Written on July 31st, 2009 at 06:07 am by Darren Rowse
Run a Competition to Find Your Next WordPress Blog Design
One of the most common questions I’m asked by readers starting out with blogging is around blog design and how they can get an affordable but unique blog design.
The irony of this is that I’m a self confessed dud when it comes to blog design. These days I hire others to do custom designs for my blog – but of course this doesn’t come cheap.
A recent survey here on ProBlogger showed that 79% of readers here use free themes or design their blogs themselves – but what if you want something more unique and/or don’t have the ability to design a blog or tweak a free theme?
I had all these questions buzzing around in my head recently when I paid a visit to local design marketplace site 99designs. I didn’t expect anything to come out of the conversation but what did come out of it excited me because it could meet a need that I see many of our readers having.
What 99designs have put together is a way to run a competition to have a new WordPress blog design created for your blog for as little as $369.
Now before I go any further – $369 is out of many bloggers leagues – but it is certainly a cheaper option than hiring a designer for $2000-$3000 to do a custom job for you. It’s not going to be for everyone but is sure to be an attractive option for those looking for a mid priced design.
The process to run a competition is simple. Here’s how 99designs describe it:
1. Set your budget and requirements
Tell us your budget and what you want designed, and we will post it on 99designs.com
2. Designers will create designs just for you
Designers from around the world will compete to create the best looking design just for you. Most projects get over 20 different design concepts to choose from. Rate the designers you like, eliminate the ones you don’t like.
3. Choose your favorite design
Pick your favorite design as the winner. Show it off to your friends! The winning design is yours to keep forever.
4. We code and install your theme (optional extra)
Through our partner, Thinktank Media, we’ll have your new WordPress theme up and running on your blog in 5 working days. Our themes are coded on the Sandbox theme, so they’re compatible with both WordPress.org and WordPress.com blogs!
They also have a 100% money back guarantee if you run a competition and don’t find a design that you like.
Keep in mind that what you’re running the competition for is the ‘design’ – to have it coded and/or installed you either need to choose to pay extra for these options or do that part yourself.
I hope those of you looking to find a new design for your WordPress blog find this useful! Check it out here.
72 Responses to “Run a Competition to Find Your Next WordPress Blog Design” - Add Yours
Anna
July 31st, 2009 6:21 am
That is a very smart idea – provides an excellent service and gives designers a chance to showcase their work. While also giving people the opportunity to get a unique blog design created for them at a very low cost – will be interesting to see where this goes!
Jannie Funster
July 31st, 2009 6:27 am
I do see vividly in my dreams how I’d like my blog to look, but that HTML gets me all fetched up when I try to go in there myself. 99Designs sounds like a dream team and their site examples look super-hot.
Jeffrey Tang
July 31st, 2009 6:27 am
I like this idea, but I’m not sure if I’d ever make use of it personally. I rather like the challenge of learning to design/tweak my own WordPress themes. I feel that changing my blog’s look myself really motivates me to write the content to keep up.
Dave
July 31st, 2009 6:29 am
The way I read it, $369 simply buys you the graphics. The PSD to WordPress is going to cost extra.
Erik Bernskiold
July 31st, 2009 6:34 am
It’s just so sad that this is promoted as good ideas for all designers… :/ Say no to spec work!
Bulding Blocks
July 31st, 2009 6:39 am
Hey Jeffrey Tang,
I used to think like you until I really got into it. First people surfing the net can quickly see if something is made by and ametuer. You may think your site looks cool because you made it but truth be known it stinks. Plus when the designer is working on the looks you can spend your time focusing on writing good quality content!
Thanks,
Troy
Michael Johnston
July 31st, 2009 6:47 am
I’ve used 99Designs for several recent projects. A few were blogs, and one was an online to-do list application. I recounted my experiences here: http://thewellrunsite.com/2009/07/09/crowdsourcing-a-new-site/
In short, I was delighted with the results. My feeling is that the designers on 99Designs are a cut above what you may find on some other services. I highly recommend the site.
Matt Harris
July 31st, 2009 7:02 am
I think i’ve got a aways to go before I’ll start to think about paying for my blog designs. I’m not against doing it, but I’d think its important to make money before you spend money.
