Dick Lord said “Remember, you are defined by your clients.” Where do you draw the line when considering new clients or projects? We’d love to hear some stories about how you dealt with circumstances when you knew the project was just wrong and not something you wanted to be defined by. Have you read and follow the GDC Ethics guidelines?

1. sigrid Says:
   February 14th, 2006 at 6:27 pm

   I can’t think of anything I was asked to do that would have been unethical, but I can think of plenty of times when a client wanted something done in a) too big of a rush, or b) without an adequate briefing, and c) for too little money, or d) by skipping the creative process and just replicating a “layout” of theirs. All of these have more to do with good design business practices than ethics. On a day-to-day basis, sticking with professional business practices is more challenging for me than pondering the ethics question.

   I can only say hypothetically that I would not participate in tobacco marketing, but DuMaurier hasn’t approached me lately.

2. Yves Says:
   February 22nd, 2006 at 12:35 pm

   For me it would be I haven’t been presented with work that has challenged my sense of right and wrong, so the filter for me is primarily based on a level of trust and resptect that can be attained with the company or individual. Beyond that, issues like speculative open pitches are unacceptable and cross the line of ethics and we do not participate.

3. Peter Says:
   February 23rd, 2006 at 1:54 pm

   Speaking of spec work, Canadian Heritage and Design Exchange are holding a web design competition (not this again!). We posted a little rant about it on our blog:
   http://www.ideasonideas.com/2006/02/value_of_canadian_design

4. Matt SamyciaWood Says:
   February 23rd, 2006 at 4:26 pm

   SPEC WORK

   I remember when I was a student at the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland, we had a visiting lecture by one of the partners of the London based design studio ‘The Partners’ [www.thepartners.co.uk - great creative work].

   He said that they NEVER do spec work as it dishonours our industry. You work hard and you should be paid for that work. I remember hearing this and have stood by it ever since.

   It is up to our industry to educate the clients in a way that they can relate to [for example, you would not go into a restaurant and ask for a meal on spec, only paying for the dish you liked the most].

   Unfortunately, as long as designers keep doing spec, clients will continue to ask for it.

5. cat Says:
   February 27th, 2006 at 7:23 am

   United Way Logo Contest - Canada

   Link
   “By submitting an entry, you agree to grant United Way of Greater Toronto a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use your logo entry for purposes of the contest, and if chosen as the winner, for any other purpose relating to
   United Way of Greater Toronto s 50th anniversary. The logo becomes property of United Way of Greater Toronto and we agree to use it for not-for-profit use only.”

   and the winner gets …

   “The winning logo artist will be duly recognized for their work on United Way of Greater Toronto s website, in various marketing collateral including United Way of Greater Toronto s annual report, and through any additional public relations efforts conducted on behalf of the organization.”

   and GAG rules are …

   Link
   GDC says …

   “A spec design request or contest means asking designers to work for free. For designers, this is a waste of time and it also erodes long-term buyer-designer relationships. GDC advises its members not to participate in requests for spec design or design contests and recommends that organizations decide which designer is right for a project by reviewing portfolios of previous work and looking at the designers’ understanding of the needs of the project.”

   Link

6. josh Says:
   March 6th, 2006 at 2:11 pm

   Sorry to turn the conversation away from the whole spec angle but I am curious as to everyone’s opinion on how to handle a situation in which the agency you work for takes on an account that you feel morally opposed to. Say, for cigarettes or a right-wing religious group. Do you express your opinion at risk of being fired? Furthermore, can you honestly provide quality work to a product or organization that you have negative feelings toward? Or as a designer do you simply view the work as a design exercise, leave your personal convictions at home and carry on? Is kerning right wing rhetoric as much a part of a day’s work as for a laundry detergent tag line? Thnx

7. Designers who Blog: Design, Illustration, Photography, Web, Advertising, Branding … Says:
   April 2nd, 2006 at 7:26 am

   [...] On February 24th I was over at the GDC/BG Blog when Peter shared a link to The Value of Canadian Design where they were discussing the Canadian Heritage and Design Exchange who were holding a [spec] web design competition. Following it over, I took it all in then posted a rant to which Betta said “we could do an “anti-spec work week.” [...]

8. Chris Freeman Says:
   April 25th, 2006 at 11:36 am

   Josh, your comment really interests me. As a recent graduate, I worry about landing a job in a place that helps market a fast food chain or something. However, I’m afraid of being too picky about a first job. It’s a tough call. It’s easy to stand your ground until you are broke, then it becomes a huge dilemma.
   I’d like to hear more from partners/principals on this subject.

9. Judy Snaydon Says:
   May 3rd, 2006 at 5:58 pm

   Good question Josh. I think many experienced designers might say that it is worth standing up for what you believe in if you want to feel good about your career 20 years on. It’s not just about saying no to tobacco (or whatever you might feel ethically opposed to). It’s about saying no to clients who won’t pay what the job is worth, or who think they understand design better than you do and want to micro-manage the work. It’s a violence begets violence kind of scenario. If you do work for clients that don’t make you feel good, you will end up working for more clients that don’t make you feel good.
   About 2 years ago I was freelancing and was asked to work on a casino account. I said no. I took heat from my writing partner for saying no. But the more I thought about it, the more I felt REALLY good about saying no. And then suddenly, out of the blue, the opportunity came up to join Mountain Equipment Coop full-time. I’ve been there 18 months. It’s the best job I have ever had and I work for a company FINALLY that shares my ethical beliefs. After 20 years in the business it’s like coming home. There has to be some karma in there somewhere.

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