Comments on: Pixish, web2.0 spec work

By: An Opinion: Designing Outrage :: Creative Synthesis

An Opinion: Designing Outrage :: Creative Synthesis — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:25:02 +0000

[...] What are you talking about? Why talk about this? A lot of people are complaining about a site called pixesh. Pixesh is a forum from Derek Powazek (Powazek’s book, Design for Communities is regularly on my student reading list) for posting pictures or illustrations in response to a particular call, or assignment. These assignment postings offer some monetary reward or a prize to the pictures or illustrations that best matches the posting. A lot of people are upset about pixish. Adam Howell has the clearest framing of the concern. Beckley Roberts begs to differ (with Powazek apparently – nearly everyone else seems to agree with this position.) Colin Fahrion agrees that pixish is a great way of streamlining the spec work process to take advantage of designers. [...]

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 08:39:37 +0000

Thanks Mike. It’s good to know that others are having the same negative reaction to this.

Oh and wow: ‚ÄúUm, if I get a design I like I‚Äôll pay you US$50. Via PayPal. How does that sound?‚Äù

That right there screams broken.

By: Pixish, Creating Visual Assignments For Creative People | Laughing Squid

Pixish, Creating Visual Assignments For Creative People | Laughing Squid — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:04:49 +0000

[...] 2: There’s been quite a bit of discussion about how Pixish is being used for design spec work. Derek has responded, [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:59:30 +0000

You are spot on with your assessment of Pixish, as well as Derek’s follow-up (which was full of weak excuses and contradictions). Check my site for my full opinion on the matter.

By: Colin

Colin — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:14:47 +0000

Ed, you’re correct to say that spec work is great for the client — you get tons of versions for free! But for the artists it’s crap. The argument that you get something for your portfolio is junk as a logo/design that wasn’t used is worth almost nothing in a portfolio.

What if I offered you and a bunch of other programmers the chance to build a site for me on spec? I would then select the best programmed site and only pay that single programmer. Would you regard this as fair? What if this became the normal way to hire programmers?

I understand that it can be hard to shop around for designers. A Flickr type site that specializes in design portfolios could be a great resource. — something that would allow you to easily compare several designers styles. The choice should be made on the portfolio: Has this designer done work before in a style I want? Does this designer have experience with my audience?

Forcing a designer to actually do work for you before you pay them — ie., Spec work — is not the solution.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:10:04 +0000

Actually upon further reflection and reading on AIGA’s site, I think I get it. It’s doing to the design community what American Idol does to the music industry. It forces members of an industry into direct competition when there is enough room for all of them to coexist since they each offer something a little different. There’s no “better” or “worse design since everything is subjective. It’s not a directly measurable thing like a car repairman or a bank loan since it’s an artistic endeavor.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:22:04 +0000

What are your thoughts on the other side of the fence, i.e. the people looking for this creative work to be done? As anyone who has seen my sites, I’m not so good on the interface and design side of things and would much rather focus on the back-end. Perhaps I haven’t looked into Pixish enough yet, but I thought at first glance it might be helpful for people like me. By my understanding I would post a request for say a new header logo for a website. I would receive several submissions from artists and I would then select the one I would like to use (using the community to filter out the poor ones), compensate that submitter and have rights to use that on my site. The other people who submitted work wouldn’t be compensated (part of the risk), but they would have another project to add to a portfolio, giving them more exposure on the site for possible direct selection in the future. I see this as more of a benefit for the up and coming designer.

For someone in my position, this allows me to avoid putting “all my eggs in one basket” when looking for someone to do design work for me and I don’t have to continuously shop around. It means I don’t have to hand over a check and hope that things turn out the way I want them too. Sure, in the long run I’ll probably end up sticking with someone that I know their work meshes with my needs, but wouldn’t this be a good method for finding that person? If not, I would be very eager to hear your opinions on how to find someone to do those occasional logos and web designs. I recognize this is totally not my industry, so my outsider view may be seeking education.

By: I Beg to Differ. Pixish is Work On Spec. | BeckleyWorks

I Beg to Differ. Pixish is Work On Spec. | BeckleyWorks — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:04:26 +0000

[...] I have expressed my opinion on that subject before, and thankfully many others have expressed dismay regarding [...]