There’s been an awful lot of debate going around in design circles about non-paying pitch work (spec work) and it seems the vast majority of designers are against it. On the other hand most client’s would prefer it for obvious reasons.
One place online which I’ve recently been testing out for fun is the Sitepoint Design Contests. I was browsing the many contests and thought I’d give it a bash, just to see what I could do in a few minutes, and also to test the responses I might get. I have to say, most of the logo designs submitted in these contest are really shocking. Many times it seems the people who are requesting the designs are not very design literate either, which would probably explain their need or choice to use a solution like this. There are however quite a few really great designers spending their time crafting to top notch stuff on these design contests. This means not everyone is against this type of design work and someone has to be making some money off this type of service. You’ll have a laugh at some of the weird and wacky designs people try to get through these contest. I recommend visiting the Sitepoint Design Contests just for the fun of it, some crazy companies on there as well.
It was quite a fun exercise, working with limited briefs, not putting in too much time, no feedback, mostly working on these in the wee hours to get some creative juices flowing. Below are a few samples of some of the logo designs I developed which I thought I’d share with you. I’m holding thumbs that one of them might be chosen so I can boost my income a little. Let me know what you think.
ERGOWRITE – healthy stationery
Edmonton – Social Planning Council
WTHRU – where the heck are you (people finding software)
Domaining.org – domain registration service
