A Freelancer's Non-Biased Look at CrowdSpring - Through the Client's Eyes

If I Am a Freelancer, Why Did I Do This?
What I wanted to do here was to take an objective (as much as I can) look at what all of the buzz was about concerning CrowdSpring and this concept of "spec work". Jeremiah Owyang (social media and cutting-edge Internet genius) tried a similar experiment with one of his creative projects - I figured I'd do the same.

Concerning the whole spec work debate - I know both sides and I know their talking points, honestly I can empathize with both of them. I've already covered that terrain in past posts (search for them if you'd like) so I won't get into that here. Both sides will undoubtedly be checking this post out and looking for ammunition for their respective side - I can appreciate this, but I've done my best to just write a simple, objective look at what I experienced being a client instead of a designer.

I'd also like to point out before getting into the actual review that the folks at CrowdSpring were both respectful and encouraging when it came to this review. I know some love this company and some not so much, but whatever side of the fence you're on I wanted to first say that they were pretty cool about hearing I was going to review their process - I appreciated that.

 Pros

• The designer that won the contest (Brad) was friendly and fairly timely with his designs.
• I made a comment about the speed of the customer service at CrowdSpring, but they were quite helpful and friendly.
• I was able to upload sample files for designers to look at and get inspiration from - nice touch.
• Even though some of the logos weren't of the best quality, there were a few in there that weren't bad - and my client did pick one of them and seemed pretty happy with it.
• You don't have to leave the office.
• You can have a lot of different creative looks to your project (versus having 1 designer try many concepts).
• Payment is quick and easy.
  
  

Cons (Many of these have nothing to do with CrowdSpring, just the nature of working with someone purely online - eLance, Guru and Sologig would have many of the same issues):

• As the client/business owner, you have to type EVERYTHING out. From working with clients for years, I know they despise this - they would rather dictate and have me scramble to take notes.
• You can plan on investing 1-3 hours typing communications/emails and reviews back and forth. Between feedback and clarification this can eat up a lot of time.
• As a business owner, if you aren't really sure you know what you want, be prepared for ANYTHING. I laid out pretty clear instructions (again, I've been doing this for over 10 years), but I still got some wacky concepts. In all fairness, I'm sure I've created off-the-wall concepts as well.
• The logos I received varied in quality quite a bit (some good and some were pretty bad) in fairness to CrowdSpring, I placed a $200 bid which the site indicated was a bit low (sorry this was for a non-profit). I am sure if a client places a higher dollar figure on it, they'll get better results.
• The site does promise 25 different entries/designs to choose from - I received 26. However, many of the entries were designed by the same artist and varied just a little from their other designs. I am not sure if I have a better solution for CrowdSpring on this, but I felt a little cheated. Again, I am sure at a higher dollar figure would ensure this might not happen as much. 
• The customer service at CrowdSpring was a little slow in getting back to me (a few hours to a day)...I don't think I saw a phone number either. But in fairness to them, I am used to Twitter's speed so I am spoiled.
• Don't expect marketing advice or guidance, CrowdSpring and other sites like it focus purely on design. If you are a savvy marketer, this shouldn't be a problem. If you don't know positioning, niche marketing and psychographic profiling from the hole in your rear, you might want to look into someone who can provide both marketing expertise and design.

The Bottom Line:
Based on my experience, do I think spec work will completely obliterate traditional freelance designers as we know them...and perhaps replace them all with super cyborg designers who will work for next to nothing?
No. I can see where spec work might be attractive to some clients, but for others I am not sure it's a good fit - especially when they haven't worked with a designer before.

Did I feel badly for those that didn't win?
Absolutely. I am not sure every client out there will, but didn't feel right about telling artists that clearly put some time into their logo that they didn't win. By the way, I offered everyone who entered a logo their choice of my Being a Starving Artist Sucks or Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers book for free.

Do I think spec work is evil?
Hmm, I think the word "evil" is tossed around a little too loosely. Sadly, there's a lot of evil in this world - I mean real evil but I am not sure I would put spec work in this category. I see this is causing freelancers to rethink their strategy (including me), but I still see opportunities for those that can adapt.

