I recently made the mistake of including a link to a design contest site in a business article. Of all the suggestions for small businesses to improve their web presence, I had a sentence on using crowdsourcing for small budgets but included small expectations. Needless to say, despite the attention given to hiring a professional designer, the mere mention of crowdsourcing made for some boiling blood among designers. But why were they so mad and was it warranted?

The article, “The Biggest Mistakes You Can Make With Your Web Site,” was based on a startup business that asked for my feedback on their new site. It had almost every mistake a business site could possibly contain from bad design to badly written sell copy. Oddly enough, the site was for a creative company that was modeling it’s business on a sort of crowdsourcing/agent representation basis.

As the article was aimed at small startups and not creatives, I had to give all site design options. Two options were listed for web design. This is how the first paragraph of suggestions for web design appeared:

Look up some local web designers and talk with them about your needs. A professional designer has your best interest in mind because they want to continue servicing your web needs as the internet evolves and so does your business. They can also handle your domain registration and many can host your site on their server for one set price package deal.

This was the second paragraph:

There are sites that have design contests where you write a design brief of your needs and a dozen or more designers will design your site and you can choose the solution you like best and only pay for the design you choose. Further tweaks, if needed, are paid to the designer on an hourly basis.

As usual, I placed links to the article on several social media channels but it was a group on LinkedIn that exploded with… passionate comments, most of which wanted me lynched just for mentioning crowdsourcing. The comments are presented here verbatim (changing only the names to protect the anonymity of responders). Read what people wrote and consider all points of view:

Mark S. — “There are sites that have design contests where you write a design brief of your needs and a dozen or more designers will design your site and you can choose the solution you like best and only pay for the design you choose.”

Proves that the site that published the article doesn’t know much about design. Anyone who promotes crowdsourcing is an enemy of the design profession.

Mark S. — I should also say, crowdsourcing isn’t in the best interest of the client. Even with a well written brief, I could not have done any of the work I have done without having in depth discussions with the client, doing research and creating iterations that eventually become the final product.

Crowdsourcing is a trap for clients. A potentially easy and cheaper alternative. But it’s only a way to noodle around at the edges of a fully developed communications strategy that only a professional designer can deliver.

Of course there are clients like Joe’s Pluming and Nancy’s Maid Service that will find crowdsourcing or plug-in templates for their website just fine to start. But those aren’t the client we’re looking for anyway.

Philip F. — “Crowdsourcing is a trap for clients.”
…to say nothing of the abuse it delivers to desperate, unskilled, and aspiring designers.

Consider for a moment that you are paying less than you would for a hand-selected designer, and that any entrant to a competition has — I dunno — let’s say a 5% odds of “winning” that less-than-it’s-worth “prize” for their efforts…

You will get what you pay for. And what you are paying for is a cynical profiting from the desperation of others who cannot really know what they are aspiring to create, as Mark so accurately pointed out.

John S. — And so we’ve got a link-bait that takes me to a site that itself doesn’t respect design. Waste of time.

My reply — Ah, yes… crowdsourcing does hit the hot button with designers. As a board member of many artist organizations, there was always rabid hatred of the practice… until I noticed certain hypocrisy among these organizations.

First, perhaps you’ll notice the proliferation of ads for 99designs on designer’s sites, online (and print) design magazines and even on the organization’s sites as well? And what of ads for cheap WP templates and free fonts? Who do you think supplies those?

In many discussions about crowdsourcing, most designers agree that those businesses that use the service, as Mark points out, are ones that cannot afford a site done through, shall we say, professional means. Their needs are basic, almost a landing page, yet the descriptor of “professional” demeans those in countries that supply the spec entries. There is no reason to think they are any less qualified designers than designers in New York, London, Paris, etc. and the fee, if they win, means enough income for them to live upon for a month or more. They do not take away any client from designers who service companies and businesses that have greater needs for their design projects. In the end, while one might argue that no designer is having his/her arm twisted to participate, it gives an entry into globalization to those with limited clients on a local basis.

