aquent site redesign-spec work
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- lorac770
Thanks, Matt.
- seffis0
Wow. Did all of this happen within 12 hours?
This has definitely been one of the more interesting dialogues I've participated in on here. Matt, I appreciate and respect your hanging in there through all of the pointed postings and calls for your head on a platter. We are a passionate bunch and are quick to react.
And you're right, the marketplace is definitely changing and we all have to adapt to survive and thrive within it. I wonder if responses might have been different had your contest been posted in a private area (i.e., Aquent's site) instead of on a site devoted specifically to these kinds of contests. What if the prize had been $10,000 instead of $500? While I think that specific examples like 99designs are on the negative side of the spectrum, are there ways to accomplish these kinds of things well? We frequently see calls for entries and competitions within architecture and other creative fields – what's the differentiating factor there?
I also agree with you that "insistence on a shared set of values or ethical standards" is also not the answer. We should all maintain our own views of what is right for each of us. For example, not only will my company refuse to do work on speculation, we generally won't respond to RFPs sent to us by people we don't know. I think there would be a lot of unemployed designers if every company were required to adopt the same policy.
While I think withdrawing this particular contest was a prudent choice (I'll stay away from right/wrong), it has certainly brought some important issues forward. And yes, this is a great design panel discussion!
- Thanks for your thoughtful and generous comment. MattAquentminister
- ukit0
Matt, thank you. I think you made the right choice here. As sintaxera said, I appreciate the fact that you made the effort to engage with the community and listen to us.
- you're welcome.Aquentminister
- Yup, even I commend you for sticking with it and having the balls to respond. Thank you.GammaRay
- utopian10
Design is Dead®
- Aquentminister0
I have withdrawn the contest rather than continue to antagonize a community of people we have worked with for 20 years. This obviously hit a very sensitive nerve and I apologize to anyone who felt "slapped in the face" by our decision to run a contest like this. As I've mentioned, that was certainly not my intention or the intention of anyone else at Aquent.
I continue to believe that the web offers a lot of possibilities for design, collaboration, and ideation. I also believe that it is drastically changing the way design is used and consumed. These changes pose challenges to the design profession as they do to every other profession (including that of staffing and recruiting). I do not believe that insistence on a shared set of values or ethical standards vis-a-vis the practice of design is the best way to meet these challenges.
I do believe that an open and respectful discussion of the complex issues surrounding the strange and sometimes troublesome coupling of creativity and commerce, along with practical experiments that test and explore the boundaries of what is possible, acceptable, and best, is.
- thank you. the questions you raise would be great for a panel at a design conference. :)monkeyshine
- Thanks for thanking me and for hearing my questions as worth consideringAquentminister
- What's "ideation"?cannonball
- matt310
everything that company does is shady. I met with them once and it was complete bullshit. They go more on who you know then what you know.
- johndiggity0
this is all besides the point that design by contest will fail to generate any type of viable solution, because there is no dialog between the designer and the client, and therefor, no problem to be solved. it's all eyecandy and shooting in the dark.
for a poster, maybe this type of thing is okay, but for something with such utility as a website, i cannot see this ending with a successful solution. but again, i'm just a designer. what do i know?
- ...the design brief is a short paragraph long.monkeyshine
- just for the record, the 99Designs platform fully allows for such dialogue.Aquentminister
- Oh, well, then THAT makes it all better now. Open communication...stri... people along even more.GammaRay
- sintaxera0
Matt,
Look, I think it's great that you have stuck around and are posting on these forums. I know we are a tough crowd, but we are very defensive of design. We love this, we live this... this isn't an "experiment" to us. This is our career, our liveleyhood, and we do not enjoy it being demeaned in such a way.When you say "Does it make us work harder to demonstrate to our clients and talent that there is value in working with a staffing firm as opposed to using the numerous resources at their disposal for finding talent or finding jobs? Yes." Well, doesn't Aquent promoting a contest like this hurt/negate your argument when you yourselves are using the very resources you're trying to convince your clients NOT to use?
Why not look through all the portfolios of the people working with Aquent and pick from the creme of the crop, hire them the proper way, and show just how talented the people you promote are? It would be a great promotional tool for Aquent ..."Look at the talented people we have and the great work they do!" ...instead, what you're saying is "We didn't think enough of our own talent for this project, so we had a contest where we helped promote the idea that design is almost worthless." Now, I'm sure that's not what you intended to say, but that's certainly what the design community is hearing.
- < this is how you build a brand from withinjohndiggity
- 100% agree.GammaRay
- well saidroundabout
- ukit0
Matt, it's hardly an inevitable new reality that needs to be adapted to. Not every buzzword invented by a marketing guy somewhere is necessarily the next big trend, or even a good idea. In fact, as far as I can tell, your choice to have them redesign your homepage is by far their highest profile contest to date. At the same time you are apologizing and saying it was a bad idea, you are giving them their biggest win ever in terms of exposure (designing your homepage).
