aquent site redesign-spec work

Out of context: Reply #57

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  • ukit0

    I wrote the following:

    Matthew -

    Design contests on their own are not a threat to the profession, but sites like 99designs certainly are. Sites like these push a model where everything is spec work-based, and in doing so they devalue the price of good design.

    I don't think anyone would be offended if you had simply offered a contest on your own site, although it might seem somewhat incongruous coming from a company that supposedly has access to thousands of the best creative professionals. However, the use of 99designs certainly seems to be an endorsement, explicit or implicit, of their business model and practices, and I think that is what people find so offensive. Not only that, but the fact that you put a $500 price tag on designing the homepage of a major company, at a time when many of us are pushing hard to convince clients of the value of our services.

    For those of us who work hard as freelancers in this industry, the devaluation of design is obviously a huge threat to our ability to earn a decent living. Aquent's use of a website that is so diametrically opposed to those interests, is I think what has surprised and angered so many people.

    You can bet that discussion of this will continue on QBN and other design bulletin boards. I would hope that you would reconsider the value of having this contest given that it may affect the view that many have of Aquent and what they are doing.

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