In a way, crowdsourcing is much like the small business owner who decides he/she will hire a student to create a logo or web site for a fee of $50. With crowdsourcing, that person will receive a higher quality of work (albeit not of the level of personal attention).

But what is the difference between crowdsourcing and a professional project done on a one-to-one basis these days?

• Ad agencies do free spec work presentations to gain clients.
• Most designers will show three to ten design directions to a client, only to be directed to do more or combine two to four (or more) of the designs.
• With crowdsourcing sites, the designer is guaranteed payment. How often does a one-to-one client argue the final bill and change fees?

Naturally there are more examples, but that’s another article for down the road.

Philip F. — “With crowdsourcing sites, the designer is guaranteed payment.” Excuse me?

I think you mean “one designer” gets paid. The other 90+% get screwed, at least if they have taken any pride in their work and invested any time and effort into it.

So who do you think is really attracted to that type of competition? Not skilled designers with a lot of knowledge or experience, that’s for sure. You can’t even know what the client is really after, so even for a skilled designer, it is a crap shoot with very poor odds.

While I don’t believe that folks in other countries are exclusively the ones entering such competitions (I’ve seen local ads for entries, and known folks who have entered) your saying that criticism of such “demeans those in countries that supply the spec entries” is akin to stating that “sweat shops provide opportunities to the less fortunate.” The competition itself is demeaning.

I don’t deny that it can work out well for the person setting up the competition in some cases. It doesn’t work out for the vast majority of “designers”.

“But what is the difference between crowdsourcing and a professional project done on a one-to-one basis these days?”

There are numerous, enormous differences between crowd sourcing and professional projects, and I’m surprised you don’t recognize that. Perhaps you’ve never worked with a good designer. Crowd sourcing does not merely hit a button with designers. Crowd-sourcing is just a cheap way to attempt to take advantage of desperate creatives, or wanna-be creatives.

As for the “hypocrisy” of designers, if you knew much about web-sites, you would realize that the site owner frequently has no control over the ads on their page. And of course the crowd-sourcing businesses know where to target their business.

It’s business, pure and simple, cynical and selfish. Something you probably are familiar with.

My reply — I’m familiar with cynical and selfish? If (I) knew much about web sites? Perhaps I’ve never worked with a good designer? Oh, Philip, do you really want to turn this into a battle of personal attacks? I’ll let the passive-aggressive insults go for the good of this thread and group, not having a discussion turn into a flame war.

If the only participants in these contests are ‘wanna-be creatives’ and ‘not skilled designers’ then how come sites like 99designs are growing so quickly, opening offices around the world in different languages and have a growing number of registered participants? Are there that many “wanna-be” designers? Where are they coming from?

Do you know the average wage of a sweatshop worker? Pennies a day — a very long day in horrid conditions. If someone in China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia or parts of India (just to name a few countries with heavy export of cheap manufacturing) can make $200-$800 from winning one contest, don’t you think they’re better off than in a sweat shop? (BTW… where do your shoes and clothes come from? Do you shop at Walmart?).

I work with many web sites and ads are not, in most cases, booked through secondary sources. They are purchased from the company themselves.

I could go on but, as I wrote, crowdsourcing is a hot button for most designers but I didn’t start the practice, I don’t participate in it and I spent years fighting it. I do, however, understand it and understand it will not destroy our industry (which is why it was mentioned in an article meant for small businesses).

There will always be the budget conscious client who doesn’t see the value of design and others who do. The one’s that don’t see the value will always look for the cheapest way out. The clients who do see value in design will also be able to spot a quality designer.

If the practice of crowdsourcing is the weakest link in design, then it will die off. If not, then the industry will have to evolve around it.

