crowdSPRING: The Conversation
STA hosted Mike Samson and Ross Kimbarovsky of crowdSPRING, the Chicago-based Internet company whose model of fixed-payment design asks tough questions about the future of design. In a lively debate with moderator Joseph Michael Essex and STA members, Mike and Ross made these points:
crowdSPRING broadens the market by using the Internet to open opportunities to both clients and designers whose outsider status, geographic location and/or limited resources would otherwise constrain their ability to get work their recognized.
Bands record albums, authors write novels, independent producers make films as “spec work.” Why shouldn’t design operate the same way?
By offering clients the ability to judge a designer’s work solely by its relevance to a client’s needs, rather than by the designer’s pedigree, crowdSPRING levels the playing field.
What do you think?