aquent site redesign-spec work
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- 173 Responses
- SoulFly0
The contest was closed, but they will still honor the prize money to someone.
- I would think thats only fair to the people that submitted, no?ximeraLabs
- Iggyboo0
I dont get this.. Aquent is that cheap? I really dont get it. I thought they supported artists getting freelance work. I am having a hard time understanding what is going on with ethics in the design field but I thought aquent was on the right side of things.
- ukit0
Let's try to get this thread up to high count so it gets indexed!
- hello_steph0
Aquent has been such a waste of my time. The Toronto office just doesn't get my work and they are so bad at selling me to clients. WTF
- Josev0
The contest was withdrawn but I'm still not sure what Aquent's real position is on all of this. I would consider them to be an opinion leader (if that's a good description) and, for many people in the corporate world, the face of our profession. It's important that they have and show respect for the profession they represent.
- lorac770
Freelancers Union tried the same contest for redesigning their website, but i bitched and encouraged others too, and we got it taken down...
https://be.freelancersunion.org/…
- digdre0
ok i help you my friend, ukit
- TheFatBaron0
I don't agree with their stance against all 'spec' work when it comes to new business pitches, but this really bugs me. Emails = written.
- Business pitches are different. Designers are paid for their time with salaries. Design busuinesses are taking the risk.Iggyboo
- god I wish there was an edit button lol. Businesses.. typosss argghIggyboo
- Maybe it's just how they say it.TheFatBaron
- GammaRay0
Aquent is not at all on our side. They are a business and, as such, they only care about the bottom line...paying someone $500 versus, say, $10k to redesign their homepage helps out their bottom line.
- ukit0
It also seems like a bad advertisement for Aquent's services because they are basically saying that the best they have to offer are some random kids on the internet who will work for free.
They are implying that 99 designs is better than Aquent talent!
- Aquentminister0
OK. This is "that person Matthew." I've set up a poll on my blog to find out how much everyone (or if everyone) in the design community hates design contests. You can voice your protest here:
- How about some damage control. You owe us that much.cannonball
- Complexfruit0
Wow that is pretty lame of Aquent. That's just a slap in the face of all the people they are suppose to represent.
- sintaxera0
Every designer out there who searches high and low to find clients willing to pay a decent fee for quality design work and expertise gets a gigantic slap in the face every time companies support or sponsor one of these contests.
How are we supposed to justify our fees or be regarded as experts in our field to clients when we are expected to give away our talent and hard work for the off chance of winning some contest? Having a company like Aquent, that supposedly has designers best-interests in mind, participating in a contest like this only makes it harder for us to convince clients that design is worth paying (and paying well) for. I'm sorry, but it's blatantly obvious how destructive this is to our profession.
It seems to me that this would also be bad for Aquent's busines, no? If they're not even willing to hire a designer to do their own website, wouldn't the companies going to Aquent expect to get design work for nothing as well?
- design_bitch0
Josev - i'm right there with you. when it comes to educating both the designer and the client, i'm curious if an idea that my art director had would ever work. what do you guys think about the idea of having design certifications? just as other people do, such as hairstylists and similar professions...what do you think of that idea?
ukit - i think most all of us who value our profession highly are always trying to educate and help people understand that what we do is more than sitting around, doodling all day. like i said above, though, what is there to be done about those other companies who dont see it? all they see is the bottom line. i think what really got me thinking this year about this "Wal-mart effect" that i speak of is at the regional AIGA awards we had this year, Logoworks won a few awards. It was a bit surprising. I was mostly concerned with the fact that the AIGA validated what they did, even if it was design that they were judging. In my eyes, I felt they also received validation for who they worked for and what that represented in the design world. Thoughts?
- Certification is discussed often and is always shot own by people within our own profession. It has its pros and cons.Josev
- cons. It is nice, for a change, so see so many people stepping up for our industry.Josev
- definitely! it makes me want to see more change though :)design_bitch
- ukit0
"Crowdsourcing" is just another word for "slavery."
- GammaRay0
Matt, would love to see a case study written up once you guys hire out a real firm or freelancer to do the job the right way...if written the right way it could really make Aquent look good...
"We tried an experiment...what works better, design contests or the talented, tested, honored designers on staff for Aquent?...read on to find out..." etc, etc.
- I think you're on to something, GammaRay. I'm still sorting out the lessons learned. MattAquentminister
- TheFatBaron0
Is anyone else having issues with the CAPTCHA form on AIGA's website? It keeps telling me the text is incorrect. I don't -think- I'm going blind.
- 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