Aquent: Shooting Themselves in the Foot
Aquent, for those who might be unaware, is a talent staffing company. They're large, multinational, and supposedly reputable. Theoretically, I'm a ‘Registered Talent’ with them, though that's merely a technicality (I have, in 5 years, received 1 job lead and no interviews, nor do I receive any correspondence from them whether I initiate it or not). They also have a partnership of sorts with the AIGA.
Last week, Aquent created a contest on 99Designs (no link, because they don't deserve one) where anyone could submit a design for their website. The winner would receive $500, and their design would be produced.
Essentially, the AIGA says that spec work and design contests cheapen and devalue our profession. It's true. It sets up the designer to essentially have your work stolen, and to have a company get away with work for free or at an extremely steep discount. This is different (though the AIGA does not make the distinction) from a new business pitch for an agency. In the case of contests, it's essentially irredeemable for a large company like Aquent to actually attempt this. Besides seeming cheap (a website the size of Aquent costs more than $500) it devalues Aquent's position of design as a rare skill, to be cultivated and promoted. Instead, Aquent has said, “Any idiot with Photoshop can do this. Why bother paying for our talent?” It hurts both designers and Aquent.
Certainly spec work & design contests have their place. Non-profits who have no money, and rely on donations for their labor can be excused for soliciting designs. Agencies and studios do spec work all the time in the form of business pitches. But the situations where it's appropriate are few and far between, and it's sad to see Aquent devalue themselves so.
This could have been a win for Aquent though. The contest could have been opened to its members (and prospective members) with the winner receiving a consulting-type placement with the shop that's actually building the site. They get experience, exposure and a paycheck. Aquent gets a good reputation by turning to its own members for design. Better yet, Aquent could have truly opened up to its community, and open sourced the design on its website – finding exactly what members think is broken, and how they'd fix it (and allow the community to work with the production team to prioritize and integration changes).