Was this review fair or foul?
Drop in a comment, share it, or retweet it...

PS - Tutorialblog.org just reviewed Being a Starving Artist Sucks and Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers, did think they were "sleepers" or "keepers"?

Comments

[Brad]

crowdSPRING comments.
I was very interested in seeing what Jeremy wrote about his crowdSPRING experience.

I have to agree with a lot that Jeremy wrote. I am the designer that won (Brad) his contest. You do have to spell out everything and leave plenty of feedback to get the design you'd like. It's very tough not being face to face (or phone) and what can be said in probably minutes, takes a couple hours.

I have no formal education in graphic or web design. I just lost my job (as a sports & rec director) in January and I want to switch career paths. I use this site as getting "practical experience" and it keeps me a little busy. I have CS4 at home so I figured I should try to use it a little and make a little money on the side. I'm sure there are many people like me on the site but on occasion, you do see some designs from people who clearly aren't self taught like myself.

I also think that Jeremy was much more accomodating in his feedback during the design process because of his experience. Some people leave no feedback (ever!) and you sit there wondering, did they liked it? should I revise it? Jeremy gave me a walk through of what he needed.

For me, it's great. I got $200, Jeremy was nice enough to give me a couple books, and I get a little practice out of the deal.

I don't feel that serious designers have much to worry about. Jeremy posted a job for $200 and he probably got a $200 design out of the deal. You'll get what you pay for.

Thanks again Jeremy,
Brad (http://bradrempel.com)

[David Airey]

Hi Jeremy,

Just a quick answer to your question, yep, this seems like a fair review to me.

Brad,

Sorry to learn of your job loss. I hope everything works out well.

[Jeremy Tuber]

Hey thanks again for the kind words Brad - you did a great job. I do feel badly for the other folks that didn't receive any money.

Can spec work be used to make a lot of money as a freelancer - yes...but so can playing the lottery. Neither option will probably get you far though. I won't go as far as to condemn spec work (I have a lot of friends that do, and I respect them), but I couldn't in good conscience recommend that aspiring designers go this route if they want to become successful - too many better options out there.

I am sure we'll be in touch Brad - I'm here to help you! Be well my friend.

[Jeremy Tuber]

Thanks for visiting David, I appreciate you taking a moment and commenting about the review. You know, I've heard from both sides of the spec work issue and while no one seems to be ecstatic about what I've written here, they've admitted that it probably was fair-minded.

Would I recommend this online, spec-work approach to most of the business owners I've worked with over the years? Probably not - requires too much typing, back and forth and upfront conceptualizing.

Again, thank you for your feedback - honored you visited the site, come back and see me soon.

[Rebecca Haden]

This was a good, fair, complete review of a site and process that I've wondered about. A couple of projects I've worked on recently (I'm a web content writer) ended up with CrowdSpring-made logos, and they've been great. The developer who did the buying is himself a designer and was able to give very detailed, very specific instructions and feedback.

I often need small design jobs done, but am not sanguine about my ability to be as clear. I tend to go with "here's how we want viewers to feel and behave upon seeing it" explanations, which work just fine with words but probably make designers want to roll their eyes.

So I usually search out people I can work with more directly. I'd like to say, therefore, that the time involved in traveling to meetings, buying coffee, making courteous small talk, and even just in emailing around and getting "Nope -- sorry -- too busy" responses from colleagues can eat up more time than communicating with people at a distance.

[Jeremy Tuber]

Thanks for reporting this was a fair review Rebecca, I appreciate it - in the end I was just trying to be as objective as I could.

I think a lot of designers, as well as clients are going to struggle with this business model. If neither client nor designer is adept at communicating, projects can just tend to eat up a lot of time. The model isn't without merit, but I just see a lot of flaws in it.

Kind of a funny note, but clients have the "law of averages" advantage (designers don't) which suggests that if 50 designers crank out a logo, at least 1-2 might not be bad, no matter how poor the instructions are.