I just saw on USA-L News that an organization called the “Society for Disability Studies” is having a logo contest. I’m not going to give any details on the contest because I don’t think any self-respecting artist should enter. I will just paste in the email I sent to Joy Hammel, the executive director of the society:
Joy Hammel
Society for Disability Studies
University of Illinois at Chicago
Ms. Hammel:
I just read about your logo contest and I think you people should be ashamed of yourselves. What right do you have to ask a whole bunch of artists to do work on your behalf if they are not going to be paid?
If you needed your offices painted, would you have a “contest” and expect a bunch of painters to come and paint your office for free and then afterwards you would decide if they get paid for their work or not?
And your so-called “prize” is truly crappy — “worldwide recognition” (big deal, how is that going to pay the rent?) and membership in your organization (who cares?).
Here’s the right way to run a logo contest: Invite artists to submit samples of work they’ve already done, choose a few of those artists and invite them to create logos for your organization, and make sure they all get paid a decent amount for their work. The winner, of course, would be paid more.
I used to run Deaf Artists of America and I am SICK AND TIRED of seeing artists being treated with such a total lack of respect!
You people should be ashamed of yourselves, but it is all too apparent that you are shameless.
Tom Willard
Rochester, NY
9 Comments
November 20, 2007 at 1:01 pm
Absolutely! Another way artists and photographers are abused is being asked to do work “on spec” which means they create artwork and submit it for approval…and if not approved, they get paid nothing.
Sometimes the “spec” work is used anyway for ideas by another artist and the first one is never paid for the ideas.
Keep on championing the artists!
November 20, 2007 at 1:07 pm
Some artists (myself included) know that to love your work means you don’t always have to be paid to do it. If you always expect to be paid, then you’ll lose some of the truth you expect yourself to put into your art.
Not everything is about money and “what will I get out of it.” Take the pride of doing the work and use that. And if an artist doesn’t like the way “approval” works or how someone runs contests, put your work elsewhere. No one can stop you from being an artist and no one can keep your work from being seen. You make yourself the artist, not a contest and not money.
!!!!!!!!
November 20, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Very well written.
That’s one of reasons why writers are on strike because they do not paid for something they wrote that network profits from online selling and such.
I support writers 100% for what they have to do just like I support artists/photographers 100% for something they should get paid for.
People tend to forget where they come from to begin with. Writers/Artists/Photographers deserve to be recoginzed for their hard work and they deserve to get paid as much as others.
Good job.
-SG
November 20, 2007 at 1:41 pm
Oakleaf, sorry but I don’t agree with you. Professional artists go to school for years to learn their craft and they have bills to pay, just like everyone else. Why should anyone expect them to work for free? And the people who sponsor these contests pay for everything else, why on earth do they think they don’t have to pay the artists? Where does this ludicrous line of thinking come from?
November 20, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Artists have to make a living, don’t ya know, Oakleaf? You don’t want them to starve to death, do you?
November 20, 2007 at 2:28 pm
Check this out, good educational website on related topic: http://www.no-spec.com
November 20, 2007 at 4:35 pm
I’m not saying they shouldn’t get paid. I know a lot of artists provide art as their living and they need to get paid to survive. That’s a given. I guess I was looking at it more from my standpoint, as an artist who doesn’t use art for that purpose. It’s not my full-time job. So please excuse me on that. I didn’t realize the post was about “professional” artists.”
Either way, art is still something that shouldn’t be controlled by outside interference in my opinion. And I understand that everyone approaches art in different ways and for different reasons. I personally would never want to “do art” for a living because it becomes a “demand” by those who “might” pay for it. Art is a freedom and gets manipulated by commercial outsiders.
But again, to each his own. I have nothing against your choices as an artist. And no one should starve.
November 20, 2007 at 5:06 pm
Art and Design is two entirely different thing – While with art there are no boundaries – you can draw anything whatever pleases you, it attracts certain audience. While design has it’s own purpose, it’s own audience, it serves client’s interests and convey the informations…
January 31, 2008 at 4:34 am
The biggest confusion is between the Expressive Artist who get paid for something they already created. And the Designer Artist who work to create for others. Most of these contest are really geared towards the newly college graduate or just out of high school students. For them such recognition could actually be a boost to their resume. Most Professional Design Artist would not bother with such contest simply because it is not worth their time for which they earn income.
For those just starting out, in their first year, it could be a great chance at exposure to win such a contest.
As an artist who been both an expressive and designer, I can say both are valid methods of expression and earning income. I do wish all contest would have valid prizes and first through third place. Fact of the matter is, most contest like to be the ones that also “discover” new talent. Because this also gives the Charity some PR time as well.
What can I say, all of us are hungry. . .
Nancy Louise
http://www.xanga.com/nanlou4