest_n_915374.html
The AIGA, the professional association for design, has an anti-spec position. In short, "AIGA believes that professional designers should be compensated fairly for their work and should negotiate the ownership or use rights of their intellectual and creative property through an engagement with clients"(http://www.aiga.org/position-spec-work/).
Cyber activist sites such as Antispec.com has lead exposure and initiative.
Soon after the Huffington Post was forced to make a public statement:
"UPDATE, August 15: We asked fans of HuffPost Politics to submit suggestions for social media icon designs as a fun way of enabling them to express their passion for politics -- and for HuffPost. As readers of our site know, we frequently engage our community with requests for feedback and suggestions. So while AOL Huffington Post Media Group employs an in-house team of more than 30 talented designers, we felt this would be a lighthearted way to encourage HuffPost Politics users to express another side of their talents."
Whether or not HP will go through with this disappointing, exploiting competition, one thing is for sure: designers both young and old have responded with a clear message. Here are some of my personal favorites:
BeaversDesign
AWESOME! I GET TO VOTE! LOLZ THATZ SOOO KEWL.
Here's how it plays out:
You
send 5 different landscaping companies over to your house for 5
different weeks to cut your lawn, decide which one did the best job,
congratulate them with a pat on the back and a handshake, and then
credit them on your bi-monthly community newsletter for all their hard
work on your lawn. But never paying any of those landscaping companies,
including the one who "won."
melanie seibert
Spec work is the devil.
120pagemonster
Designers: Don't be a 'ho' for Huff-Po.
brianwjones
A
designer runs into a high-priced attorney at a cocktail party who he
had recently provided a quote to for his design services. She hands him
her business card, which looks terrible, and says, "my nephew had a copy
of Photoshop and made them for free! What do you think?" The designer
hands the card back, smiles and says, "you get what you pay for," before
turning to walk away.
#NoSpec
joeydi
Good design work takes time, research and expertise, not
just a copy of Photoshop. Show some respect for your brand and the
design industry in general, and do away with this childish competition.
Matt Morton
Absolutely terrible. Now a former reader of Huffington Post!
Philip Bliss
Here is my submission: http://imgur.com/Z68fy
MatthewOden
Keeping in the style of classic AOL Design Philosophy, I offer this humble submission: http://twitpic.com/66n5e0
timarmstrongdrek
AOL chief exec paid self millions in bonuses, and not a penny for a proper designer. This is a disgusting slap in the face.
jsb182
Wait!
Wait, don't close it down yet. Certainly not because we graphic
designers think we should be paid like anyone else. I'll enter! Here it
is:
H
Did I win yet?
YRG
Sorry if I'm too late.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/jag999/huffpoLogo.png
florenciard
unfortunate
decision, Huffington Post. Why ask people to donate work when you are
able to pay it? Do you ask cleaners to clean your offices for free? And
the same goes for programmers, photographers, lawyers, accountants
even cooks who make their meals, etc etc... Design is a job and
designing an icon takes work and skills, HP people.
joseluis6000
I love working for successful companies for free!!!
jessicalikesyou
Here is my submission: http://twitpic.com/66o7t2
I am such a big fun of The Huffington Post that I would love to pay YOU to use this logo. Let me know where I can send a check.
Matt Morton
Here is my official submission: http://oi55.tinypic.com/nyzbec.jpg
I hope I'll win b/c I'm not a designer, and you totally grabbed my attention with this awesome contest!
Jarad Johnson
You should also consider crowd sourcing your
upper management and writing positions, which are obviously in desperate
need of an improvement.
pixleight
my entry to the
Icon Competition: Please make sure to place my credit in #FF00FF Comic
Sans or Papyrus, thx. http://twitpic.com/66kucm
Ric Grefe
AIGA, the nation’s largest and oldest professional association for design, strongly
discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted
on
a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a
project. The creative professionals that read the Post expect more from
you.
This practice violates a tacit, long-standing ethical
standard in the communication design profession worldwide for two
reasons:
1. To assure the client receives the most appropriate and responsive
work. Successful design work results from a collaborative process between a
client and the designer with the intention of developing a clear sense of the
client’s objectives, competitive situation and needs. Speculative design
competitions or processes result in a superficial assessment of the project at
hand that is not grounded in a client’s business dynamics.
2. Requesting work for free demonstrates a lack of respect for the
designer and the design process as well as the
time of the professionals who are asked to provide it. This approach,
therefore, reflects on the integrity, practices and standards of the Huffington Post and AOL.
There are few professions where all possible candidates are asked to do the work
first, allowing the buyer to choose which one to compensate for their efforts. (Just
consider the response if you were to ask a dozen lawyers to write a brief for you,
from which you would then choose which one to pay!)
Bran's earlier comment captures the appropriate way to conduct a design competition.
drewoxide
HuffPost,
I respectfully request that you reconsider holding this spec work
competition. By now, you've seen in the comments plenty of great
reasons for you to partner with a single designer / design firm for any
and all of your communications design needs. But for good measure, I'll
re-quote the best reason.
From AIGA, the professional
association for design: "Requesting work for free reflects a lack of
understanding and respect for the value of effective design as well as
the time of the professionals who are asked to provide it. This
approach, therefore, reflects on your personal practices and standards
and may be harmful to the professional reputation of both you and your
business."
Thank you for reconsidering.
Drew Davies
AIGA Board of Directors
Because "The difference between good design and great design is intelligence." - Tibor Kalman
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