Veronica
July 31st, 2009 7:03 am
So you’re paying a fraction of the cost of custom work for multiple designers to do custom work for you, only one of whom is presumably going to be paid (and at cut-rate)?
I know these kinds of contests go on all the time, but please bear in mind that they’re ethically questionable at the best of times, and proceed accordingly.
Russ Hutto
July 31st, 2009 7:56 am
I’m from a small community of graphic designers where this type of design contest has recently been the topic of a heated debate.
We look at it as spec work and the majority of us feel like it is demeaning to designers and damaging to the design/client relationship.
In short spec work (short for speculative work) is any job for which the client expects to see examples or a finished product before agreeing to pay a fee.
There’s passionate discourse from both sides of the arguments, but I just wanted to point out that from a professional designers standpoint it’s not cool.
http://graphicdesign.about.com/od/career/f/what_is_spec.htm
Eric B.
July 31st, 2009 8:20 am
I would say that sites like 99designs should not be used because they devalue the work of real designers. You would not get anything really good, because the designers have to actually DO the project, just for a chance of being paid. Such a ripoff.
Matt Cheuvront
July 31st, 2009 8:22 am
Very interesting contest idea. If I wasn’t such a do-it-yourselfer, I would be very interested.
needmoney.com
July 31st, 2009 8:58 am
I say it’s worth putting in the time to learn to tweak free themes yourself, especially if you’re planning to have a few blogs.
Josh T.
July 31st, 2009 8:58 am
This is great! The site seems like a great way to skip the entire painful & time consuming RFP process. I don’t know why, but I’ve had really bad luck in the past hiring design agencies and freelancers.
Their work never lived up to what I saw in the portfolio, and I got invoiced thousands of dollars for work that I didn’t even want to use — and don’t even get me started about missed deadlines either.
Technology Slice
July 31st, 2009 9:04 am
I agree with needmoney.com. That way you can make changes yourself immediately instead of waiting for a designer.
Alvin
July 31st, 2009 9:13 am
I prefer to tweak around my blog’s theme myself. Set the theme layout you like from other bloggers’ theme and design it on your blog. As for my blog layout, it looks pretty much similar to darren’s theme because I really think it looks very profesional and easy for the readers to look what they want.
The iPhone Blogging
Anthony Mora
July 31st, 2009 9:55 am
Interesting concept. Not sure I’d ever use it, but the competition approach is one to keep in mind, not only for information or services you need, as in this case, but also as a way to interest others in sharing information. I’ve also used that type of approach when pitching the media on stories. Positioning the pitch as a competition, or a contest, or a survey, generally garnered more interest.
Steve
July 31st, 2009 10:04 am
I like Shoemoney running a contest on his site for a business card design and the winner gets free cards from the company sponsoring the contest. Shoe doesn’t pay a thing and gets 500 designs. Sweet!
TheManRevolution
July 31st, 2009 10:25 am
Yeah, a lot of free themes are extremely versatile. You can do a lot with them providing you spend time trying to.
Sven
July 31st, 2009 12:12 pm
Whoa. Promoting spec work? Gutsy…
Raju
July 31st, 2009 1:22 pm
$369 for just the design? Whoa!! and one must shell out extra $$$ for the theme. Wonderful :|
Paul
July 31st, 2009 1:23 pm
I used 99designs recently for a logo. I used them simply because I could not afford any of the quotes from the designers I approached directly. No amount of “it devalues the industry” and “spec work is evil” can solve a simple budget issue.
99designs contests have their ups and downs. I’d say to anyone who wants to try them:
- read some other contests design briefs and make sure you write a good one for your contest
- comment early and often, give designers lots of feedback, tell them what you like and don’t like about a submission
- don’t be afraid to ask for variations of things you do like (eg “I like that design but can you show me it in green”)
- be prepared to see some awful submissions, eliminate them and say why so that other designers can steer clear of similar designs
- be prepared to wait days before something even resembling a good submission appears, don’t get disheartened early on
NeoTechie
July 31st, 2009 2:24 pm
If you build it they may come. But if you build it with their help there is a better chance that they will come.
