I started doing a few projects on a crowd sourcing site (projects with open galleries) because I may need to make a career change, and even though I've updated my technical knowledge, if I work for someone else I may be pegged as too old; I wanted the practice for logo design.
The results have been devastating. Today I got a one star, one step above "no thanks". This wouldn't bother me accept that this one I was sure was good. They commented that submissions from others were too corporate and I've had other customers in my life who came to me for those kinds of projects, a logo that looks good printed on a shirt etc.
I can rationalize about how hard it is to know what someone wants when you don't meet with them face to face, but the fact is, the top creatives that this website wants to show everyone, do have a volume of excellent work they have entered that you and everyone can check out.
Has anyone else started worrying about their place in design world and what Crowd Sourcing means?
Posted by Guy H. J. Hilliard (Member # 2529) on :
Crowd source - shooting a light bulb with a shotgun at 10 feet, 1 pellet at is enough - everything else is wasted energy and material. Good for the requester and the winning supplier, not so much for the rest of the world.
If the nice people making the requests knew what they wanted they could probably do a reasonable job of describing it to a competent artist and getting what they wanted. Crowd sourcing allows the clueless to create a competition in which they cannot loose and only one supplier out of the masses working on the request "might" win.
[ October 10, 2013, 05:15 PM: Message edited by: Guy H. J. Hilliard ]
Posted by Rick Chavez (Member # 2146) on :
Crowdsourcing is the worst thing for graphic design..
The only people that make out in the deal is the person running the site and the customer have 100's to 1000's of choices for free.
You are competing with people where the prize money can be 1-6 months wages... worth the risk for them, not to the average American.
It's not actual design, it's throwing things on the wall to see if it sticks, it's not solution based, it's visually based. And if the person looking for the design has no taste, then it's a waste of time for anyone with talent.
You want to practice logo design... study the design process (http://www.davidairey.com/process/), get books on the subject, there are hundreds on the subject.
Another thing, get someone to look at your work and get an honest assessment and see if they can guide you to a better way of designing.
As far as where I'm at, I've been told I am over qualified.
Posted by Glenn Taylor (Member # 162) on :
Dawn,
If the purpose of using the crowd sourcing was to get in some logo design practice and some feed back, you got what you asked for and didn't like the result. At least, that is how I'm reading your post.
It is hard to take criticism, especially of something you are proud of. Crowd sourcing sites are going to be particularly tough. They are either brutally honest at best or cruelly dishonest at worst. The question is "were they right?" This is where you have to do the hard part and set aside ego and analyze the comments and the logo itself.
I do quite a bit of graphic and logo design. I freely admit I'm mediocre at best. I don't consider myself as a designer or artist. That is for others to decide.
Just do your best and strive to be better today than you were yesterday. It is all any of us can do. And, it's why I don't worry about my place in the design world.
Dan is also going to be releasing a new book very soon on branding. While it is written for the general public, particularly small business owners, I think a lot of graphic designers could learn a lot from it as well.
Just wishing you the best. Chin up.
Posted by Michael Clanton (Member # 2419) on :
Pretty much a waste of time- unless someone contacts you directly to do a project for them- I have done several of them in the past, but I sure didn't put hopes into them. If you look at places like Dribbble.com and pintrest, you may notice a trend for designers just creating projects that give them practice, but not wasting time like crowd-sourcing projects. I would recommend going that route if you just are looking for practice.
Posted by Bruce Bowers (Member # 892) on :
At first glance, it seemed like a great concept... until one participates in it and you realize that you are most likely working for free.
I did a couple when the one site came out. I was mightily disillusioned when I saw the "winning" entry. While I got good scores on my work, I soon realized that my effort was better placed somewhere else.
I did end up with some really nice portfolio pieces, though. Hurray for me.
Posted by Ken Henry (Member # 598) on :
The first & last competition that I participated in that had an element of "crowd sourcing" happened on the very day that I was conceived. You see, there was this single egg, and the deal was myself, and a whole host of other swimmers had a remarkable competition to see who could get to and fertilize that particular egg. Second place was totally irrelevant, and only one winner would be rewarded.
I stand today, as living testament to the fact that I won that competition, and any obstetrician/gynecologist will back me up.
Whenever I'm asked if I'm a strong swimmer, I have only to consider the manner of my personal conception to realize just how strong a swimmer that I was. Olympic athletes had nothing on me on that day!!! Here I was, up against thousands, and against all odds, I WON!!!
Posted by Dave Grundy (Member # 103) on :
Ken..I love you and your sense of humour!!! BRAVO!!!
