Well, I posted my “crowdsourcing” project online to over 50,000 designers around the world and asked them to submit a logo design for my company. Here’s what happened.
Winning crowdsourced logo by Greg Scott
Two weeks and 122 logo design submissions later … success! I actually found the perfect new logo design for my company, Integrated Website Solutions Inc., and I couldn’t be happier with the results of my crowdsourcing experiment!
Crowdsourcing this project allowed me to tap into a rich pool of international design talent and ask “creatives” to provide me with their designs “on spec”. The award I offered to the winning designer in this logo competition was a $375.00 US. For a small business owner, that sure beats paying $2,000.00 to an ad agency for a decent company logo!
I posted my logo competition on the popular crowdsourcing site, www.crowdspring.com. Creatives with all experience levels and backgrounds submitted their designs for my consideration. Some were part-time hobbists with a passion for design and others were professional designers with impressive credentials in their portfolios.
Attracting A Great Designer
I was fortunate to meet one of the more expert designers early on in the two-week competition. Greg Scott, a designer from the Sacremento area in California, submitted his design for my company logo just days into the competition. I had reviewed his portfolio and personally invited him to participate. Crowdspring recommends that buyers send personal invitations within the site to designers whose work they like to help build interest in their design competition.
Greg is known as “davebowman” on the Crowdspring site. His online “handle” is a nod to the astronaut in Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Greg actually refers to himself as a “digital astronaut” on his Twitter page, and has an impressive list of professional credentials as both a fine artist and nationally published illustrator.
Even as a high student, Greg became known for his artistic “rock posters” and was hired right out of college in 1974 by Rolling Stone magazine. That was followed by a stint as Art Director for the New York Times and as a freelance designer whose illustrations have appeared in Psychology Today, Esquire, Popular Mechanics, and numerous other national publications and institutions. He also has taught art and most recently worked at McGraw-Hill in Berkley, CA.
So I asked Greg why someone with his credentials would be interested in “crowdsourcing”. Now in his mid-50’s, he explained that he became a Dad at the age of 50 and decided to be a stay-at-home father until his newborn daughter was in school. During that period, he created and exhibited his fine art work in a gallery in Carmel, CA. Although it was a rich period of creative inspiration and satisfaction, he eventually realized that freelance design work would more likely “pay the bills”.
Greg first tried “crowdsourcing” to attract new clients on Zooppa in the spring of 2009. Unfortunately, it was not an entirely positive experience and he eventually heard about the Crowdspring site and joined it last June.
“Crowdspring has been a way to connect with real live clients for ongoing work”, Greg explained. “I think I’ve been just as successful as any other designer on the site winning 37 contests in eight months.”
His advice to any business owners considering crowdsourcing?
- get educated about design and be able to explain to a designer the kinds of designs/websites/logos that you like
- be committed to looking at the gallery of design submissions that the designers post on your project daily and offer regular feedback/ratings
While my logo competition was running, I was able to rate each design on a 5 star system with “5″ being exactly what I needed. Lower star ratings were accompanied with brief feedback notes from me providing more direction or clarification to the designers. It was a very painless and effective way to communicate and make improvements to the designs.
The internet has provided new and innovative ways for top-caliber designers like, Greg Scott, to get back into the game after his professional hiatus as a stay-at-home dad. It’s helping him get his professional career back on track while giving clients like me access to first-rate talent.
“I’ve found CrowdSpring to be a gift from heaven!,” Greg said.
He also appreciates the designing community he has met as a result of his participation on the site.
“The other expert designers are my competition. It creates an arena like gladiators — you want opponents at a high level . There’s a lot of mutual admiration.”
Well I’m sold on the success on my crowdsourcing experiment! Now I’m talking to Greg about business letterhead, business cards, website banners. The list goes on!
Integrated Website Solutions Inc. provides integrated online marketing strategies to small and medium sized industrial companies in Ontario. Contact us at (519) 342-8551. For more internet marketing and social media tips, follow me on Twitter!
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