ProBlogger India
July 31st, 2009 3:19 pm
Great idea to get highly customized and attractive themes according to my taste.
blinkky
July 31st, 2009 4:45 pm
I’ve been using the same blog theme for a long time. Maybe I should change my blog design =)
sudhi
July 31st, 2009 5:50 pm
Too costly for me… maybe in future !
Victor Teixeira
July 31st, 2009 5:56 pm
As a webdesigner and webmaster I have to say that I like your blog and your articles but this one…
This kind of sites like 99designs should be prohibited. They are totally devaluating the webdesign industry.
10, 20 designers will work on a project and will not be paid.
This is ridiculous. Nobody works without getting paid.
I saw many times one designer that comes with a concept and them this concept is copied by other designers and the one that first introduced the concept didn’t won. But the concept was copied by the winner.
It’s really not good.
I think if someone wants a professional theme for a wordpress blog they can just buy a premium theme. It’s much more affordable then $369.00.
This is really not the way to go for a cheap design.
There are some talented beginners out there who will work for $369.00.
One can also get a webdesigner from other countries. There are countries in wich $300.00 even $200.00 is a lot of money.
David Airey
July 31st, 2009 7:03 pm
Hmmmm. It’s disappointing to see spec work being promoted here, Darren. Sites like these take advantage of designers, with many “contests” going un-paid, even though they’re supposedly “guaranteed”.
Ian Houghton
July 31st, 2009 7:32 pm
How would an architect feel if they were hired to draft a floor plan but got paid for their time only if the client liked it? How would a group of construction workers feel if they all put together variations on a shed but only the individual who built the shed the homeowner liked best got paid?
If you really want cut-price design work but don’t want to sacrifice quality (as many do on these spec work competition sites), find your nearest college with a design program and advertise for a student willing to put something together for you. That way you can view their portfolio in person, work out a cheaper rate, and still feel morally sound by not cheating dozens of other people out of hours of work.
Leon Paternoster
July 31st, 2009 7:40 pm
@Josh T:
You should agree your costs beforehand and a stepped payment plan (say 25% upfront, 25% midpoint and 50% upon completion). That way the designer doesn’t spend hours working for free and you don’t pay for something you don’t want.
You pay monkeys you get peanuts. If you’re working on a tight budget you’re better off using a free theme. The beauty parade approach just means the designers who are best at getting mock ups done will do well.
Obviously, you’d have to pay for the coding as well. WIll it be that much cheaper than just contacting a designer?
Ncus
July 31st, 2009 8:02 pm
Oh my! This article is so wrong! I am designer, and I really dislike Spec work. What you are proposing is a spec project.
Please read: http://www.no-spec.com/
I read your blog to learn how to write better, but after reading this post. It seems you are not not understand, this article can hurt designers and wordpress themer feeling.
Jack
July 31st, 2009 8:37 pm
Hi…
This is nice topic which ll be very useful for their designs.
This article may accept by some of speific designers only and others will reject it..
ithinkitsnice
July 31st, 2009 8:43 pm
This is spec work. Spec work is bad and promoting it is a surefire way to piss off designers. http://www.no-spec.com/
FYI this is getting re-tweeted all over the shop:
RT @DavidAirey: Disappointed to see @problogger promoting spec work: http://tr.im/uSXF (@SpecWatch)
Ben
July 31st, 2009 10:06 pm
Nice idea, but I’d prefer to customize myself.
Trees Full of Money
July 31st, 2009 10:38 pm
That is a great idea! I wonder how much extra it would cost to have the project coded by a dependable coder.
I recently switched to wordpress from Blogger and I am extremely please with the move.
Additionally, I use the Thesis theme and I slowly building a working knowledge of what it takes to “design” things the way that I want.
Still, at some point I may wish to have my site “professionally” redone so that it is more appealing.
Adam Baird
July 31st, 2009 10:46 pm
This looks great but I would caution beginning bloggers. If you don’t have enough traffic to make much money yet, you really don’t need a new theme. You need to focus on creating great content.
