[26-Feb-2026 00:31:13 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant ABSPATH - assumed 'ABSPATH' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [26-Feb-2026 00:31:13 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: require_once(ABSPATHwp-admin/includes/upgrade.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [26-Feb-2026 00:31:13 America/Chicago] PHP Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required 'ABSPATHwp-admin/includes/upgrade.php' (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/share/pear') in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [01-Mar-2026 07:45:51 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant ABSPATH - 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assumed 'ABSPATH' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [06-Mar-2026 13:14:53 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: require_once(ABSPATHwp-admin/includes/upgrade.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [06-Mar-2026 13:14:53 America/Chicago] PHP Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required 'ABSPATHwp-admin/includes/upgrade.php' (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/share/pear') in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [08-Mar-2026 11:47:41 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant ABSPATH - assumed 'ABSPATH' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [08-Mar-2026 11:47:41 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: require_once(ABSPATHwp-admin/includes/upgrade.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [08-Mar-2026 11:47:41 America/Chicago] PHP Fatal error: require_once(): Failed opening required 'ABSPATHwp-admin/includes/upgrade.php' (include_path='.:/opt/cpanel/ea-php74/root/usr/share/pear') in /home/touchmob/crazyleafdesign.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/thrive-visual-editor/thrive-dashboard/inc/app-notification/classes/DbMigration.php on line 2 [20-Mar-2026 17:37:48 America/Chicago] PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant ABSPATH - 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What\u2019s Spec Work? In a few words it\u2019s producing work and submitting it to a prospective client without ensuring that you will be paid and your rights will be respected.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take this scenario: you want to work for GreatTelevisions.com, so you design a new logo for them. You submit it in the hope they will like it and they may hire you for work. This may result in them signing a long-term contract with you, which you can use to also factor in the costs of the logo design<\/a>. This is a common practice for some design agencies.<\/p>\n

This practice has changed over time however and companies are crowdsourcing more and more work through contests, in the hope of luring many designers to submit drafts to them for free, while only one design will be picked.<\/p>\n

So what is wrong with this practice?<\/p>\n

How Do Spec Contests Exploit People?<\/h2>\n

First of all not all contests are evil. There are some that are created for fun or to allow designers to actually showcase their work. There are web sites and design forums that will let designers create fictitious designs following a brief, while the designers keep all of the rights on the design. Nobody is going to use those designs aside from the designers themselves who can include them in their portfolio and show how they followed the brief.<\/p>\n

\"Spec<\/p>\n

Image source : sxc.hu<\/a><\/p>\n

Others contests can be quite tricky and will make designers think that they are good for them, while in reality they may get exploited. Let\u2019s have a look at two types of competitions that follow that pattern.<\/p>\n

The \u2018Company X Wants a New Logo\u2019 Contest<\/h3>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be a logo, it can be anything, although logos are the ones that are most commonly crowdsourced.<\/p>\n

Such a contest will have rules similar to these:<\/p>\n