Jessica L. — I’d like to respectfully disagree – I do think that crowdsourcing hurts our industry. At least for me, those sites strike a nerve because they enforce the ever-growing culture and belief that graphic design work is fast, cheap and easy.

I’ve struggled for a long time in my freelance work to distinguish those who are looking for fast, cheap and easy from those who want something that is unique to their brand, communicates their message/services/brand in a cohesive manner, and looks nice in the process. One of the greatest problems the rapid growth of technology has created for the design industry is that anyone has access to design programs like Photoshop and Illustrator, and anyone with a design program can make a logo or design elements, but that doesn’t make them a designer. Designs should be created with composition in mind, as well as a handful of other intentional practices. Speaking in generalities, these kinds of sites promote the end product as a fast, cheap and easy element without consideration for the intentionality behind the design. Does that make sense?

This mentality (and cultural shift toward it) continues to hurt me as a professional designer in a number of ways. I’m only 33 but I’m quickly becoming a thing of the past as the world responds to this new mentality toward the graphic design industry.

When I receive a design brief I often have a few more questions, but never ask the client to do my job for me. My job is to translate the brief into a final product that meets their needs, not to give them multiple options. I work with my creative director and communications director when working on a project, and we only present the very best, cohesive final product to the client for review. There may be some exceptions, when you would present a couple of options to client but those are few and far between. They came to me to create what they couldn’t, what they didn’t know how to create, and if I give them 3-4 options it’s wasting all of our time.

Does that make sense?

I’m not being elitist — I’m excited that people want to design things and make the world a better-looking place. But I also need to defend the “behind the curtain” work that I’ve put into this industry for the past 15 years, defend the knowledge that helps me create cohesive works, defend the love that I have for this profession and defend the blood, sweat and tears that go in to creating everything that I produce.

In closing, those sites contribute to the mindset that I shouldn’t be paid for my work, and/or that my time isn’t valuable; to the idea that it’s nothing to throw together a logo or graphic element; and to the concept that a designer isn’t sure if it’s right, doesn’t have confidence in his/her work, or desperately needs work to pad his/her portfolio. That’s why those sites bother me and how they hurt my position as a professional designer.

My reply — Your concerns do make sense but I’m confused about your concerns as your profile lists you as the Graphics Coordinator, Office of the Vice Chancellor Student Affairs. I have to assume you also freelance alongside your day job?

Let me reiterate that most designers agree that design contests are used by small businesses that can’t afford “professional” design work, and that’s a confusing term as many participants are professional but live in countries with a lower cost of living and can undercut prices/bids from designers in places like the U.S. Is it right or wrong? Does it damage the industry? Without design contest sites, and I’ve been in this field for several decades, these businesses sought out art students to create their graphic needs or used, “nephew/niece art” (hiring that talented relative to do it for free or $25). Wanting design cheap and not caring about the outcome of branding, etc. is nothing new.

It sounds like you feel your customer base is in jeopardy of switching to design contests, rather than using your services. I’ll restate yet another feeling most designers have and that’s the fact that there will always be those who want a cheap solution that may indeed be no solution but just a space filler and those who see the value of design as a solution and brand builder (why would American Airlines pay over a million dollars to a design firm when some large corporations have tried crowdsourcing, only to see the outcome as a failure? Why would ebay pay over $150,000 for their new logo that most designers think is awful and simplistic?).

I have serviced very large and visible corporate clients for a long time and even they have turned into asking for work on spec. My choice? Do it or walk away. If enough people walk away, then a fair days work for a fair days pay will return.

You are correct that anyone with a computer and design software feels they can design but it also doesn’t mean they do more than a project or two in a year and more often than not, walk away from the client when they can’t handle the demands we professionals learn to deal with every day. There is no regulation in our industry and although design organizations have discussed unions and certification (see my upcoming article on this on webdesignerdepot.com) there remains our struggle for respect as professionals. Well, the only way to do that is police ourselves.

