Does crowdsourcing design work for clients?
Mar 19 2009
I recently had an experience with a client who had just crowdsourced their new logo. They opened the project on a web site along with a description of what they were looking for and the promise of a few hundred dollars to be awarded to the guy or gal who contributed the winning logo. They received more than 40 submissions in a matter of days from about 20 different designers.
Before I go on, I would like to freely disclaim that I used to run a corporate marketing communications department and, while serving there I did on occasion ask for spec work, or sample designs to be done prior to the start of any formal engagement as with no expectation of payment… But from agencies and on larger projects like our major web design initiatives.
When a company does that kind of shopping, they are looking to develop a long-term relationship with a brand name agency that will ultimately be able to earn several hundred thousand to several million dollars or more in revenue over the life of their engagement with the client. Asking that the agency contribute a couple of thousand dollars in man hours as an initial investment is both reasonable and justified.
This, however, is not what happens in a crowdsourced design project. 20-50 relatively anonymous freelance designers (identified only by their online handle) may submit in the hopes that they will earn a prize of a few hundred dollars and are then unlikely to hear from the client ever again. In our case, the client I mentioned earlier had already awarded us their web design project before they had even notified the winner of the logo project. And there is just something ethically wrong with asking a (virtual) room full of people to each perform a service that is worth several hundred dollars on the condition that only one of them will actually be paid for their efforts.
But it’s a free country. If freelance designers, students and mac jockeys want to try their luck on crowdsourcing dollars, I won’t stand in their way. The AIGA has already made their ruling on this matter as have several other prominent groups, blogs, etc. (be sure to also check out No!Spec for a running commentary on this issue). It isn’t my place to tell any creatives outside of my employ how to earn their living.
It turns out, however, that it is my place to tell small and mid-sized business owners how to spend their marketing dollars wisely.
So here’s my opnion on the virtues of crowdsourcing from a client’s point of view: don’t do it, it is NOT to your advantage. You are participating in an environment where designers have to “play the odds” to decide how hard they will work on a particular concept and a high value is placed from a designer’s point of view on the quantity of submissions rather than their quality.
You are NOT getting an audience with someone who will take the time to learn your business before attempting to design for it, you are NOT paying for a designer’s undivided attention and you are NOT engaging in a relationship with someone who cares about (or who stands to benefit from) the success of your business.
All you are getting is a shotgun blast of quick design work from designers who are throwing as much out as they can, trying to play the odds and make something stick. From your perspective as client, you’re just throwing the dice and hoping that something usable comes out of it. Unless you truly see design as a commodity and don’t see any value in working with someone who willl approach your project strategically, crowdsourcing just doesn’t make a bit of sense from a business owner’s point of view.
As for my client who crowdsourced their logo before they engaged with us on the web design, they got lucky. There was a single shining diamond among a batch of poorly-conceived work and their new logo is actually pretty nice. Out of curiosity though, I clicked on the profile of the person who created it and noticed that the concept for the winning design had been lifted from another design they had presented (and won) a couple of weeks earlier for a different client.
But I suspect that’s just the nature of the game.
Please share your thoughts on crowdsourcing, I would love to hear them especially as this continues to be a hot topic in the business.
Published by Erik Wolf under Uncategorized
I am so glad that Erik is bringing up the topic of crowdsourcing, spec and I will add e-lance. I have many concerns about all these methods. First of all, spec work is widely accepted as a poor way to engage and hire creative talent. In fact, most of the marketing people and business owners who create the spec work assignments would not want to participate in it if they were on the other side of the table. I have had marketing and PR candidates being asked for their “ideas” on a marketing/PR plan for a company in the interview process and have been strongly to opposed to giving away free ideas with no promise of a job or payment. I always agree that the candidate should not be asked to do the work in the “hopes” of payment for their expertise. I feel the same way about design. Spec work is no more than a contest and lacks the creative brief and deep understanding of the client’s objectives. Logos are not just cute images or type treatments that any Mac user can put together. They are a complex culmination of your brand, your messaging and your entire company’s essence. This should not be tossed to the masses but rather discussed in depth with a trained, experienced designer who will steward your brand, your budget and your objectives.
Comment by Nancy Pineda — March 19, 2009 @ 6:58 am