I see Pete’s point about people jacking the ideas for their own ends and paying nobody – pretty awful, but bound to happen with something like 99 designs, ultimately it will attract penny pinching sorts that will happily never cough up for work, unfortunate, but expected. – Even though it shouldn’t be!

With my hypothetical hat on however, what I will say would put be off-putting in submitting a design would be that of copyright control and assignment. It’s something may designers, especially in the early days don’t think about.

By submitting a design or concept, that unique piece of work should be, by rights, the property of the designer. Change of ownership to that work should only change when (and if) the work is paid for. If we’re talking spec work up-front then that’s fair no?

I’ve read a lot of examples of clients getting their design concepts, not picking a winner and paying no-one at all, while of course they’ve helped themselves to a buffet of free ideas. Not saying it happens all the time, but it does happen. If that was a traditional client / designer relationship there would be contracts and legality in place to prevent this situation arising.

I’ll admit I don’t know all of 99designs or other spec design services t’s and c’s so I’m not making assumtions, I’d just like to know more about what is inplace to protect the designers, as without them, there is no business.

Between 30-40% of the design community is US based. The rest is spread all across the globe.

Cheers,
Jason
99designs.com

Good to see 99designs picking up on posts like this, and yes thanks I understand that side of it, was just playing devils advocate to be honest.

Whilst on the topic, are the majority of the designers on the site based in the States?

Thanks,
Greg

Thanks for sharing your experience using 99designs to source custom graphic design work.

Hi Greg,

It is important to note that 99designs exposes designers to thousands of opportunities every month that they would not normally have been exposed to.

Rather than spending time searching for work, writing proposals and otherwise marketing themselves – using 99designs, designers are able focus on doing what they love – designing. And 99designs acts as a powerful sales funnel for designers – when they win a project it often leads to a variety of direct follow on work because they now have a qualified relationship with that client. You can read more about designer experiences with 99designs by looking at the profiles on our blog.

http://bit.ly/6TgH7l

Cheers,
Jason
99designs.com

I understand your points, but to compare it to affiliate marketing isn’t a fair comparison IMHO. With affiliate marketing the potential upside is much greater as there’s potential for that income stream to continue for some time, and not just be a one-off payment for work completed. But I see where you’re coming from!

I was just trying to illustrate some of the drawbacks from a designers point of view, I can see the upside for those commissioning the projects, and indeed for those who’ve always been used to entering contests as a choice for gaining work. Good to hear you have some UK designers and that you have rewarded runner-up prizes in contests.

It’s been an interesting area of discussion, and I’m sure it will continue to be!

Thanks,
Greg

I do understand designers point of view also, but I honestly think it’s like a pitch you might get, put in all the work and get nothing in return. You wouldn’t do this type of work but others will and that’s the point, it’s useful to some and no use to others.

If only there was a wordpress section itd probably be my homepage

Some of the website designs on there are phenomenal, the only downside is you then have to pay to get them sliced up afterwards (unless you have the know-how!).

MB

In response to;
“I can hear the over paid design “guru experts” crying slave labour as I type. Well guys, sorry to say but we do live in a global economy and sourcing work around the world is the reality now”

I don’t think it’s due to a fear of loss of work, but down to the speculative nature of the contests, ie. ‘design this for me and then I’ll pay the one I like the best’, arguably it devalues the industry. For example, you don’t get a builder into build your wall then say, build it and I’ll pay if I like the end result.

If you’re looking to pay out £245 for a logo design why not use a designer in the UK with a track record, a decent portfolio, and knowledge of the market your site is operating in? For that kind of price you could take your pick from a number of UK freelancers or agencies.

I know a lot of other freelancers who will offer a complete satisfaction guarantee with their work, like myself.

Thanks,
Greg

PS- See http://www.no-spec.com/ for more details!