Crowdsourcing from the 'client' viewpoint
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- monkeyshine0
I'm changing my thinking on this...clients who gravitate towards this solution are the clients who have historically made my life miserable. They don't understand or appreciate the value of design and we're all better off without them (or at least able to identify them before signing a contract).
- abettertomorrow0
1. Bad designers with no context, background or understanding of the client submit hundreds of logos they spent 15 minutes on
2. ???
3. Corporate rebrand, e-commerce site, and other deliverables completed successfully
- abettertomorrow0
Crowdsourcing will be a huge success...as a niche business for sites like 99Designs at the very low end of the industry. And a way for corporations to engage with their customers through contests and stuff like that.
Thing is there was a lot of commentary a couple years ago based around this idea that crowdsourcing was going to completely "revolutionize" the design industry. Now that crowdsourcing has been around for a while, I think its pretty clear that this was just another hyped trend on the internet that failed to materialize (to misquote Jakob Nielsen, 99% hype).
- akrok0
^
true. it's kinda like talking to a wall. won't be much of a conversation.
- polyestercorp0
It's the "100% money back guarantee if you don’t like the results." that I think is the biggest issue. It creates a belief in clients that not using what was created means not having to pay for it even when working with more established designers. I've only had one client (years ago) not pay and they used that line based on their experience from crowd sourcing.
- 74LEO0
haah haah one worked Lehman Bros. another Goldman Ball Sachs . What the fuck? Dean of the U.S. Marketing Communication College at the U.S. State Department. Fuck lets just call them all crooks!
- moldero0
bias crap site, they keep deleting my comment
- pillhead0
Crowd sourcing is just a sad situation for all of us trying to make a living from design. Maybe someone should make a Crowd sourcing for marketing and business management and see how they like to be put on a stick.
- raf0
Designers react to the word 'crowdsourcing' like vampires to holy water. Here's a rare voice of reason on the topic from Ko Nakatsu—a designer:
- sorry, but that's a load of horseshitFax_Benson
- Let crowdsourcing be, we need bad cheap design for clients to learn they need to hire pros. I have no beef with it.raf
- fair enough. just saying that the article is gibberishFax_Benson
- he would take mediocre - meaning no one cares over bad - meaning people would talk about how bad it is = word of mount any day? This guy is more clueless then the cupcake store.pr2
- of mouth any day? This guy is more clueless then the cupcake store.pr2
- How the heck did Raf even find this article. hahaha. It's written with an 19 year old's comprehension of business.randommail
- lukus_W20
Needs brettbashing imo.
- comicsans0
The trouble is that everyone is looking for a good deal and many imagine that anything which can be bought is a commodity. Ask them if they would choose a medical specialist on that basis and many would say "yes", consider how laser eye surgery is peddled for instance.
- brandelec0
oh look a comment field
- comicsans0
What I omitted to say above is that people who expect a higher fee than crowd sourcing offers have to demonstrate their value proposition to potential clients.
If you can't convincingly show that you are better value, then the ugly truth is that you may not be.
- babaganush0
^
Value isn't the number of vector art solutions that can be thrust upon clients.Value is associated to a large number of parameters measured by a process that is an equation of experience x time, research and a sound methodology.
'Businessmen' should know that anything offering value that delivers a multitude of solutions in lightning speed time at a tiny cost is no different to an ill thought out business plan, a sloppy legal case or an unsound financial speculation.
In these terms it really is that simple when speaking of value. If you are offering value, you do not enter such ridiculous 'punts' as crowdsourcing. This new social and technological phenomenon does not usurp common sense.
- monNom0
Meanwhile he spent 3 weeks running around trying to generate interest and wading through 400+ designs. I wonder how much that lost productivity cost him?
- Josev0
The site looks like a blog template, unfortunately they're not sophisticated enough to see the difference.
- pr20
We used crowsourcing job looking for illustrators, we had a few dozens beautifly sketched background that we needed to turn into full color images... The pay was decent (you would get paid per image) so we had high hopes... Until we started getting spamed by an avalanche of untalented hacks. I mean it was so bad we had to find someone local... Trust me you don't want to see what some of those "illustrators" from India are capable of.
The experience taught us at:
a.) talent costs money
b.) even if you pay decent wages - people in the creative fields are awfully lazy
c.) you need clear communication and strict supervisions (i would never attempt anything bigger then a logo - maybe - without ability to see the people in person)
- akrok0
nice, they use orange cause they are cheap-o-s.
- Fantrom0
The comment I just posted there should be flagged/deleted shortly:
Ha! HA! HA! Exactly.
Rename this article:
"How To Sell A Chump a $35 Themeforest Template... and Have Them Think They Got a $25,000 Website for $3,000"
- LOL__TM
- BRILLIANT!randommail
- < YES!akrok
- I know a few people whose business model is exactly that!vaxorcist
- 'cept if you can do that for <$3000 you're probably not a design studio. i'd say they got their money's worth.kingsteven
- jtb260
The number one problem I see with all the responses is that they all say "Look how bad this is for designers" instead of "Look how bad this is for the client".
Certainly the best argument against spec work, and design contests like this is that the client is being underserved.
The clients being lost to this process are not going to be swayed back by crying about how bad it is for us(designers), but they may be convinced of what they are missing out on. Surely this person could be made to understand that they didn't get a $25,000 dollar website for $3k.