Many members of the design community are concerned—and
deservedly so—about the National Endowment for the Arts' request
for proposal soliciting designs for an Art Works
logo. On behalf of its members, AIGA responded today to the
chairman of the NEA, Rocco Landesman, in a letter expressing our
concern that the RFP "includes a solicitation of design concepts to
be produced on a speculative basis" and outlining AIGA's position on speculative work.
The full content of that letter has been republished here.
AIGA is committed to supporting the interests of professional
designers and strives to play an authoritative role in promoting
and communicating standards for ethical conduct and professional
practice in the design community. As always, your comments and
questions are welcome.
Dear Chairman Landesman:
As the largest and oldest professional association
representing the communication design profession in the United
States, we would like to express our disappointment and deep
concern over the RFP for the Art Works logo. We are concerned that
your request for proposals includes a solicitation of design
concepts to be produced on a speculative basis. We realize that
this is a practice in some disciplines.
This type of competition runs against the global
professional standards and practices for graphic design and we
believe that it is both unfortunate and inappropriate that the NEA
would be pursuing this practice.
I would like to explain the issue, since we know that
this practice occurs in other disciplines. And there are acceptable
ways of engaging a broad range of designers in pursuit of creative
graphic solutions. However, we would also appreciate it if the NEA
would find a way to capture this issue in its institutional memory,
for we raised this issue with the NEA and White House in 1999,
after a similar RFP was issued for an identity for a millennial
identity, and the competition was rescinded in favor of a more
appropriate professional approach.
The communication design profession, numbering
300,000 nationwide, is a critical contributor to U.S.
competitiveness in an information society, as well as a force in
the visual culture. We consider the NEA an advocate for programs we
value just as we advocate for programs the NEA values; we expect
respect for the professional standards of the profession,
particularly those based on recognizing the value of design.
The approach you are pursuing is one that seriously
compromises the quality of work you are entitled to and also
violates a tacit ethical standard that has long standing in the
communication design professions worldwide.
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.
There are several reasons for this position.
First, 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,
developing a clear sense of the clients objectives, competitive
situation, and needs. Speculative design competitions or processes
result in a superficial assessment of the problem and can only
result in a design that is judged on a superficial basis. Design
creates value for clients as a result of the approach designers
take in addressing the problems or needs of the client and only at
the end of that process is a "design" created. Speculative or open
competitions for work based on a perfunctory problem statement will
not result in the kind of work a client deserves.
Second, capable and professional designers do not
work for free. While there will always be some designers who are
willing to create designs in response to an open call for work,
without any assurance of compensation, the buyer immediately
relegates his or her choices among those designers who are least
likely to be experienced, knowledgeable designers who are in demand
among clients and who work according to the professional standards
of the profession. Only too often, it results in a client
eventually having to bring a more experienced designer onto a
project in order to execute it.
Finally, 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 reflects on your practices and standards.
There are few professions where you ask all possible
candidates to do the work first and then you will choose which one
to pay. Just consider the response if you were to ask a dozen
lawyers to write a brief for you and you would then choose which
one to use and which to pay or dentists to work for free until you
decide which one you like. We realize that there are some creative
professions with a different set of standards, but those are mostly
ones like advertising and architecture where the billings are
substantial and continuous after you make a selection of a firm and
the work presented in the competition is often conceptual, so that
you are not receiving the final outcome (the advertising campaign
or the building) free up front as you would be in receiving a
communication design solution.
It would seem to me that the analogue in theater
production would be for producers to invite dress rehearsals of a
variety of productions before an investment or commitment was made
on any one production.
There is an appropriate way to explore the work of
various designers.
A more effective and ethical approach to requesting
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 way of thinking about your concerns.
When you select a designer, they can begin to work on your project
and design solutions to your needs while under contract to you,
without having to work free on speculation up front. An RFQ
process, rather than an RFP process, would be appropriate in the
case of communication design.
If you would like us to work with you in developing a
process that will benefit you most and maintain the professional
standards we would expect of the NEA, please do not hesitate to
give me a call. There are many local and national designers who can
provide you with solutions that will far exceed your expectations
with respect for an appropriate budget and schedule.
Sincerely,
Richard Grefé
AIGA executive director