It’s the sort of practice that was (and is?) prevalent in Singapore where I was from originally and now appears to be rampant everywhere in the world. It essentially is a practice where designers (or similar in the creative industry) are asked to produce a piece of work, usually in a preview form for free in exchange for an actual project. Sometimes a client (usually one of a dodgy nature) would demand a free “pitch” to ascertain if the preview or spec fits their expectations. Tell-tale excuses for this would be in the vein of “sorry but we really can’t visualise” etc etc. Other times it would be promises of glory from “the exposure”.

And even if you do get the work, everything else with that client will devolve into a relationship built on intimidation and abuse. To this day, I don’t get agencies and designers who’d stoop that low. I wouldn’t.

Free pitches and spec work: It’s disgusting, it’s rude and it’s unacceptable. I’m not having it with my business and I hope (if you are a designer) you wouldn’t too.