- monkeyshine0
So, Matt...are you saying that Aquent's position is to squarely disagree with AIGA's position on this type of spec work/contest/call it what you will?
- johndiggity0
you seemed to have missed the point. the "people" that perceive design contests, the sites that run them, and the companies that use them as an attack on their livelihood are the people you should be listening to, because these are the same people that come in to meet your recruiters and the same people that you send off to your clients to meet their needs.
what your words on this board, and actions by posting a web design contest say, much like you say above is that you (aquent) don't care about these concerns. your personal opinions aside, regardless of how you personally feel about the use of contests, you are an ambassador for the aquent brand, posting on a forum populated by designers who, along being the company's chief source of income, are also among the most brand savvy consumers in the world, and you are here to say that we our opinions are wrong?
i think the more appropriate question here is how any brand manager at aquent has allowed this to happen, and how they have allowed you to continue posting on the internet after you put up that contest page.
as someone who has worked with aquent in the past, and was actually going to call my local office monday to find some freelancers for a project, i have decided no to do business with a company that does not share the same values i do as a designer. i urge others to do the same.
- John - I'm sorry that you perceive my statements as a way of showing that I don't care about the concerns addressed here. If I didn't care, why would I still be here?Aquentminister
- here. If I didn't care, why would I keep wading into it?Aquentminister
- ego? saving face? you tell us.johndiggity
- Yeah, it's a lot of trying to dig yourself out of a hole. You're in too deep dude.GammaRay
- Aquentminister0
um, i've been on this forum all day and I've actually been representing the Aquent brand in design forums (like AIGA conferences, etc.) for 10 years. I have not once here or there said that design is overvalued or anything like that. All we did was run an experiment and the "shitting" has been taken care of by the community.
I'm here. I'm engaging. I'm listening. I'm responding. I thought that was what the new world was all about.
In retrospect, do I think it was a good idea to launch this contest the way we did? No. Do I think that contests like this "devalue the profession"? No, I don't anymore than I think online job boards and social media sites devalue recruiting.
Is the playing field changing? Yes. Does it make us work harder to demonstrate to our clients and talent that there is value in working with a staffing firm as opposed to using the numerous resources at their disposal for finding talent or finding jobs? Yes. Do we lose ground in spite of our efforts? Sometimes, we do.
I keep coming back to this. People perceive design contests, the sites that run them, and the companies that use them as an attack on their livelihood. I see them as an emerging challenge that may actually have appropriate uses.
Remember, people saw the desktop publishing revolution in the same way (as has been mentioned on this forum). Desktop publishing didn't kill design or the profession anymore than crowd-sourcing or outsourcing, for that matter, will. It will change it.
The question is, how can the profession work with and within this changing environment?
- Yikes dude, you are seriously clueless. I feel bad for you.GammaRay
- There's no way in hell that quality designers have to compete financially with those bottom of the barrel contestsIggyboo
- Further more it's insulting to assume that we should. You pay for what you get. business people don't get it at all.Iggyboo
- excuse me business people that endorse buying artwork off of contests don't get it.Iggyboo
- I am amazed you have a business thinking like that. Shocking.roundabout
- You have been working for Aquent 10 years and still don't get what the design community is all about. If I were one of your supervisors reading this postings, I would have given you a pink slip. Unfreakingbelievable...rowermart
- seffis0
Matt, what's threatening to people isn't the mere fact that things like this exist. There are many examples out there -- companies that charge you $75 for 12 options for a logo, people overseas that promise quality work for only $10 an hour, and contests like this -- and they've been around as long as the industry. This isn't a new trend.
What's threatening is that a global organization that purports to support design and marketing professionals would take such an approach for redesigning one of its primary marketing vehicles. It is a slap in the face to the design community from a company that we thought (at least somewhat) had our backs.
And preventing people from seeking cheaper design solutions is not the objective here – they don't need any help with that.
- DING...we have a winner!sintaxera
- Well said seffisukit
- seffis - that expression "slap in the face" has been used a lot here. our intention was not to insult or degrade anyone. I'm sorry that's what this feels like.Aquentminister
- sorry that's what it feels like.Aquentminister
- nicely said seffis! Matt, clearly you didn't think it through.GammaRay
- johndiggity0
matt, do you understand you are representing the aquent brand on a design forum populated by designers, aka, the lifeblood of your company? how do you think this will effect aquent's rep with the designers on this board? when potential talent googles aquent and this thread pops up, what kind of perception do you think they will have of the aquent brand? do you think they will see it as a place that values their talent? is that contrary to the aquent brand promise?
here's a resource for you to engage with your base, to develop an authentic brand, and you are basically shitting all over it.
- Aquentminister0
I understand that this is threatening to people, but you've got to listen to what you're saying. Aquent doesn't determine the value of design any more than the design community does. Value is assigned by the market and what actually works. If cheap/inferior design "works", then businesses will use it. If it doesn't or it hurts them, then they will turn to something better. Preventing people from seeking cheap(er) design solutions, to the extent that is even possible, does not solve this problem.
