99designs: Need something designed (logo, ...)? Crowdsource it.

http://99designs.com/

by chaostheory • 18 years ago

65 47 18 years ago

99designs.com

goofygrin3• 18 years ago

Some of these designs look really good...

Bookmarking now since the price looks to be pretty "right" too!

chaostheory9• 18 years ago

yeah, Joel Spoelsky and Jeff Atwood thought so too: http://99designs.com/contests/6774

it's what brought me to the site

joshwa3• 18 years ago

http://www.no-spec.com/

goofygrin3• 18 years ago

I think you were trying to post to the article about these "contest" sites being possibly illegal.

You know, this is a case where I think that the laws, if being broken, should be broken.

I think that these sites are more like "submitting a request for comps and receiving them" more than a "contest."

Now if people are running these "contests" and not fulfilling their end of the bargain, then they are bastards and should be caned.

But for people in developing countries with great design skills (or people in developed countries that are looking for experience) these "contests" provide a much greater potential for income that they normally wouldn't get.

I think that a lot of this whining about the legality and "morality" of these sites and contests by the establishment (in this case the design firms and professional designers) is simply a case of them being afraid of lower cost alternatives (that might be better than them!).

This may be another case of p2p and digital music vs. the recording industry and the RIAA. There will be some losers (napster) but the cat is already out of the bag.

sc• 18 years ago

I don't think he was trying to post a link to that specific article. The site at large is relevant with its argument: "spec work devalues the potential of design and ultimately does a disservice to the client".

joshwa3• 18 years ago

What's the difference between this site and saying to a hacker:

"Make a web application to my specs, please. Do it a few different ways so I have options. If I don't like it, I won't use it, but I won't pay for it, either."

Some industries do follow this model (e.g. architecture, design, custom enterprise SW), but the business case for proposals/POCs/loss-leaders can only be justified when:

(# of proposals generated) x (cost of work to produce proposals) < (value of awarded contracts) - (cost to fulfill contracts)

However, with contest sites/spec work, that equation only makes sense if you value your time (costs) at close to zero, since the ratio of proposals generated to awarded contracts is so lopsided.

cousin_it• 18 years ago

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_auction

This is why people don't like speculative work.

iamdave• 18 years ago

I've got a serious problem with 'no-spec'. It makes a lot of bad assumptions, especially in the sense that thee designer has no guarantee of being paid, and devaluing any work. This would only be true of a designer for any reason is working without having formalized a proposal and or contract.

And if you're working without a contract or some sort of document that states and works in the interest of both parties, then yes you're only hurting yourself.

Either/or, if you win the contest or not, doing the work is just great practice, and design is a skill you have to continue to work at. If you're not practicing your skill you're not worth anything to anybody.

dangoldin• 18 years ago

Another site that does something similar is www.worth1000.com. The founders of that site are doing http://a.viary.com/ I believe.

huhtenberg• 18 years ago

Gotta love designers outsourcing their own logo design.

http://99designs.com/contests/6884

locke_logan• 18 years ago

aka http://www.sitepoint.com/contest/

lpgauth• 18 years ago

What happens if none of the entries are right for you?

chaostheory9• 18 years ago

I've never used the site, but I'm guessing since it's a contest - you pay for the best design out of the contest entries:

http://99designs.com/help/howitworks

lancashire• 18 years ago

Wow. I love this site just to see all the creative minds out there at work. I got so excited I submitted my own design for the stackoverflow contest...

http://99designs.com/contests/6774

It's #180.

gojomo• 18 years ago

Another nice site in this contest-design space is DesignOutpost, http://www.designoutpost.com .

I'm often impressed with the variety of good designs which show up for just $100-300 prize money.

vlad2• 18 years ago

Yes, they were the first who started this. I used them 3-4 years ago with good results (actually, all submissions were terrible except for one, but that one was good.) I bought a good but available domain name in case I ever wanted to make their idea into a web app.

llimllib• 18 years ago

I used Worth 1000 to run a logo contest, and it worked out well. http://www.worth1000.com/faq.asp#C40

bouncingsoul4• 18 years ago

I would feel kinda lame making 30+ people spend several hours working for me and then not paying them anything.

muerdeme• 18 years ago

I think that a couple hours of design practice could be valuable to a designer regardless of whether he wins the cash.

bouncingsoul4• 18 years ago

Practicing is always valuable. But if a company asks designers to "practice" for them on a commercial project they should compensate them.

