Dallas, TX (PRWEB) May 31, 2012
Graphic design insiders, students, freelancers, and employers have weighed in on the impact of crowdsourcing. And the results are, well, mixed. In a recent poll asked on GraphicDesign.com, 56% of respondents, or a little more than half, responded “No” to the question, “Do you think that spec requests and crowdsourcing practices have hurt the industry?” The other 44% selected “Yes,” ensuring the debate over crowdsourcing’s impact will rage on.
The question was posed in response to an article published last week on GraphicDesign.com by Nicole Spiegel-Gotsch entitled, “Crowdsourced Design: Commoditization or Democratization?” A flurry of reader comments referenced quality versus quantity in crowdsourced design, including one that argued, “I can hire 10 designers and have them each spend three hours on a design and I will end up with 10 mediocre designs or I can hire one designer to work back and forth with and spend 30 hours on a few concepts that are truly brainstormed, unique, and carefully planned out.”
Of 122 respondents, 35% selected “A few times and I would do it again” to the question, “Have you ever participated in crowdsourcing/spec work?” Another 27% said they had never done so, while 24% took part in crowdsourcing “all the time.” The final 14% of respondents chose “A few times, but would not do it again.” Once again, the GraphicDesign.com audience appears split in terms of participation and enthusiasm about crowdsourcing.
In the midst of the heated comments about her article, Spiegel-Gotsch seemingly offered a compromise, calling for a hybrid between free crowdsourcing and paid work: “What would be so bad about having both the competitive aspect and getting paid for your work?” In essence, a “kill fee,” or a fee paid to a designer when his work is not used, could be incorporated into crowdsourcing projects.
In one slanted poll question, nearly 70% of respondents labeled crowdsourcing “a good way to build my book,” while only 35% dubbed the practice “bad for our industry.” In another question, 80% of readers said “Yes” to the query, “Do you feel that crowdsourcing helps a student or someone starting off in graphic design?” Overall, readers believe that newcomers to the industry could be put on the map if their crowdsourced submissions are chosen.
GraphicDesign.com will continue to publish interactive content from its team of skilled contributing writers. Its weekly polls have become a staple and are published on Mondays. This week’s featured poll centers on an interview with ElegantThemes.com founder and developer Nick Roach and asks whether design or functionality should reign supreme in graphic design. Roach’s company is one of the premier websites for top-of-the-line WordPress themes.
Visit GraphicDesign.com for graphic design news, interviews, editorials, and more.
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