So, where does it start? In art schools! When teachers stop telling students to do free work to build a portfolio, not to use crowdsourcing or accept $25 for a project because they need to build a portfolio, then clients won’t say, “but I got my logo for $25. Why should a web site cost more?”

It’s not the entire cure but it’s a start. Only the designer can decide if a fee or terms aren’t right and accept them and perpetuate the problem or walk away and force a shift in thinking. The depressing truth is that art schools (especially the for-profit schools such as the Art Institutes and online schools) keep cranking out students with little to no talent and they will continue to erode the industry. Designer organizations, too, hold some responsibility for allowing those without professional talent to join as members because they need the income from dues. As with art schools, there is no filter for those who wear the title of “designer.” We are, in a great sense, our own worst enemy and not the businesses like crowdsourcing sites that take advantage of the very crowd that’s out there.

Mark S. — Required reading on the subject of design certification:
http://certifyd.org/book/

Jessica L. — @Mark, excellent link! I just downloaded the book & can’t wait to read it. I would love to go through a certification process.

@Speider, apologies for the confusion as I intermingled experiences from both my day job and my previous freelance work in my initial post. My day job is a catch-all: I design specific pieces for the VC and for the division, but I also work with many of our 1,200 employees within the division to produce content. A few departments have in-house designers but most of them do not, so those are my clients that I refer to in my post. I have also done a significant amount of freelance work over the years, though in the past few years it has been at a steady decline because I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to, and I tire of being asked to “audition” for a client when my portfolio should speak for itself. (Before you ask — no, my portfolio’s not up right now as it’s in the middle of a healthy refresh.)

I’m not worried about losing my customer base as I’m the only designer they have and they’re not paying for my services, plus they have to submit external publications to our office for approval/review anyhow so it’s a specific process with a healthy level of job security for me. In terms of freelance clients, it’s always been via word of mouth and I’ve preferred it that way, though that method does tend to attract some who equate freelance with free. I seem to have found my niche in the music industry, however, and have focused a lot of time and energy on developing relationships with artists and management companies over the past few years, so I’m not really worried about losing their business either. What bugs me is the attitude that the world (speaking in generalities) seems to have toward design, and/or the value of design.

I agree with many of the points you make in your reply, but think that addressing the issue in art schools will only attack one part of the problem. I know far more individuals self-taught in the design software than those in art or design education programs, and I think those individuals contribute greatly to the problem if not more than the art educators and for-profit institutions.

I wonder what the specifications are for submitting a project to those design sites? Do the businesses pay a fee? If so, how great? Do the businesses sign a contract? Do they have the ability to walk away without awarding the prize, should the entries fail to produce what they were looking for? And how many of those businesses continue to use the selected design 1, 3, 5 years after the contest ends? I’m not making judgments, just wondering. It’s an interesting topic of discussion that has more layers than an onion.

I noticed that the site you linked in your article (designcontest.com) claims some fame from being featured on Fox News, NBC, Mashable, ABC News and CBS News. That speaks to a higher problem, as well, because many of the major influencers (Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS) are promoting this system of “work first, (maybe) pay later” in design and that also contributes to the overall culture shift and devaluing of graphic design. Again, not a judgment — they have every right to brag about being mentioned — just a note that it’s not just designers who need to take responsibility for halting this change in mindset.

Perhaps the larger problem at hand is that the divide between those who are looking for the cheap solution and those that value intentional design is virtually nonexistent. Add in the fact that so many people are self-taught and fail to see a difference between using a design program and being a designer and we have a much larger problem. This field is so far diluted by those without a design education that the world can no longer distinguish between any of us. The term “graphic design” has come to mean something so broad and far-reaching that it’s no surprise the world is confused.

Jessica L. — It’s just disheartening to know that the vast majority of the public doesn’t understand what I do that makes me different from someone who learned how to use Photoshop via the internet.

It also bums me out that a lot of people either think my job is a cakewalk or don’t understand how I can get paid for “playing on the computer” instead of respecting me as an artist and visual communicator.

