If you ever want to spark a lively debate amongst designers, just bring up the topic of unpaid submissions. There are a bunch of different opinions on this, and they often vary based on what stage in life/career the person is in. The idea of getting a chance to show your stuff to a client that might otherwise be inaccessible to you is very seductive to young designers in need of a break, and believe me I understand that, and I’ve been there. The fact is, pretty much everybody in this business has been, and has likely succumbed to the siren call of the unpaid submission at one point or another, no matter how much they’d like to forget about it.
It’s equally easy to see why the practice of requesting an unpaid submission is very alluring for clients, whether it be a request for proposal with a requirement for concepts, or just a request to “show me a few ideas” before hiring. The act of hiring a designer is always a little bit of a leap of faith, and hiring a young designer, whose portfolio might be a bit thin is even more so. Clients want to hire professional, qualified and competent designers, and that’s entirely understandable. The problem is, by going this route, by asking for a “try before you buy” scenario, the client is undercutting their ability to do just that. This scenario sounds absurd when you try it out on other professions – consider asking a dentist to maybe fill a cavity for you on spec, and then if you like his work, if it didn’t hurt too much, maybe let him do a crown for pay. Hmmm, maybe not. How about getting a lawyer to do a real estate job for you gratis, and then if the deal works out, maybe he could do up a will for you for pay. Good luck with that one. These professions won’t do it because they’re professionals. The only way you could get a cavity filled on that kind of deal is at a kitchen table in some back alley. So, if it’s a reputable and qualified professional that is being sought – they won’t be found this way.
The good news is that there are measures that can be taken in structuring a project that can protect both client and designer from the consequences of professional relationships gone bad. The best approach I know of for a reticent client to take is to set up a series of phases (or stages, or milestones) for a project, and make progression to the next phase contingent on results. This also protects the designer in situations where the scope of work may not be fully known. The main risk for the client here is schedule disruption if things don’t work out at an approval point, but that risk always exists.
Many on both sides of the fence are tempted by the idea of a paid competition, whereby pre-qualified designers submit concepts based on a terms of reference, for which they will be paid an honorarium. At first glance, it seems a win/win, yet there are problems with this approach as well:
1.) Designers cannot come up with realistic design solutions without being fully informed about the project’s objectives, constraints and opportunities. There is no substitute for dialog with the client, no matter how good the terms of reference are (see my previous post on the designer/client partnership).
2.) No matter how generous the competition honorarium seems, it is almost inevitable that each design team will put more time into it than they will get paid for, because the stakes are high. Unfortunately this gets us back into the realm of working for free.
3.) Perhaps as a sub-point to no.1, the output of the competition may not be a workable solution once the real work of concept development begins, wasting money and time in the process.
It’s a thorny problem, this. I personally do not do unpaid submissions (unless pro bono for a charity), as I think you could probably guess. I think the best answer is to treat the designer/client relationship as a professional one, a paid one. It creates an atmosphere of respect for the value and role of each of the partners, and puts a project on the best possible footing right from the start.
Designers, Clients, do you have thoughts on this? I look forward to your comments below.