Its easy for me to get caught up and spend large amounts of time on little meaningless details.
Matt Morse
July 31st, 2009 10:48 pm
Strange isn’t it – all the people commenting in favour that this is an amazing service are from the “buyers” side of the fence, mainly because its cheap.
The ones against it, myself included, are the designers -those that can see that they would essentially be working for free in the hope that they get paid at the end. And if they DO get paid, ie. get their design chosen, its a small pay day!
You wouldn’t do this in your 9-5 office job, so why expect designers too?
BloggerDaily
July 31st, 2009 10:50 pm
Gosh. This is really interesting!
It gives me idea. Cool =)
fas
July 31st, 2009 10:58 pm
That is a nice way of getting a design like your requirements, a must do for those on a budget.
Selene M. Bowlby
July 31st, 2009 11:30 pm
Wow! I have to admit that I’m completely surprised by this post and feel compelled to respond. Even as non-conforntational as I am, I can’t not speak up on this one…
I’m a web designer (who happens to specialize in custom WordPress themes) – and I’m with all of the other designers who have posted. While these design contests seem like they’re a cheap way to get a design, it completely devalues the (design) profession. We work VERY hard at making good designs and should rightfully be paid for our time.
By entering these design competitions, designers are essentially doing spec work – aka working for free in the hopes that maybe their design will be chosen. And in most cases, the prize is still not enough money to compensate for the time and hard work that goes into a solid design (whether it be a site design, logo design, etc.)
The majority of the people I follow on Twitter (and vice versa) are designers and I know that a majority of them are against these types of competitions (also called crowdsourcing).
There is a lot of great information on the no-spec.com web site that’s been referenced in other comments above. A specific post in regards to crowdsourcing with quotes from industry leaders such as Jeff Fisher can be found at http://www.no-spec.com/archives/creativepro-spec-work-and-crowdsourcing/
I feel so strongly against spec work and crowdsourcing that I now have an email template (canned response) that I reply with to anyone who asks me to get involved or promote their so-called design competition, which includes a link to the no-spec.com web site.
I realize that non-designers won’t see the harm in the competitions, but it’s something worth looking into and considering the ramifications for the designers who are basically being used for free labor.
Union Room
July 31st, 2009 11:35 pm
You get what you pay for at the end of the day.
Paying < $100 for any kind of design work almost always ensures you receive a generic and sub-par design.
Michael Montgomery
August 1st, 2009 12:34 am
What a farce. I agree with ,Selene M. Bowlby.
*** You go Girl.
Ryan Lascano
August 1st, 2009 12:38 am
I definitely agree with the other negative comments, I too believe sites and methods like this facilitate unethical practices and spec work. Beyond devaluing our profession, I think another big point that many have missed is that it completely removes the creative/client relationship from the equation. There is little to know interaction w/ the “client”, aside from a short brief. How could a designer produce a truly quality, successful piece without getting to know a client, asking questions, and finding the deeper needs and meanings that may not be strictly stated? It’s design for design sake. Design that is just pretty pictures without any bigger idea, concept or strategy, sorely misses the point.
Socko
August 1st, 2009 1:52 am
No one should work for free
The Vendor Client relationship – in real world situations
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY
Robert Anthony
August 1st, 2009 2:31 am
I agree with David Airey and the other designers who have reSPECt for creative work. Speculative work would not fly in ANY other profession, why do people think its okay to do it with creative work?
Now if you will excuse me, I need to go get my car tuned up today… Hey! I know, I’ll hold a contest! With the mechanic who gets my car running the smoothest getting the prize of $500! Never mind they should have gotten $2,500, what great publicity me driving my nicely tuned car will be for them!
KB
August 1st, 2009 2:43 am
Not for me, I’m a “do-it-yourself-er” too. But great for someone who doesn’t have the time on their hands to do it themselves :)
Jason Aiken
August 1st, 2009 3:06 am
Hi Everyone…Jason Aiken here from 99designs.com
Designers participate in projects at 99designs for a number of reasons…to make money and build a business, to gain experience and practice their skills, to build their portfolio, to get feedback from clients and peers on their work, and to make friends. Win or lose, designers get value out of participating at 99designs.
