Turning down free-pitch tenders is a risk worth taking

In response to Gary Cooke, my ‘naive’ comments were intended to give a contrasting view to those expressed by Rachel Bletcher (DW 8 December).

If they have been interpreted as moralistic, so be it. If naive means ‘lacking experience, wisdom or judgement’, I can only say that my views are based on running a London design group for 15 years, until quite recently, with an international client base. During that time I often took ‘risks’ in declining to free-pitch on the basis that it wasn’t good for business or morale. The message is simply that it can be done.

Robert Harland, Senior lecturer in graphic design, The Nottingham Trent School of Art and Design, Nottingham NG1 3QY