Pixish is a new site that recently launched by Derek Powazek that promotes the ability to bring artists and publishers together. The idea is that there are tons of budding creative artists on the web and why not bring them together and have them compete over your ideas for the “prize” of having their work chosen in a bid. This is straight up “spec” work and it’s something I (and many designers) have a big problem with, and it’s a problem that doesn’t seem to be going away.

Designing work on spec is the idea that you are working for the “chance” at having your work chosen and eventually being paid. In a formal setting this would take form of a designer submitting proposals along with several other designers and the chosen design being paid for (the others walk away with nothing). In a less formal setting this takes the form of a contest where artists compete for the chance to have their art chosen and (possibly) be paid for there time. Again the losers walk away with nothing for the hours spent on their work.

It’s not hard to see the issues that get raised when we talk about spec work. The critical idea behind the glaring motive of having cheap labor give you multiple options to choose from is that the “wisdom of the crowds” can separate the wheat from the chaff and even lowly proles have a chance at reaching stardom. The problem of course is that this devalues each individual piece of work. Art becomes a commodity. I can give you X many pieces for Y amount of dollars. Quick turnover at little cost becomes the driving factor, not good design. Work that is not chosen becomes a wasted effort for the designer, yet the publisher carries none of this burden. There are only two winners, the chosen design and the publisher, with the rest of the contestants losing everything.

I’m not alone in these thoughts for sure. The AIGA prohibits its members from designing on spec. Andy Budd and Jeffrey Zeldman also have published their opinions. The general consensus is that spec work devalues the role of the designer and in the end no one really wins. Perhaps if you don’t value your work or your time Pixish might be the thing for you, but I certainly feel that as more of these types of sites come online with promises of “Rewards and Prizes” the true value of design and the designers will fall to the wayside.