There are other ways for designers to find clients and get experience…all of which are valid. David Airey recently suggested that designers offer their service, free of charge, to Non-Profit organizations for example. My Fiancee works in Non Profit…and I can tell you yes they need lots of help! But the marketplace at 99designs is just as valid and provides a ton of opportunity for designers…it exposes them to a huge number of projects that they would not have been exposed to otherwise.
We have disabled designers using 99designs who have praised us for giving them the opportunity to attract clients without leaving their house. We have designers who are located in countries our even regions of the USA where local work is either unavailable or has dried up. One of our top designers is located in South Carolina…she has run a successful web design business for many years. Suddenly all the work locally began to dry up and she did not know what she was going to do…she was very worried about keeping the lights on.
She has been participating at 99designs for several months now and it has helped her keep her business running and grow her client base. As many as 1/4 to 1/2 of the projects lead to additional follow on work. There are designers in our community earning 100% of their income from 99designs referrals.
We think of 99designs.com not as the end game (as in you win a contest and get $300 and it’s all over) but as the start of “sales funnel” for designers. In the same way that design agencies do countless unpaid pitches, attend networking events in their own time or otherwise market themselves, designers on 99designs invest their time designing for the projects listed. Winning designers don’t walk away with $300 they walk away with $300 and a client relationship that they can leverage in the future.
Obviously…this is a very interesting discussion…but the bottom line is 99designs.com provides opportunity.
Cheers,
Jason Aiken
99designs.com
Patrick Do Trong
August 1st, 2009 3:27 am
With regards to Selene, I totally agree that these contests only devaluates the designing profession. Though I understand that alot of designers want to get their voices heard through their coding skills, it is regrettable that they have to offer their services for a near-give away price.
Being an opportunist at times, I wouldn’t mind jumping on the deal because I don’t have the expertise required to design my own blog/template. I still use the Modicus Remix theme…its sad.
inspirationbit
August 1st, 2009 4:12 am
I really hope you’re reading all the comments designers have left on this post as they will enlighten you how wrong you are on this.
You should be ashamed of using your authority in such a fallacious way, by preaching spec work and supporting design crowd-sourcing.
Steven Snell
August 1st, 2009 4:36 am
Like David, I’m surprised to see this post here. As a designer I would never waste my time competing with a hundred other designers for the chance to make some money. If designers want to give away their time for a very small percentage chance that they’ll actually get paid then I guess they have the right to do so, but I would rather do other things with my time, and as you can see from the comments, most professional designers feel the same way.
teratips
August 1st, 2009 6:14 am
find it greatful, I also find them after great hazzles
http://teratips.com
Ivan
August 1st, 2009 7:43 am
At end of the day it is about content, right? Don’t worry so much about the clothing – how’s the body, mind and soul?
vancouver web design
August 1st, 2009 8:07 am
Spec work from outfits like 99designs will always appeal to a certain segment of the business world (ie. small businesses and overnight web startups) due to the low cost and multiple submissions to choose from. Designers in North America will never be able to compete with the rock-bottom prices these spec designers from asia, etc aim for.
That being said, any successful business will soon learn the benefits of local partnerships with a professional design firm that provides ongoing support in the future. While a spec design might be cheap and easy, a growing business manager / owner will find their time being stretched thin, too thin to be constantly going back and forth looking for spec designers or low-bid developers to do one-off jobs and coaching them through what is required.
A well-run business knows when to pay a real professional to manage their needs, it’s called delegating. Offloading your needs to competent partners to ensure high quality service and consistency over time is a hallmark of good management. If a manager can’t do that, quite frankly they would have been a nightmare to deal with anyway.
Brian Yerkes
August 1st, 2009 10:09 am
This is a sad state of affairs to see a post like this on here…..Just like David said, “disappointing”. It is clear that Spec Work is a boil on the side of the professional design community’s ass that needs to be removed.
