fever pitch

When some design agencies are tendering for large accounts, the pre-sales process is often called a pitch. It is a tried and tested system of presenting ideas and estimating costs to compete for work.

We believe that this is not the best way to produce effective design solutions, and work solely on design commissions. Why?

From the client's point of view, it looks like a win-win situation. Get three design agencies to come up with ideas for your latest job, they put in a lot of work and the one you like best wins, and they get paid, but are you getting value for money?

Well, you increase the options (getting two design agencies to work for free) but you reduce the value of the one you actually pay for. By using the pitch process you immediately compromise the efficacy of the design.

They don't approach the design wanting to give you the best job for your money, but just enough work to win the account, and often it is this design that you end up with.

Put it this way, you could end up with €1500 worth of design, but have paid €3000 to get it. You do the maths, it doesn't add up.

'This job is just a pitch, don't spend too much time on it" is a familiar phrase in a design studio. The design isn't quite right for the client but it is enough to win the pitch, and it is redesigned anyway - so you still end up paying for the original work that you can't use! Madness!

Surely it is much better to spend that money on a proper considered design solution to your needs, which evolves with you as part of the process. Better than some random shot in the dark?

Consider the situation when design agencies don't win the pitch and lose their time and money, after all it is subjective and often just a matter of taste. How do they get it back? Are you paying extra for your design because somebody else didn't like theirs? A lot of good designs come out of this process, but will yours be one of them?