2009
The crowdSPRING experiment
Feedback
from Reimu
I would just like to that you for your enlightening article about your
crowdSPRING experiment. Not only did it make an excellent point about
spec work it also made me realize something very important. When a
company owner chooses a logo from a cluster of possibilities, the
owner is choosing based on his/her own personal taste. When a designer
creates a logo, they create with the customer, audience and general
population in mind. They think about what is best for the company
keeping in mind reach, audience, marketing and other important aspects
of advertising and branding. I mean, how many commercials have you
seen in which the owner is acting in the commercial. This is an
example of the owner going with personal taste and 99% of the time, it
turns out terribly.
Thanks again!
Reimu
from Sinziana Ene
Hi wow .. I had never had the patience to read one article from beginning to the end. I did it the first time at your blog !!!! You are an amazing artist and amazing writer. I just wanted to say thanks for making that blog. I am so down right now that I am really thinking leaving graphic design. I have competed for 45 times and won just 2 contest at 99 designs http://99designs.com/people/sinetics. I had some confidence in me ..now it is nothing left. I have never thought that someone else is feeling the same way around here. I have almost 2 year experience in web designing but I don't think I can do it any longer. It really helped me reading your blog although I didn't decided yet what should I do. So again thank you for posting that blog and I know it for sure that you helped so many, like you helped me. Hope that I didn't bored you with my email. Good luck with your work or with any other contest if you will enter again THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE !! http://www.renderedred.com/the_crowdspring_experiment.html PS : Sorry for my English mistakes :)
from Jonathan
Hello Ivan,
I really enjoyed reading your crowdSPRING experiment. Before getting into my opinion I'll tell you a bit about myself. I have a full time job that isn't related to design, but I love to design as a hobby and am a member of both 99designs.com and crowdSPRING (but not a very active one) and I have won several contests.
Your findings from your experiment are very accurate. When I was younger I tried doing the same thing: design a logo and win some cash. I too found that I wasn't winning very many contests (I will admit that my skills as a designer were poor at the beginning).
Before I share my thoughts I will say that participating in many contests did help me in part to grow as a designer and help in learning project management skills. But I did find "working" (if you can call it that) at these crowdsource sites not to be rewarding. Here is why:
1) The Contest Holder has too much control
Communication with the contest holder is essential, but often I found that that they don't know they want, don't give constructive feedback, really do not understand the design process. You can put so much effort into a concept, and the CH may dismiss it within seconds and give you no feedback.
2) Promise of Money/Winning not guaranteed
The idea that you can win is fun but for a true designer losing can be frustrating. I've been in many contests where I've come in second place, or have thrown everything at a contest but the kitchen sink and still haven't won. But the worst case is when the Contest Holder suspends or cancel contests without paying anyone while the designers work for nothing.
3) More prize money doesn't mean better results
I have been in contests where the prize money was in the $800 to $1000 dollar range. This isn't small change. But it seems like there are so many designers that will enter multiple times because of the prize money even though their skills aren't good and the Contest Holder gets swamped with so many proposals (600+) that they don't give feedback, or can't choose a concept. More entries also means there's less and less chance you will win.
4) No communication
When entering a contest, you design what you think that CH wants from their brief which is obscure and not specific. They dislike your entry and you go and design something else which also gets rejected and the cycle continues. Crowdsourcing really takes communication between a designer and a client away. There really can be no long and meaningful exchange. A brief isn't enough!
5) The design process is violated
This really encompasses parts of everything I've already said above. In an idea scenario, you find a client, agree on a cost, communicate with him, find out what he wants, and start designing it. You may ask him for feedback, or educate him on what is and isn't good design. But ultimately you are working towards the completion of the project.
Crowdsourcing just doesn't allow you do this at all. You create a concept and pray that it's the one the CH wants and you win.
I will say that I did find one client after winning a contest and that process went much better. I knew he wanted to work with me and we worked on designing 3 different websites. Doing those projects really opened my eyes to the downfall of crowdsourcing. At this point I'm putting together a portfolio and looking to find my own clients.
Hopefully, you are able to find new clients and continue in the design industry. Best wishes on future projects.
Regards,
Jonathan