I feel sorry for all of the part time “designers” that waste their time on these contest sites and get nothing in return. All you have to do is look at @specwatch ’s twitter timeline and you can see exactly what design contests websites involve. http://twitter.com/specwatch
Jesse
August 1st, 2009 10:25 am
WOW, this post has sure turned into a hot bed of “ideas”
I will share my short, to the point opinion on this because i do have an opinion on it. I work in the industry but don’t do graphic work so maybe I am from the other side of the fence but I think everyone in here that is whining that this practice devalues the work needs to relax a bit.. You need to remember that someone who is going to pay $300 for a design is not going to be the same person that will pay you $2000 for yours, so your not losing out on anything.. secondly, the designers that participate are there by choice, get over it. thirdly if you don’t like it, don’t participate.
It’s standard business and economics, if there is a demand there will be someone there to provide for that demand.
And to the comments about those in “other fields” doing something and only getting paid if the client likes it, well.. thats life.. there are millions of deals every day where people do work and only get paid if their client likes it.. just how it is, architects, sales people, web designers, writers and the list goes on and on and on.
Bottom line, this site will be there doing this as long as there are people willing to pay $369 for a PSD and a designer is willing to create it for that.. OK, I am done with my rant now lol.
PS anyone want to do blog design for me for $350.00 get in touch with me, I will have a contest on my own site for this.
BJ
August 1st, 2009 1:51 pm
I’m not going to reveal my real identity here because I’ve seen designers attacked by other designers for supporting these kinds of competitions but I have no problem with them.
While in an ideal world we’d all like to make a full time living from design clients who came to us directly and paid us great rates for our work the reality is that life doesn’t work that way.
Instead most bloggers opt to go with free themes or default themes. If designers want to take a shot at anything that could be devaluing our industry I’d be wanting to target free themes personally.
I’ve entered such competitions many times and have benefited in many ways from doing so. I’ve won prizes but more importantly I’ve developed lasting and profitable relationships with those I’ve worked with and found new clients who’ve seen what I’ve submitted in competitions.
I liken entering competitions like these to writing a guest post on another blog. Bloggers who put themselves out there and write posts for ProBlogger and other well known blogs have a chance to showcase what they can do, expose themselves to new audiences and drive traffic to their own sites. Designers who enter these competitions similarly get great exposure which often leads to ongoing work.
At the start of my business I did more of this kind of thing and I can say that spec work helped me get started and develop a good reputation and healthy client list. These days I still do it on occasion when things are slow but for designers wanting to get their name out there and get into this business I think it’s a legitimate and worthwhile thing to explore.
For designers who don’t think it’s good – I simply advise to not do it. Vote by ignore it.
Lastly I’d argue that the majority of people running these competitions are probably people who would not otherwise have gone for a complete customized design. People running these comps would previously have been downloading free themes or at most buying so called ‘premium’ themes. If anything these kinds of competitions bring more bloggers out of ‘free theme’ land and into a place where they consider the kind of work a designer can do – something that’s good for all designers in my mind.
parttime
August 1st, 2009 5:45 pm
A rofessional will not accept spec-work or contests that are unlikely to generate significant payoff via buzz. State your hourly rate, or project cost with 50% to start 50% on completion.
These things are great for beginner freelancers, amateurs. A professional would walk away, and rather spend her/his time elsewhere.
Liane YoungBlogger
August 1st, 2009 6:35 pm
I support self blog theme designers! Created my own, and I love it even more
make money online
August 1st, 2009 9:43 pm
369 is not bad at all. The company I work at being in the marketing portion I am able to trade a design for marketing/seo time. It would be nice though to have a bunch to choose from.
Kris
Steve Douglas
August 2nd, 2009 12:21 am
@ Jason from 99designs – Regarding your rationales about why designers participate in 99design contests.
1) ‘to make money and build a business’. That’s IF they win the contest. The vast majority of designers on 99designs don’t win anything. Accordingly, they don’t build anything either.
2) ‘To gain experience and practice their skills’. Designers can do that WITHOUT participating in 99designs, and without submitting their work, free of charge, to a service that then sells a service that includes that work for forty bucks and 10% of the contest fee, plus what ever other upgrades and additional charges you manage to extract
3) ‘To get feedback from clients”. Read the comment sections of your contests. Some of the most common comments are along the lines of “feedback please”, “WTF – no feedback?!!” or variations thereof.
