Pillar

Spec Work

Pieces in the Spec Work pillar are in progress at no-spec.

What this pillar covers

Pieces here focus on unpaid pitches, design contests, and the rhetoric clients use to normalise them. While the opening essays are being finalised, related material is already live on the rest of the site:

• Spec Work - why unpaid pitches are still a bad deal.
• AI and the Designer - where generative tools earn a place, and where they do not.
• Rates, Contracts, Scope - practical guidance on charging and contracting.
• The Professional Record - the profession arguments, decisions, and history.
• About no-spec - what we publish, how we frame the debate, and why this site exists.

When the Spec Work pieces will publish

Each piece is being written by editors with hands-on experience of the working design profession, not generated en masse. If you would like to be notified when a specific piece publishes, the contact page has our address.

How this connects to Proof of Work

The newest form of spec is the generated mockup, and the newest defence is a record of the work. Spec work in the AI era updates the four forms of the request for 2026, and how to prove a design is yours sets out the evidence a designer keeps so the paid alternative to the free comp is always on the table. Both live in the Proof of Work pillar.