Comments on: crowdSPRING’s Attempt to Make Spec Work Acceptable

By: Sean Coleman

Sean Coleman — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:36:30 +0000

99 Designs should be called 99% Crap. The prices are low and attractive, but if you’re on a budget (e.g. $300 for a logo) there are much better alternatives than doing spec work with inexperienced “designers”.

I posted a project on http://www.orangeslyce.com once to get my logo designed. It’s all college student designers, so the cost is low like 99Designs/CrowdSpring but I was able to work with one girl over a week with several iterations (she was quite patient with me).

I’m all for supporting students starting their careers, and since they are looking to build their portfolios, they’ll bend over backwards for your design, and aren’t looking for a quick buck.

By: mark

mark — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:46:55 +0000

Crwodspring is a bunch of crooks who load up your project at the last moment with a bunch of crap from creatives who are obviously on the payroll. They are unethical. Don’t waste your time.

By: Sergey

Sergey — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 20:12:17 +0000

if you don’t like this kind of website why do you visit them? Obviously there are designers (and very talented ones!) who enjoy participating in competitions and winning them!

By: Has anyone else heard of this?... - Design Contest Forums

Has anyone else heard of this?... - Design Contest Forums — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:25:04 +0000

[...] in the past few weeks. I had no idea (until recently) there was a controversy stewing about them: crowdSPRING’s Attempt to Make Spec Work Acceptable — Designorati Chicago Reader | The Business | Everyone’s a Designer: Crowdspring, a crowd-sourced graphic [...]

By: linda

linda — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:10:42 +0000

I tried crowdspring and found that I had no chance mostly because I emailed a fellow designer and asked if they ever won a project. To my dismay they said yes I email them and give them a better price and get alot of work . I am still pulling my eyebrows down . The only thing I can say is they are addictive because people want to believe someone likes their work and when you get a score of 4 you believe you are almost there then you get ready to quit and get invited because the client loves your work but to your dismay it is because they don’t have enough designs to fufill their end of the contract . I spent way to much time being shot down and watched my ideas being coppied by other designers. 99 designs are not much better. thanks Linda

By: Jeremy Schultz

Jeremy Schultz — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:40:48 +0000

Good comment Mike, thank you for responding. It’s ironic, some photographers think iStockPhoto and other cheap stock sites have weakened the photography industry. There may be apparel designers out there who feel Threadless has cheapened their work as well. And I know that many designers wouldn’t be able to keep their career going if they were doing it only for the opportunity to be creative. I suppose I’m one of those.

But like you said, it’s not for everyone but I’m glad it’s there for those who enjoy the opportunity to design on spec.

By: Mike Samson

Mike Samson — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:24:37 +0000

Hi Jeremy, and thanks for the great post and for doing a really nice job of describing our community and some of the value we offer. While we don’t see things exactly the same, we certainly know that our site isn’t for everyone and we do respect the range of opinions in this debate.

It’s certainly not our intention to devalue design or the outstanding job that talented designers do. In fact, just the opposite. Just as iStockPhoto has helped bring about a change in the industry, we’d like to do the same. They’ve opened the door to millions upon millions of people who previously had no way to get noticed in the creative community. These people are more than willing to upload their work and hope that it gets chosen because, at the end of the day, it’s what they love doing – and that’s why they do it. It’s not for the money – it’s because creative people can’t stop being creative and they look for any outlet they can.

The same goes for Threadless, really. It’s a community of creatives who love to create. They upload their submissions with a hope of being chosen but, at the end of the day, knowing full well that only one will be selected. They do it because they love to be creative. The do it because it’s fun. They do it because they like to be a part of a community.

We like to think that we’re following the path that these other models have blazed. Again, we know it won’t be for everyone. That’s OK. We understand that there are plenty of established creative professionals who are too busy or uninterested in participating – we respect that. However, for every established creative professional whoâ€™s made it, thereâ€™s a groundswell of untapped creative talent around the world just looking for a way to express themselves and get noticed. This is who we built crowdSPRING for.

So, thanks again for the thoughtful piece and for taking a position on the topic. BTW – we’ll be at SXSW in March with a panel on the subject: “Is Spec Work Evil? The Online Creative Community Speaks.” Should be a great debate and we hope to see you there!

Best,

Mike Samson
co-Founder
http://www.crowdspring.com/
twitter: mike_samson