And while some might be moved by your story about the disabled designers, I’m more inclined to see it as 99designs using disabled designers as human shields to deflect their company from criticism. As my main issue with sites like yours is that designers aren’t getting paid for their work, I might also be inclined to think “wow, 99designs are taking work from disabled designers too, and not paying them either”. Though, that probably doesn’t sound as moving as your statement, something you think is poignant enough to cut-and-paste into the comment sections of several other blogs.
In terms of the designer who’s using 99designs to keep her business afloat, I might be tempted to view this as a come-on for designers likewise struggling through these difficult times, and a cynical ploy to suggest that working on 99designs is a viable alternative. But even if taken at face value, one or two designers being successful on 99designs does not negate the tens of thousands that aren’t.
I notice that you’re now using Crowdspring’s rasion deter of designers using 99designs to find clients. Your comment of “as many as 1/4 to 1/2″ is so open-ended as to be absolutely worthless (which is it? 1/4 or 1/2?) and is questionable into the bargain.
Many people run multiple contests for various projects – ie: a logo design contest begets a stationery design contest, which begets a web design project, which begets a brochure contest. And now, they have Wordpress blog designs to choose from as well.
I don’t blame you – that’s an effective use of 99designs if one believes in the concept, and from your POV as a business – but it might suggest that happy contest holders are more likely to hold another contest than utilize the services of their winning designer. After all, isn’t 99designs about NOT hiring individual designers because of the “expense”, “risks” and “lack of choices”? And once they’ve held a presumably successful contest, they are going to ignore everything that drew them to your site in the first place, in order to obtain artwork in a manner that 99designs repeatedly tells them is inefficient, expensive and restrictive in creative latitude?I find that hard to believe.
“Obviously…this is a very interesting discussion…but the bottom line is 99designs.com provides opportunity.”
It is an interesting discussion but that’s YOUR bottom line Jason, not THE bottom line.
Robert Anthony
August 3rd, 2009 1:55 am
In response to BJ,
GAHHH!!! **Atacks BJ with Photoshop slice tool**.
Actually it is kind of sad when the design community is split to the point of aggression. I hope the sarcasm was read in my first comment and not come off as aggression, maybe one two many exclamation points? LOL.
This is obviously a hair trigger topic, but information is the best weapon of choice I feel for this topic. For me it’s not so much the doing work for free, because if that was the determining factor you also have to agree that Pro Bono work or charity work falls in this category.
It’s the stigma of it all, you read stories of people getting into legal battles that have there root in design contests because someone ripped another design, then best case the ‘artist’ or company gets it for using ripped art; worst case the blame falls back on the true original artist.
Then oh my goodness… these forums that the contests actually happen in… it’s nasty. Seriously, the few I’ve read made me feel dirty, like I was watching some adult smut on TV.
“More more more! yeah I like #’s 3 and 5, # 8 move this over there a bit, yeah that’s it… keep them coming, I’m liking what I see”
It’s like I’m watching these artists’ creativity get prostituted out (I don’t use another more aggressive and forced word out of respect for the ladies). For real, go look for yourself and you will see that my fake quote up there is pretty close to reality.
Then to top it all off, 90% of the time the quality quite bluntly sucks… I mean how good can it possibly be when it’s rushed and it has no back end design foundation to stand on? It’s just eye candy (some of which look like literal candy you eat).
blog
August 3rd, 2009 9:38 pm
its always a good idea to have a competition, will bring you a lot of attention and the visitors like the interactivity.
Jason Aiken
August 4th, 2009 5:59 am
@Steve
1. Not necessarily true…while obviously it is great to have your design chosen…there have been many occasions where a designer was not chosen as the official winner…but the project holder later contacted them to purchase some of the work they created for the project.
2. Yes there are lots of ways designers can get experience…99designs is one of them. There are usually between 350-400 real projects to work on at any given time…that’s real clients…real experience.
3. True…some project holders are better at giving feedback than others and it is a cause of frustration when a client does not engage. We do proactively reach out to the clients to let them know their feedback responsibilities…and provide a lot of resources to help educate project holders on how to successfully run a project on 99designs.com. It is a work in progress.
