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Glad to be featured in “365 Awesome Designers” site project - by Matthias Mentasti

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dribbble:

Well, we don’t like it at all.

But first, what is spec work? From the NO!SPEC website:

“‘Spec’ has become the short form for any work done on a speculative basis. In other words, any requested work for which a fair and reasonable fee has not been agreed upon, preferably in writing.”

In a nutshell, spec requires the designer to invest time and resources with no guarantee of payment.

Your hard work, thinking, time… all with the promise of possible compensation at a later date. It should be obvious to anyone that this is neither good for the designer, the creative industry, or even the client and delivered end product. Yet, we see spec work happening again and again out there in the trenches.

For example, Dribbble’s inbox is filled with requests from companies wanting to run contests that leverage the creative pool to crowdsource their product needs. We tell them about spec work and let them know it’s not allowed on Dribbble.

Any contests we run here at Dribbble are strictly for fun, educational purposes, or promotion where the finished work remains owned by its creator and isn’t used by a third party. That’s an important distinction. The Playoffs on Dribbble are set up to encourage the flexing of your creative and artistic muscle, not to have a bunch of options designed, but paying only the winner.

We’ve received a few requests for our position regarding spec work, and hopefully we’ve cleared that up. Have fun, respect each other, and beware of clients or services that run contests to gain inexpensive options, or offer jobs without definite payment. You’re better than that.

For more info on spec work in general, see NO!SPEC and AntiSpec.

In my previous post, I had discussed how Typetheque explained its font licensing options. And in this post, I would like to continue with few important FAQs, like -

Who should buy fonts, the client or designer? (referred)

Fonts are software, which means that everyone who uses them needs to have a license. If a designer is making a poster for a client, it is the designer (end user), not the client, who needs to buy a font license. If clients wish to use the fonts as well, then they too need to buy their own licenses.

Can I modify/alter every fonts I purchase?

Most font software publishers will not allow their software to be modified in any way without permission from the publisher. Read more by downloading AIGA’s “Use of Fonts” (PDF version).

——————updated, July 16, 2012

Want more to know? Click here

Most designers ask me what they should do to produce the best out of their skills they have? Well, the simple answer is - “read a lot” (refer some good books). Apart from this, there are few things you as a designer must keep in mind:

1. Dream the achievable - Perhaps the simplest thing to do, yet difficult to practice. First and foremost rule is where you want to go and how you planned for it? Do you have a working plan ready?
2. Choose the fields you are strong at  - This took me about an year to discover that I am strong at communication designs. The exploration could be initiated with the basics of graphic design. But you need to choose the fields in which you think you could do the best. Never hold everything; - that might spoil your time, efforts and your genuinity.
3. Expand and nurture your imagination - All splendid work is evolved from a great imagining mind. If one doesn’t have time to think on something he perceived; imagination doesn’t come naturally to him. So find some time to think. Make it a habit of thinking something for an hour each day. Remember to have your sketchbook and pencil with you while you start thinking on something - and who knows some great ideas may just fly-in!!
4. Open your mind to accept constructive criticism - Perhaps, this is the best method you could try to improve your thought process and creativity. The more you resistant to it the more you lose. For example, if there is no one to criticize or find faults in your work, then you may not try the other way around. Keep some place open for improvement that would force you to bring the best out of your skills.
5. Choose a mentor - No one ever excelled without getting proper mentoring. A mentor could tell you how you should go ahead and for that what tools you must exercise? So having a mentor is important. It is not the case that you must have the right mentoring from a mentor physically; instead you can follow someone (creative or peer) whose work you like the most. Observe, how and which way he executes his ideas in his works. Follow him and try to learn from him, ask him when you find yourself stuck to something. I am sure, in the age of social media, no one is un-reachable and no one would deny helping you out!

My sincere thanks to Andrej Matic for drafting me on Dribbble. It’s been half a year since I have been waiting for this opportunity and since I wrote this article (with frustration may be…LOL!). Wish to have cool dribbbling |:o   !!