- amazing. stop making excuses.jsds
- that doesnt mean companies like Aquent should assist in promoting he lowest common denominator.sintaxera
- they SHOULD be one of the chorus of designers promoting quality, experienced and informed design.sintaxera
- I'm not making excuses. Is my only option to say, "Design contests are evil; Aquent is stupid. We'll never do it again and everything will be fine"? Or can I actually have an opinion about what's happening that differs from the consensus here?Aquentminister
- probably you should have thought, " is this a good idea in the first place." but yes is the answer to your question._me_
- You should address the design community directly, rather than asking inane question about contests.cannonball
- ukit0
It is definitely spec work - it's a whole business model built around spec work FFS!
- letters20
And the AIGA's sample letter in regard to design "contests":
Dear _______,
I am writing to on behalf of AIGA, the professional association for design. We are concerned about your recently publicized design contest [name or nature of contest].
Although we realize that such contests are a popular way for organizations to generate publicity and participation—and to save costs—there are a number of reasons why asking for work without compensation except for a single design that is selected, which is termed speculative work in the profession, contradicts the ethics of our profession.
The first is that design is a process. It involves time, creative energy, strategy and, most importantly, client participation. For a designer to generate work without going through this process is to create something that is undeveloped and that does not reflect the client’s input and participation. The resulting work is not truly representative of the value or level of service designers provide, nor does it adequately or appropriately address your needs as a client. Just as you wouldn't seek legal or financial advice from a consultant prior to hiring them, a designer must also be well acquainted with your organization and goals if they are to make informed and responsible recommendations.
The other reason is that expecting speculative or uncompensated work demonstrates a trivializing of the contribution design makes to creating value for clients. Of all the entrants in your contest or competition, only one will be selected as a finalist. The time and work of all others will have gone for naught. This attitude on the part of a prospective client is likely to result in receiving work from students, inexperienced or untrained designers, or those less likely to get work from more traditional ways of demonstrating the soundness of their approach toward clients’ problems. The pool of work from which you will select will not necessarily represent the quality of work you deserve from seeking a professional designer. In the end, everyone loses.
We encourage you to reconsider holding this contest, and instead issue a Request For Proposals from qualified design professionals. I know that selecting a designer can be a difficult and daunting task. To assist you, the AIGA provides resources to help you research firms in your area. This database is available online at www.aiga.org/directory. We have also created a helpful guide that can assist you in researching qualified designers, writing a design brief, and managing the design process. This resource is also available free online at www.aiga.org/design-business-and…...
We are pleased that you recognize the need for design, and hope that you will consider these recommendations in the spirit in which they are offered—to help you realize the most that design has to offer. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me directly at [contact info].
Your consideration of these professional design issues is greatly appreciated.
- letters20
Cross-posted on Facebook:
The AIGA, who collaborate regularly with Aquent have a position on this, starkly in opposition. Perhaps Aquent could reach out to the AIGA for guidance in this respect.
From their sample letter:
It has been brought to our attention that you are in the process of choosing a design firm to produce communications materials for your organization. We are concerned that your request for proposal includes a solicitation of design concepts to be produced on a speculative basis by the professionals you are considering.
The approach you are pursuing is one that seriously compromises the quality of work you are entitled to and also violates a tacit, long-standing ethical standard in the communication design profession worldwide.
AIGA, the nation’s largest and oldest professional association for design, strongly discourages the practice of requesting that design work be produced and submitted on a speculative basis in order to be considered for acceptance on a project.
continue reading here: http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/…
- ukit0
Cross posted on the Facebook page...
Matthew -
If the "crowd-sourcing" model is here to stay, the question becomes what impact it has on the profession and the value of design.
Right now, I would say that sites like 99designs occupy a fairly low niche in the design food chain. They serve as a place where small businesses can go and quickly and cheaply get a number of designs created for them. The quality of design, while maybe not terrible, is certainly not very good and definitely not representative of the best the industry can produce.
In other words, I don't see them as a threat at the moment, because most of my clients would not use a service like that. They tend to put a premium on good design and wouldn't consider using a site of that kind for their corporate communications, the same way a large company wouldn't hire some kid fresh out of law school to be their lawyer just because he was cheaper!
What is problematic for many of us is when a major company - scratch that, a major DESIGN company(!) - like Aquent steps in and makes use of that service, to redesign their homepage no less. That begins to legitimize the concept for mainstream and professional use, which makes it harder for the rest of us, who occupy that professional space, to sell our services at a decent price. And quite frankly, it reduces the quality of design for the client as well. Basically it leads to a lowering of everyone's standards, including ultimately, the user's.
In the end, it will always be a struggle to convince people of the value of good design because it is such an ephemeral thing. Any kid can crack open Photoshop and slap together a design these days, and he might even do it for $500. However, I strongly believe that good design, which comes from years of study and experience, is an important component of a business's success. In my mind, companies like Aquent, whose livelihood depends on design, should be working to increase recognition of the value of that service, rather than reducing it.