Say what you will about the positive examples that we give…they are true stories and not hard to find. You are absolutely correct that I bring them up because they are poignant.
Cheers,
Jason
ithemesdotnet
August 5th, 2009 1:34 am
I love to design but feel my efforts are sub par. However this competition is very interesting to me.
Paul
August 5th, 2009 10:12 am
@Robert Anthony – “Speculative work would not fly in ANY other profession, why do people think its okay to do it with creative work?”
Spec work is a regular part of many other industries. You probably won’t need to think very hard to realise that businesses and professionals in many different industries will deliver pre-sales, high level designs, demos, quotes, and other “spec work” in the pursuit of building customer relationships and winning deals.
Myself, I turned to 99designs after several designers I approached told me variations of:
- they don’t do logos (despite their portfolio having logos in it)
- they aren’t available
- I probably can’t afford them (without even giving me a quote)
SURVEYS FOR MONEY
August 5th, 2009 11:50 am
I’m a new blogger so of course I chose a free theme. As my blog gains more exposure and readers, I will definitely need a new, unique, and appealing look. Holding a competition is an efficient and inexpensive way to choosing your designed theme.
Michael
August 6th, 2009 10:56 pm
Here’s a buyer’s perspective…
I understand the frustration of many in the design community who lament against crowdsourcing. But if I can have hundreds of designers compete to create my logo, website, or stationary, etc…then why wouldn’t I do it?
Take logo design, for example. The usual routine is to pay anywhere from $500-$1000+ for a logo. You relay your ideas to the designer, based on his or her design intake process. The designer then gives you the “privilege” of having anywhere from 3-5 revisions. Don’t like what you got by your last revision? Pay another couple of hundred bucks to have the concept “re-imagined” while the designer monetizes the experience in a blog post titled something like ,”How To Deal With Clients Who Don’t Know What They Want In A Logo In The First 3-5 Tries.”
Look around you. Many institutions and professions are being radically changed due to emergent, deflationary, and disruptive technologies such as crowdsourcing, automation, and outsourcing. Its not just designers that are in trouble—lawyers, and doctors such as myself will have to adjust to a rapidly changing technological and economic landscape. Those that adapt successfully to these changes will survive and maybe even flourish, and those that insist that crowdsourcing is wrong will be undercut.
This represents a fundamental shift in the locus of control with respect to where the design concept resides. Many designers are used to the satisfaction which comes with bringing a client’s idea to life. Crowdsourcing and co-creative technologies take the conceptual reins of power out of the hands of a sole designer or firm, and allow other designers as well as the client him or herself to participate in the process. The cat’s out the bag.
server
August 18th, 2009 10:25 am
I love to design but feel my efforts are sub par. However this competition is very interesting to me.
Europa Bonus
August 23rd, 2009 12:36 am
Blogging is not easy at all. It requires patience, relevant skills, as well as dedicated work.
I think, just as in the real life, there are no short cuts to making money in blogging as well. If you see it closely, a lot of principles that apply to other businesses apply to blogging as well.
x factor 2009
September 2nd, 2009 4:50 am
I’m a new blogger so of course I chose a free theme. As my blog gains more exposure and readers, I will definitely need a new, unique, and appealing look. Holding a competition is an efficient and inexpensive way to choosing your designed theme.
jeux psp
September 22nd, 2009 7:04 pm
sounds great! Need to remember this. Thanks Darren.. Its really a very infomercial & helpful article for me.. Thanks again..
ugg boots
October 20th, 2009 2:18 pm
Take logo design, for example. The usual routine is to pay anywhere from $500-$1000+ for a logo. You relay your ideas to the designer, based on his or her design intake process. The designer then gives you the “privilege” of having anywhere from 3-5 revisions. Don’t like what you got by your last revision? Pay another couple of hundred bucks to have the concept “re-imagined” while the designer monetizes the experience in a blog post titled something like ,”How To Deal With Clients Who Don’t Know What They Want In A Logo In The First 3-5 Tries.”
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