Why Speculative Design Is a Bad Idea (For Websites, Brands and Everything Else)

James Anderson
Creative Director & Deputy CEO

Across many industries, it’s common to ask agencies to produce creative work as part of a pitch, whether that’s a homepage concept, logo or campaign visual. On the surface, it feels logical. You want to see what you’re getting and compare options.

In reality, speculative design is one of the least reliable ways to judge creative work, and it often leads to weaker outcomes.

The issue is simple: good design does not exist in isolation. Whether it’s a website, brand or packaging, effective design is the result of a process grounded in clear objectives, audiences, positioning and constraints. Without that foundation, creative work is based on assumptions rather than insight.

That has real consequences. A logo may look appealing but fail to differentiate. A website concept may ignore real user journeys. Packaging may overlook production or regulatory realities. In each case, the design can appear convincing but isn’t built to work in practice.

This becomes more problematic once a project begins. As proper discovery takes place, new information emerges, priorities shift and ideas evolve. Designs created at pitch stage rarely account for this, yet they often set expectations that are hard to reset. Early concepts tend to stick, even when they’re no longer appropriate, leading to compromised outcomes.

There’s also a structural issue. When creative work is used as a selection tool, agencies are incentivised to produce something that looks impressive quickly, rather than something robust and commercially effective. This rewards surface-level impact over problem-solving, and the most visually striking idea is not always the one that will perform best.

There are practical and ethical concerns too. Ideas shared in competitive processes do not always remain contained, and the risk of reuse is well understood. That alone can erode trust before a project has even begun.

A better approach is to assess how a team thinks, not what it can produce without context. Strong partners demonstrate understanding through their methodology, questions and track record, not isolated concepts.

Design absolutely matters. It shapes perception, experience and growth. But it delivers value when it is informed, structured and purposeful. When it is created speculatively, without context, it risks becoming little more than decoration. The intention may be to reduce uncertainty, but in practice, it often does the opposite.