How do we solve the problem? I wish I knew…

My reply — I’ve seen excerpts from the certification book. It’s an interesting idea but has no base of support for many of the reasons Jessica outlines in her posts — too many non-professional designers won’t comply and there’s nothing that can require them to do so.

As for your reply, Jessica, we are in an unregulated business and if people in general think we’re the strange kids who drew in our notebooks during class in school (while the “upright” members of society were the kids who raised their hands to tell the teacher we weren’t working), then there is little we can do except learn to act as professionals, run projects as professionals and contract our services as professionals and walk away from clients who refuse to see us as such. Remind clients who want it for free that it’s artWORK and not artPLAY! (http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2012/06/requests-for-free-work-surprising-revelations/).

As for your dilemma in dealing with departmental design assignments, it’s up to YOU to get a proper creative brief upfront, explain how it works to THEM and be ready to assert control and professionalism in your role. (http://www.instantshift.com/2012/05/14/writing-a-creative-brief-dragging-the-right-information-out-of-a-client/).

I can give you many, many instances where I deflected design-by-committee simply by stating, “I don’t know why you believe I am less than competent in the job role for which I was hired. In my extensive experience with audience reaction to both layout and color theory, this is the best solution to your needs.” (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/06/29/why-design-by-commitee-should-die/).

It is a way of defending your decisions, exerting your business role as a coworker and professional and claiming your rights as a coworker and not a doormat.

Mark S. — “…non-professional designers won’t comply…”

The fact that non-pro designers won’t “comply” is the whole point of certification.

My reply — As a designer friend of mine in Canada says, they’ve had certification for many, many years and it hasn’t made a difference. Cheap will remain cheap.

It’s like Google certification for SEO “experts.” People haven’t stopped hiring non-Google certified experts. I have to wonder if someone listing “Certified Professional Designer” on their business card or web site will do any better. The question, it seems from the certification web site, all centers on the requirement for formal art school training. Does this mean self-taught designers are not professional? If you look at the history of many great designers, you will see many of them are either self-taught, or left school before gaining a degree.

John S. — Attention moderator: I’ve tried repeatedly to get off this BS train to nowhere and still have comments coming to my inbox. I’ve deselected the discussion update notification several times so the rest is in your hands.

Mark S. — School gives you points but does not disqualify if there’s no degree. The point system has several other factors.

Perhaps you should read the entire book.

Mark S. — John – try clicking on “Unfollow” at the top of the discussion thread.

I think I’m doing the same…

My reply — I read enough to know that it was a waste of time, as I had been part of the discussion for many years with creative organizations that blathered on about how to implement it. As for art school points, although I am a huge supporter of attending art school (a GOOD art school), I left school after a couple of years and worked for several large corporations without a degree. I did go back for the “piece of paper” after more than ten years in the field. The “points” didn’t seem to matter, nor did they for people I knew who graduated after four years but didn’t have either the talent or drive to make it in the field. (http://www.onextrapixel.com/2011/04/01/are-art-schools-worth-the-money/)

Certification will come down to individual choice and not an industry mandate. If it happens, time will tell if it works or not.

My reply — I do want to thank everyone for their input. This will make a great follow-up article on how designers feel about crowdsourcing.

There were no further replies after that. So, there you have it. Some very passionate feelings and opinions, some of which bubbled over from debate to name-calling and insults. That’s expected with such a controversial subject and one that has a firm foothold in the design industry.

Other comments I have heard over the course of time when crowdsourcing comes up is that it doesn’t affect design firms that have clients that know the value of design on a one-to-one basis. Unfortunately, those who responded in this thread were mid to lower level freelancers who depend on small businesses for their next paycheck and crowdsourcing sites did indeed cut into their business. Such a practice can be a danger to those individuals but there are no guarantees in our industry.

