So it seems the President and his team heard our complaints about working for free…

I think perhaps the people on the Obama Administration’s team still don’t get the irony behind asking designers to work for free creating posters about putting Americans back to work. Uhm, pssst, we’re out of work too…

Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that you responded to us after we spoke up about it. However, the thing that gets me, and always does, is comparing qualified and good design work with other ‘easy’ tasks that almost ‘anyone can do.’ So in this case, we’re being compared to people calling constituents or knocking on doors. And, saying it is like any other request for volunteering is incorrect. You didn’t put a call out asking for volunteers, you put a call out as a CONTEST which is a totally different beast. In a contest there are winners and losers, as a volunteer you do something selflessly with no expectation of payment or ‘reward.’ Consider setting it up a different way – what if you has asked for designers to volunteer their time for this campaign and every designer who submitted a poster concept/design would receive a signed poster of the design chosen by the president’s team? This takes the winner/loser out of it and makes it much more appealing to most designers without the guise of a ‘contest.’

For the record, in the past I looked favorably, and considered, your previous requests for designer volunteers on your campaign. A shame you didn’t just call for ‘volunteers’ here.

Good luck with your competition…

Below is the email I received:

Hi,

I’m Josh Higgins, design director for President Obama’s 2012 campaign.

A few weeks ago, the campaign launched Art Works, a poster project inviting artists from around the country to contribute designs that show support for President Obama.

Here’s the idea behind this project: We want to give creative people the opportunity to pitch in their talents and further a cause we’re all behind — putting Americans back to work.

Thousands of supporters donate their talents to the campaign every day. Some knock on doors. Others make phone calls. Some organize rallies, and others organize house meetings. This project was developed to help the campaign spread a message — just as a supporter knocking on doors does.

This campaign values art and design, which is part of the reason we’re building a large in-house creative team here as we speak. But we also know there are a lot of great creatives out there who might not be in a position to move to Chicago and work for us full-time, but still want to contribute to the cause.

So if you’re not interested in participating, we understand. But if you’re feeling inspired by this president and what the campaign is doing, the submission deadline is this Friday, November 4th, 2011. For more information, and to contribute to the project, click here:

http://my.barackobama.com/Art-Works

Thanks,

Josh

Josh Higgins
Design Director
Obama for America

P.S. — If you would like to design for our campaign full-time, our team is growing — and fast. You can find out more and apply for a design job with the campaign here: http://my.barackobama.com/Design-Jobs

Really Mr President, Asking Designers to Work for Free? No thank you.

I think perhaps the people on the Obama Administration’s team don’t get the irony here: 

Make art. Make progress. Submit a design to support American jobs.

Asking designers to work for free via ‘crowdsourcing’ for a poster on getting people back to work. Uhm, pardon me, Mr. President, but graphic design is one of many of the hardest hit industries lacking jobs and you want us to work for free? Wouldn’t it be better to LEAD the way and SHOW the nation you too are supporting paying people who are out of work for doing WORK. I really just think this nation doesn’t understand that graphic design requires skill and talent and it deserves to be PAID FOR. We are trained, educated and hard workers, so why do we constantly have to answer to ‘contests’ and ‘crowdsourcing’ games where people are asking us to work for free on the notion that if you like what we do, you MIGHT pay us something. If I liked your job as president, I MIGHT pay your salary, Mr. President. But I don’t get the choice. No one does when it comes to other industries. When you order a burger, you don’t get to eat it first and then decide to pay for it if you like it. So why is it OK for designers to be asked to work this way? The answer is, it’s NOT OK. You of all people should know this! Please consider reading the NoSpec site about why this is bad for us and the economy in general. Educate yourself and your team. Please.

It is the least you could do during this economic climate to pay for design work you ask for to promote jobs. Really.