The Nightmare of Crowdsourcing

Stephen King himself couldn’t write a more horrific story if he tried. Imagine yourself in the following situation…and then imagine that it’s not a nightmare at all. You are actually awake and you’re not going to be able to shrug this away…
Chapter 1: You spend years in college, learning from the best teachers in the design field. You work on a couple of dozen projects, solve a few design and marketing dilemmas, and at last you’re ready to find your first job. You understand that you have to start at the bottom, so  you accept a job at a firm where the pay isn’t great, but the opportunity to learn is top drawer. Life is good…you stay a few years, pay back the student loans and with just a little more experience tucked under your belt, you begin to expand your career horizons…so far, so good.

Chapter 2: You’ve been working in the design field for a few (or for many) years now. Your skills are top notch and you’ve even won a few awards. You understand a myriad of issues and can custom design solutions for almost any marketing problem. You collaborate with clients, learn their unique needs, and negotiate a fair price that will allow you to spend enough hours together to find the exact combination of products and services that will help them achieve their sales goals. Life is good…the client receives value for the dollars spent, you make a living, start a family, and in your spare time, give back to your community and your country…things are looking up.

Chapter 3: You’re working on a book cover for a client. After presenting a number of designs, she abruptly cancels the agreement, telling you she has discovered an online “crowdsourcing” website. She has started  a  “contest” and offered people around the globe the “opportunity” to design her cover. None will be paid for their time. Only the “winner” will earn less than $100, an amount that is, in her view, “enough.” CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?

Even though the designs are clearly amateurish, your former client thinks this is just wonderful, because she was able to name her price and look through 80 entries to pick the one she likes best. Never mind that 79 people wasted their time and worked for free. Never mind that the client has no idea if the “winner” even knows how to build a file that will successfully print. Never mind that the client cannot confirm that the artist owns or can acquire the rights to any images that were used in this design. This, dear friend,  is the latest rage in the field of graphic design. No, I am not making this up.

Before you, too, decide that this is great idea (as long as it applies to someone else’s job and not to your own), I’d ask you to reflect on the true ramifications of this work method. Forget about the fact that  it only applies to graphic designers at the moment. Are you ready for this sort of mob mentality to take over, and for ALL of us to work this way? Make no mistake, it can happen. Would  YOU work this way? Would YOUR business thrive, or would it wither away and die?

Peer ahead. Can YOU encourage your children to go to college, and spend years learning their craft only to show up for a “job” with a one-in-eighty chance of being paid? If YOU were expected to correctly guess the solution to a problem with no opportunity to discuss the project with the client, how good would that solution be?  If YOU were expected to spend hours on a project, without being paid for one minute of your time, would you feel encouraged to contribute your best work?

Before you use a crowdsourcing site, please ask yourself, “Is this really something I want to encourage as a way of working?” Aren’t we all in this together? Saving money is one thing, but this is beyond the pale. At what point does everything come crashing down so that nobody can make a living?

What do you want to know? What topics should we explore together? How can we help you along your publishing journey? Everyone here at 1106 Design wants to help. Post your comment here or email us at office@1106design.com

Michele DeFilippo, owner, 1106 Design