Design is an extremely communicative creative field that reaches out to the audience and guides them along through the content it is delivering. As designers, one of the most important aspects of the industry to comprehend is the various ways in which our work speaks to the users who encounter and interact with it. The flip-side of which is that we must also be able to figure out why the design may be failing at this.
Now there are any number of reasons why certain designs hold no appeal to some who will view it. This is a discussion that could be very long and drawn out as the specifics are poured over meticulously. However, for the purposes of this post and keeping things brief, we will look at some of the biggest problem areas that impact these lines of communication between the design and its potential users.

Research Fail

Research is a vital part of understanding your audience and designing the proper approach to reach out to them. If you have failed to do your research fully, or you did so poorly, then chances are you might be working off of bad information. In fact, those chances are high and not in your favor. This means that you essentially begin your design from a horribly disadvantageous position. There is really no other way to put it. You are just setting yourself and your project up for failure.

You’re Not Who I Thought You Were

This can lead to you making attempts to reach out to the wrong audience, or even crafting your design to speak to someone else altogether. Which is not exactly what the client was hiring you for. So you need to be sure that you do the research that is required of you. And make no mistake about it, this goes so much farther beyond just asking the client about their market and the make-up of the audience they are targeting with this project. If you really want to know who you are working at reaching out to, then you have to put in the time to get to know them.

They have expectations and limitations. They have learning curves and language barriers. They have histories and future goals. And all of those influence how they are going to use and interact with the design you are building. If you fail to learn this about them and take these into consideration, then you are speaking to them, you are attempting to speak at them.

No True Focus

Along those same lines, another thing that tends to happen is that designers go forward with no true focus on the intended audience. For whatever reason, either not enough information from the client or no clear understanding on the part of the designer as to who they are speaking to, the designers build somewhat blindly. They expect that the design will have broad enough appeal, that no true focus on a single audience is necessary. This is not recommended.

Prioritize Your Audience

If you are going to try this approach, one thing to keep in mind is that you are not going to be able to speak to everyone in a single way. It just doesn’t work like that. So you have make sure that you at least prioritize your audience in some way, so you can give the design some focus. Within every group of users, there are still many ways to differentiate and prioritize them.

They may all belong to the same demographic, but still there are those whom you appeal to more visually, or those who respond more to audible stimulation. Those who respond more to words or those who respond more to iconography and imagery. So you should prioritize your approach to ensure your reach has some grip to it.

Shifts in the Landscape

One industry truth to prepare for and keep in mind is that things change so quickly with growing technologies and the growth of individuals in your target audience group. It’s not only the fluid landscape that we are dealing with, but those whose impact upon causes shifts as well. People change, and we have to adjust our techniques and routes to reach out to them accordingly.

Eyes on the Market

This means you must constantly keep eyes on the market to catch these shifts, however subtle they may be. What this also means, is that for all intents and purposes, a design is never truly finished. It must remain as fluid as flexible as the very landscape it has been constructed upon. This is more a client-side concern. Understanding that while the design itself may be completed to your specs, the work doesn’t end with the completion of construction and launch of the design.

This is an evolving process, and one that your users are going to expect you to keep up with. Your brand cannot afford to be behind the times and losing users as a result. That speaks volumes to your users that you would probably prefer they not be hearing.

No Follow-Through on Feedback

One of the biggest reasons that your design might be falling short of your audience, is because you are falling short of your responsibility to respond and react to the feedback you are getting in from the users. As I touched on in the last section, the work has only just begun once the design launches. That’s when you have to really put in the time to follow-up with your users who are now interacting with it. And we have to take the time to really listen.

Don’t Be Dismissive

Some times we can have a tendency to dismiss certain concerns when they are brought up to us, either by writing off the user as not being part of our target or by simply ignoring claims from users that you believe to be fallacious. But that is an irresponsible move for your brand and design. Every concern should be investigated. These added perspectives can be invaluable if you actually give them weight.

