Crowdsourcing and Spec Work – My Thoughts
It seems there is a lot of debate lately about whether or not crowdsourcing is evil. New sites are popping up like crowdSPRING and 99designs which allow several designers to compete on the same project and only one gets rewarded a usually small fee.
We have never supported or done spec work ourselves. My partner, Koldo, already had many years of design experience under his belt when we started Intuitive Designs in 2003 and it just didn’t seem fair to give away our precious time, energy, and resources that way. So, our official stance is in support of No!spec.
That said, do I think “spec work is evil”? Not necessarily. Yes, it can be easy for companies to take advantage of students and amateurs. Is it a threat to the design industry as a whole though? I don’t think so.
You know what? There’s a market for just about everything. I buy cheap generic products at the liquidation warehouse. I know the quality is worse, but I just don’t need or want the more expensive brand at the moment. One day when I want the quality item and it’s worthwhile to me, I’ll buy it. Until then, the cheaper option is good enough for me.
I think clients are smart enough to know the difference too. I suspect most of the people who post jobs on those sites realize that there will most likely be amateurs competing for their work and that’s good enough for them. To me it just means that somebody got a cheap website that I wouldn’t have been able to provide them anyway for the price they thought was worthwhile.
This all reminds me of how I feel about worrying about competition. Instead of worrying so much about what other people are doing, just make sure you are putting out work you feel proud of and working consistently to improve it and keep your skills up to date. Market your skills and services so that people know what you do and that you do it well. Sell your good personal customer service and make sure people feel good recommending you to others.
Eventually you and your ideal clients will meet and form a solid working relationship together based upon mutual respect which includes a fair compensation to you for your services. To each his own, as they say!
Comments