Try inserting another profession into your sentence and see if it still sounds reasonable.

jsmcgd• 18 years ago

You aren't making anyone do anything. They choose to participate. If they think it's a bum deal, they don't have to do it.

bouncingsoul4• 18 years ago

But I think it's a bum deal. I may not directly be taking advantage of people, but I'm giving people an opportunity to be had. Which doesn't sit well with me.

Tichy2• 18 years ago

What ARE they thinking, though? I mean, either they are not thinking, or they should think it is a bum deal?

Some alternatives come to mind, but none compelling in the long run:

- I need to practice anyway (but not in the long run, hopefully)

- I am the best and I will win (ok, maybe you deserve what you get)

- I want to be a designer, but nobody will pay me anyway, so at least I get to do my job for free (= ok, so it is a bum job, but I am a loser anyway, so I can't expect anything better).

mdemare• 18 years ago

On the other hand, you're overpaying the winner. Because the winner would never rationally spend 5 hours on a $250 contest if he could get paid more than $50 an hour for a regular gig.

So the people that participate in 99designs should be the people that are undervalued in the marketplace, and 99designs helps to correct that.

pchristensen• 18 years ago

<tongueincheek>Yeah, that would be horrible if people spent their time on a creative endeavor with no real expectation of pay. I will immediately remove Linux, Firefox, Emacs, etc in favor of proprietary products so I can feel warm and fuzzy about everyone getting paid for everything they do.</tongueincheek>

People choose to participate in these contests choose to. They're not forced to, and designers with better economic options won't participate. Just like most of the people here look down on rentacoder, elance, etc because we have better options, while there are plenty of programmers who use those sites to get experience, a little cash, etc.

It's a business, and it gets customers, so it can't be all bad.

simianstyle• 18 years ago

I always use something similar to this: http://designoutpost.com

There's no limit on the amount of design revisions you can get - it's over when you're satisfied.

vlad2• 18 years ago

Text from under one of the contests linked in this thread, from a designer, posted 1 hour ago:

since there is no forum here, I have to post it here. after 200 designs, seeing many of my idea's incorperated into other peoples designs, and some do it be better, but still. I have decided to leave, no more free idea's from me for the other more experienced designers. The game is over, I unsubscribe, if I can figure out how, and leave it for what it is. The site owners make money on it now (39 credits a pop) , designers got free idea's, and I make more money now locally then I ever would make here. (like zero until now.;o) ) So I bid you all a farewell, it was an experiment for me, and I must say, with a negativ result. I wish all the designers a good time here, and many profits, it was a different experience and it was fun when it was free, also for the contest holders, but for now, I am gone. cheerio.

mchang16• 18 years ago

I suppose that using a site like this allows you to get a lot of designs to choose from, but you can hire a designer (that you already know and trust) and get a bunch of mock-ups that way, too. And they will likely work until your satisfied.

goofygrin3• 18 years ago

My local design buddy charges $90/hr. If he keeps working until he's satisfied, then I pay for it. Plus if he gets one design stuck in his head, then it can be hard to get him to make a new design.

With this, you get the benefit of lots of people's input without an hourly "tic" as they work on it. You never know what a fresh perspective will give you!

antidaily• 18 years ago

Alot like http://www.pixish.com, eh?

poppysan• 18 years ago

This devalues a designers time and labor. This is HORRIBLE, and no designer or programmer should stand behind it.

dc2k08• 18 years ago

the problem with using this site is that, your competition can only last 7 days.

dignity34• 18 years ago

These sites are popping up all over the place: http://www.killerstartups.com/Social-Networking/eLogoContest...

99designs: Need something designed (logo, ...)? Crowdsource it.

Related Stories