Not all users will contact you to tell you why they are unhappy with your design, or to give you insights as to why it just doesn’t speak to them. So it is a big mistake to dismiss those who actually take the time to tell you.

That’s All Folks

That brings us to the end of this side of the discussion. But as mentioned before, there are still numerous other reasons to cover and considerations to be made. But this is something of a start to that talk. Now we want to hear from you. Share your thoughts on what we’ve discussed here, or expand on it and offer some words on other reasons we omitted this time around. Either way, we want to hear from you! So leave us your two cents below in the comment section and keep this dialog going.

It’s the second time the subject of written content was shoved under my nose. The first time was an educational talk being given by a sharp content strategist just a day ago and then today, when I clicked on something so horrid… I mean beautiful… no… I mean the examples of inforgraphics were superb but, unfortunately, the content killed them as whole pieces.

In an article entitled, “A Series Of Infographics That Explain How Our Daily Objects Work,” by Loke Shi Ying, there are several examples and the description:

London-based illustrator Jing Zhang has created a series of colorful infographics that explain how our daily objects work.

In the series titled ‘Imaginary Factory’, she highlights specific items that a person comes in regular contact with—ranging from an iPhone to a cup of coffee.

These delightful illustrations also feature cute, minature ‘helpers’ that reside inside your daily objects to make them work.

Yes. Cute, fun, well-designed but it’s been done before and better with the proper content. A message can be visual, written or both together. When you decide to use both, then make sure they balance and drive each other in getting the message to the consumer.

First of all, I have to wonder if “Unique Infographics Of The Things Around Us,” or “THEY Are With Us! Infographics on the little working men inside Everything” might not have been a more appropriate title, but that has nothing to do with Ms. Zhang but it is part of the entire presentation on the article and deserved a bit more thought.

A bit more thought? That is where the pieces start to break down as a message. While they do remain as beautiful pieces of art that would look great in my kitchen, by the way, the written message is almost too simple and loses out to the Balance of the art. Look at the coffee piece and the toaster piece. What is your first reaction when you look at either one of these pieces?

“Cool,” “beautiful,” “brilliant” or “huh?” Yes, “huh?”

Is there something you expect to see that you don’t? Is there a feeling of slight confusion? It has nothing to do with the art… well, nothing to do with what’s in the art, more so what’s NOT in the art. Infographics must be simple enough to read easily and quickly but in this case, the open areas needed to speak more with the reader to explain the technology.

Should I be thinking that when I sip from my coffee cup, little men go crashing into the side of the cup? Wouldn’t every little man in the toaster need fireproof suits and are the rooms at the bottom saunas for the workers? Why are little men OUTSIDE of the toaster? Do they want to kill me at night in my sleep? Okay, maybe that last one was a bit too much thought?

What’s lost here is the opportunity to take the whole thing a bit further, to trump those who have done it before, both in visual and in written content. The problem for the artist is thinking they could do the copywriting themselves and not thinking of taking it a step further with the visual message.

The interior processes are opened up to us as part of the message of the infographic. Mostly empty rooms, lots of stairs, some gears and the occasional little person working, so shouldn’t it take advantage of that? The toaster as a factory of little people in fireproof suits with flamethrowers for toasting bread, crumb sweepers, sesame seed removers would add a dimension to what is fairly flat right now.

A few labels drawn to some of the workers would be fun. “The guy who yells ‘click’ when you use the phone’s camera.” Maybe fun facts like a room in the coffee cup with sacks of beans and a label like, “you consume one of these bags every month!”

And why does the teapot not have a gathering of foppish English gentlemen, surrounding a queen or cricket seat, while they sip their tea? I want to know why the TV one isn’t a flatscreen? Didn’t we all trash our CRT analog TVs five years ago?

