Aquent Snubs Every Decent Designer On The Planet

By / August 4, 2008 /

In one swift keystroke, Aquent has lifted a huge middle finger to the entire design community and shown that their sole focus is on their own bottom line by turning to an online design contest site for a redesign of their homepage. Then they made sure we knew just how much they didn’t give a crap about what we do by putting a $500 prize award on the competition. This from a company who touts themselves on “their own homepage as:

The talent agency for design and marketing experts Aquent is the world’s leading marketing and design staffing agency. We match professionals with freelance, contract, try-before-you-hire, and full-time job opportunities at top organizations.

Under vocal backlash from the design community on the blogosphere, they have since suspended the competition, but the fact that they went that route in the first place shows just how little they value the professional skills of the community they profess to represent. You can see some of the ire they have subjected themselves to on this thread at QBN.

After just a little digging it turns out, one person at Aquent is claiming ownership of creating the competition. That person is one Matthew T. Grant, Aquent’s ‘Minister of Enlightenment’, serving as director of New Media Marketing producing e-newsletters, blogs and podcasts. His comments on the Aquent Facebook page are enlightening to say the least. Take for example his reaction to AIGA’s postion on spec work (Ironically, Aquent cites AIGA as one of their partners in career development for designers.):

I question the AIGA et al’s opposition to spec work. Many AIGA members have been emailing me the same position statement about spec work, all of which include the line: “We encourage you to reconsider holding this contest, and instead issue a Request For Proposals from qualified design professionals.”

Have you ever worked on or submitted an RFP? Do you realize how much effort (time, energy, and money) goes into that? Do you realize how little the “losers” in these competitions are compensated? RFPs ARE spec work (and, given the number of hoops you have to jump through and the nature of the information you are asked to provide, can even be worse).

Add this to his decision that $500 is fair compensation for redesign of their site. His defense? Read it for yourself:

…we’re not asking anyone to build an entire site, rebrand Aquent, create a new corporate identity, etc.. In effect, we’re asking if anyone would like to take a little time and rearrange our homepage. If you have time and wouldn’t mind winning a modest sum, why not give it a go?

Spin it all you want Mr. Grant, you obviously don’t get who we are or what we do.

Interestingly enough a less than sincere apology simply entitled SORRY has appeared on Aquent’s blog. The only thing sorry about it is how, through his liberal use of quote marks (you can envision him actually making the gesture as he types) and the way he minimizes to venom and spite of many commentors, Matt Grant comes off even more disingenuous as he did when he was trying to defend his actions.

It is hard to tell if all this is the solo work of Mr. Grant or supported by company policy. Either way, we hope Aquent realizes the damage this has done and takes the appropriate steps to begin to mend the fences. They could start by enlightening Mr. Grant of his idiocy via a pink slip.

The topic of design competitions has generated plenty of debate here at The Denver Egotist, with both sides offering up very germane points both pro and con, but Aquent’s blatant FUCK YOU is simply too much to bear.

We say, as a community, we must make an example of them. If we don’t we are telling every current and potential client that even we don’t see value in our own expertise.

Whether this was an authorized reflection of Aquent’s business philosophy, or simply one clueless rogue employee on a power trip, we need to call them on their bullshit, and we call on the entire creative community to take a stand. We need to hit them on all fronts through our actions as well as our voices. Here are some suggestions:

1) If you are a current Aquent client, either as a creative talent or a company looking to hire talent, call them up at 877-227-8368 and cancel, or at least suspend your contract. Supporting them is supporting their greed.

2) Flood Aquent’s inbox (questions[at]aquent.com) with your opinion on their decision to devalue your entire professional existence.

3) Better yet, make your feelings know directly to John Chuang, their CEO at john[at]aquent.com.

4) Express your views directly to Matt Grant mgrant[at]aquent.com. However, judging from his replies on their facebook page, this might be a big waste of time.

5) Express your displeasure directly to the heads of your local professional organizations. They are:
AIGA– President Mindy Nies, 303.909.9337, president[at]aigacolorado.org
Art Director’s Club of Denver- President Chris Thomas, 303.221.2824 × 13
New Denver Ad Club- Alan Koenke (President), akoenke[at]integerdenver.com.

6) If you are a board member of one of Denver’s professional organizations, contact Aquent and express the community’s displeasure via a personal communication. Please don’t resort to your national organization’s canned response. They are well aware of AIGA’s stance on spec work. They don’t need you to cut and paste it to them.

We must stand unified and tell not just Aquent, but the entire corporate community, how insulting and unacceptable these competitions truly are.