Everyone and their mother has written about this: Design contests, spec work and crowdsourcing.
I could find you a thousand examples (or you could Google “crowdsourcing” and see for yourself). As for my opinion on the speculative work + crowdsourcing case, I am opposed.
There are websites created specifically for design contests (crowdspring, 99designs, among others). The first time I heard about this, I thought, “YES! When I have time, I’ll sign up and submit some work.” Then, I did some research.
I have begun to understand the fundamental problems with these contest websites. Not only does it undervalue designers’ work by asking us to slave away, then sit back and cross our fingers in hopes that we get paid, the client (and most of time time, unknowingly) receives an overwhelming pool of too many choices–a lot of them created haphazardly with no research on the client, the field, the competition, etc.
Perhaps this is not the case with every designer participating. I’m sure some are legitimate, professional, hard-working freelancers who take time and all the preliminary steps before beginning on a project. Then again, don’t those designers spend their time on professional projects that they know will end in some sort of payoff? Promotion, monetary compensation, a trade in services, and the like?
Let me be clear: I’m not saying it’s always wrong to do spec work. If the benefit outweighs the time/resources, it makes sense (ie: to build a freelance portfolio, pro-bono, for an internship, as a gift/favor, to gain experience, to learn a new skill).
The issue for me is the design contest, created by a client who didn’t want to find a firm or a freelancer him/herself. In my opinion, both clients and designers are to be held responsible for their respective successes.
The client has a responsibility to develop a plan for his/her company, product or service. He also needs to research his design options (nobody would choose a brain surgeon because he’s cheap and gets the job done faster than anyone else…why should design be any different?). Clients should become more aware of the design process and profession in general, allotting more than “whatever you think” for content and “yesterday” as a deadline.
The designer has a responsibility to help their clients achieve a positive end result, be it to increase traffic, to increase sales, to gain exposure, to increase awareness, and so forth. The designer has a responsibility to sit down with a client and discuss the process, the competition, the potential for marketing and growth, the strategy, and the concept. If a design looks pretty, that’s great. But a design is nothing without an idea behind it–An idea that should be clarified, reworked, and developed with the client first and foremost, and in some cases, tested before a launch.
The designer also has a responsibility to know what their work is worth, and stand behind it. If the client is taking his job seriously, he should respect the fact that you’re taking yours seriously, too. Contests do make a pool of eager freelancers easily accessible for clients (and eager clients accessible for freelancers), but there are risks involved for both participants.
While I am firm in my beliefs on this subject, I would love to hear your thoughts. Every designer sees things differently; I am sure there are more sides to this story.
If you want to see and hear more, here is an interesting panel discussion on crowdsourcing, featuring professionals on both sides of the fence:
For information on AIGA’s position spec work, visit http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/position-spec-work
This is great. I totally agree. The first time I did spec work I spent so much time working on a logo and asking my peers and teachers. I was so confident that I would win… then I got the letter: “We greatly appreciate your interest BUT, your entry was not selected to continue to the next round of VOTING.” FML. Then I found out what beat me http://www.salina.com/images/tririvers/tri-rivers-fair-logo-2008.jpg FML. Totally agree with your entry and David “I’m on a fuckin’ boat” Carson.
Very interesting thoughts. In my sector of design (planning and urban design), one of the fundamental tenements of planning is fostering communicative discourse. The idea is that citizen’s are the clients of professional planning, so they should actively participate as any traditional client would. In my experience, the majority of citizens are selfish, ignorant, uninformed, and short-sighted with respect to planning and urban design.
The result? The “clients” accept/laud/applaud/malign designs according to incomplete, and generally incoherent criteria and self-serving judgement procedures. As always, there are two sides of a coin, and informed, far-sighted citizens are much more likely to gauge designs intelligently and in perspective. It follows then that clients, whether a business or citizens, receive a quality of work respective to their capacity to understand and coherently judge said work. Put simply–clients reap what they sow.
With respect to this sector of design (graphics, branding, etc.), the efficacy of “crowdsourcing” seems to be dependent on the cognitive capacity of the clients to intelligently judge design. Clients who reduce design to it’s most rudimentary level of aesthetics will undoubtedly prefer/select an inferior design, whereas informed clients will be capable of more accurately judging designs and subsequently prefer/select superior designs.
As for participation on the designers side–a matter of preference. Recognize that your work is going to be part of a large pool and that there is probably no real coherence as to how your work is being judged. Gauge your effort accordingly.
Damn that was long. PEACE.
Dude, your new blog layout is confusing the crap outta me. Dates? I can’t tell what order they go in anymore.
On the flip side, nice post!
“But a design is nothing without an idea behind it” – I could not agree more. THIS is the foundation of ALL design in ANY spectrum. It is the absolute one thing that separates unique ideas from boxed/templated ideas.
The client should be more aware that a design that is “pretty” doesn’t mean it will be able to stand up on its own. And I do agree that a designer has a LARGE responsibility that once the design has been released to help hold the client’s hand with how it is to be used, not used, etc. To reiterate Adam: “Put simply–clients reap what they sow.”
Its tough to not fall into the ‘Spec Work Trap’. Usually this is the work that many people will see and it can be a fountain from which other pay-able projects spring from. However, it does not mean that each and everyone should be attempted. You should choose them wisely and hopefully in some way where the designer and client can at least be in some direct contact to hash out any problems that will arise.