Crowdsourcing: Arguments Against
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- monkeyshine0
I wish people would stop calling it crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is different than spec work, which is what this is all about.
- akrok0
^
so, what's the difference? enlighten us.
- abettertomorrow0
I suppose in the broad sense it just means "getting content from your users," but seems to me no one used the word until the spec work angle cropped up. After all, in the broader definition everything is crowdsourcing, isn't it? YouTube, Wikipedia, Last FM, Pandora, etc. It becomes a meaningless term.
- Josev0
I've always bundled the two together, so it would be good to be clear about the terms. I think what Harlequino was referring to was different than the type of spec-work crowdsourcing that I'm thinking of (99 designs and those types of sites)
- abettertomorrow0
I was looking at the origin of the term, turns out it was invented just a few years ago in this article:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archiā¦
To be fair, he does paint a pretty broad picture of what crowdsourcing is. There are four different examples he sketches out, only one of which is the spec work scenario.
The problem is he fails to differentiate between the advantages/ disadvantages of these approaches. The first example he gives is iStockPhoto. I see this more as a system of selling goods just like on eBay. There's always the possibility I can sell what I've created, multiple times in fact, and if I leave the site I still own it, so I don't end up working for nothing.
The spec work scenario (third example) is actually quite different because in that case I do the work, and there's a high chance I get nothing out of it at all. It's a great paradigm for business owners and terrible for workers.
- vaxorcist0
at one gig, we talked a client out of using a royalty-free stock photo in an important branding-identity ad campaign by showing them a magazine where the same stock photo was used in 2 completely different ads...
Also, a non-profit I once did work for was sued by a major insurance company because the insurance company felt the logos were too similar, the non-profit had to redo all their collatoral, branding,signage, t-shirts, backpacks, etc.. they were a major high-school after-school program, so they had 10,000 T-shirts...
Making this stuff clear, and not apparently self-justifying hot-air is not easy, sometimes requires really obvious visual cues....
- an insurance company suing a non-profit? that's messed up.SteveJobs
- boy I like the visual clue route!!!manonthestreet
- yes... the insurance company threatened to sue, not sure if they really did, very nasty letters....vaxorcist
- akrok0
crowdsourcing must be bad for the economy. as workers has no money to spend.
the whole key on making things go round. is to spend. (more or less).
- manonthestreet0
boobs, I read that and it sounds a bit sales-y. I believe and agree with what you are saying 100%.
I would be a lot more direct and brief, and back it up with the same conviction that you actually feel about the subject:
If you are considering crowdsourcing your brand identity I would respectfully like to withdraw from consideration for this project. My rate/fees/costs extend to responsibilities far greater than just delivering 'artwork'.
Then list bullets.
- Josev0
I would like to see a discussion within the design community about this topic. There was a thread on the Brand New site where half of the commenters supported spec work. I disagree with it but if someone had a compelling argument about why it's a good thing for the future of design I may buy into it. Usually the argument is that it allows younger designers to get portfolio pieces.
- I dont think we're doing a good job of showing the ignorance behind spec thinking, even within our own profession.Josev
- dbloc0
horrible logos
- manonthestreet0
Hey, it's got it's place.....no one here should even try to compete with it.
- i am sure people have lost their jobs and it lower the level of quality and salaries in general.akrok
- akrok0
"Usually the argument is that it allows younger designers to get portfolio pieces."
yeah, they say that to make it sounds less bad, even do it's still horse shit.
- monkeyshine0
In my mind crowdsourcing is leveraging the masses to solve a problem or accomplish a task. A classic example is Amazon Mechanical Turk (https://www.mturk.com/mturk/wel... Another example is when Netflix challenged teams of researchers to come up with a better recommendation algorithm. It's leveraging a group to collectively solve a problem vs. leveraging a group to individually compete against one another to design your shit for shittier wages. :)
- Glitterati_Duane0
The problem with arguing against it is that most designers use aesthetics as the main reason why it doesn't work. Aesthetics are subjective and clients rarely have the refined eye that I designer has. Therefore what we think looks like shit they may think looks amazing.
- NONEIS0
You could try pointing out that it undermines the work of people like YOU and the community at large by taking these tasks away from experienced designers that depend on these sorts of branding jobs to make a living. In other words, "stop hurting my industry".
- Dodecahedron0
Crowdsourcing should be implemented within the entire design, branding, marketing process more often as opposed to being the entire process itself. Its an ineffective model alone but seems like its getting a bad rap because no one is using it properly.
- *thinks about it for a second - poops pantsmanonthestreet
- *gets mopDodecahedron
- thanks. It wasn't you...just had to poop.manonthestreet
- k... clean it up thenDodecahedron
- +1, works well within a company with many users a la foursquare or other user-generated database driven sitessilentpost
- exactly it has place within the new business landscape.Dodecahedron
- Josev0
What would "using it properly" look like? This is the kind of information I'm looking for. Convince me.
- This is where we start to use our imaginations.Dodecahedron
- exactly...dbloc
- I think you could look to the art and film world for how it could used for more design oriented projects.Dodecahedron
- Same with the general culture online and how it fits into the company's identity. Wholeistic appraachDodecahedron