These examples, unfortunately, needed some strong pairing with a writer and a little more research. Any message through design, photography or illustration must become a team effort and the right players are essential. The old, “weakest-link-in-the-chain” cliché. Sometimes we all overestimate our own capabilities, or there would be nobody to laugh at on American Idol, but that leads to an inferior product and whether it is for ourselves to share on the internet or the biggest client of your career, take it farther than before, push boundaries that others have set, partner when necessary to share strengths and keep trying. There is no failure; just eliminating the wrong possibilities. Someone famous said that, or something close to it. Must be true because I keep hearing it.

Featured image ©GL Stock Images

Infographic images © Jing Zhang

There are a lot of people working in the web design and development fields, but among the ranks are those who are simply waiting. Waiting to dive into this expansive and ever-changing industry so they can begin honing their skills and flexing their creative design muscles in engaging and innovative ways. But why are they waiting? For many, they are ready to go, but still something is holding them back.

Whether it is simply waiting, or something deeper like fear, there are those of us in the industry that are effectively stuck on pause. But today we will hopefully help you get off of the sidelines and into the game through this useful little post. Because for some of us, that push is all we need.

Stop Waiting for Opportunity to Knock

There will be several tips offered to get you moving, but what it basically boils down to, is that you have to actually get up and get moving. You cannot just sit idly by and wait for an opportunity to drop in your lap. Sure, maybe is you are one of the design/development powerhouses in your area you might be able to play the waiting game. But for the rest of us, the waiting game tends to end in hunger and businesses going under. So stop waiting and get out there and create the opportunities for yourself.

Initiative pays off. Taking the initiative and charging forward into the “fray” and facilitating these kinds of game changing chances for you and your brand can leave a mark on the industry that may lead to lasting returns. After all, as the saying goes, Fortes fortuna adiuvat! And for those who don’t speak Latin, fortune favors the brave. So what are you waiting for?

Crowdfunding

If you are wanting to create something that you believe is going to be beneficial to the community, or that you just believe in overall, then don’t let a lack of funding keep you waiting. Turn to the internet to back your project. Crowdfunding is a popular means to get creative and passion projects financially backed and ready to launch. So take advantage of the tools that are being put into place for those looking to get into the game, and get the support you need to move forward.

Use your social media savvy to build an audience for your project based on the idea you passionately present to them. With so many crowdfunding platforms cropping up on the landscape, you have numerous outlets to reach out through. Even more so than just a couple of years ago when I made a similar suggestion to designers in an article on Smashing Magazine. We need to adapt to these new business models and make them work for us, rather than against us.

Cold Calls

Another way to get your forward momentum going, is to engage the cold war of cold calling. Yes, it sucks. I have never met anyone who favors the cold call. They can be awkward and by and large a waste of time. But it can work. It can yield you some positive results for your business. Kicking the rock over that your opportunity is waiting beneath. So start those cold calls.

Most of us are familiar with the process, if not the dread and discomfort that tend to accompany it. You find some local businesses in your area that may or may not need some of your design services, and you call unsolicited to initiate contact with them and introduce yourself and what you can do for them. This is not a guaranteed recipe for success, but if you are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for one of them to call you, you might be waiting a while.

You might also be just the catalyst they were needing to dive into a redesign. But chances are, with all of your competition, they may not find you before you would find them. So cold calling, and reaching out to make that initial contact can prove beneficial in getting you in the game.

Leave the Comparisons Behind

One thing that holds many of us back, even if we do not realize it, is that we are comparing our works to others in our fields whose work we see hailed and heralded as spectacular and inspiring. Especially, as we go out in search of inspiration for our next project or creative undertaking. There are times when the work we see actually hinders our progress more than it helps us. But if we want to get off the sidelines, we have to understand that it’s not about what others are doing. It’s about what we can do.

It is one thing to strive to the heights we have seen others scaling, and another altogether letting those heights seem like an intimidating barrier keeping us from even trying to reach them. By realizing that we all start at much lower places than we end up with regards to our level of adeptness and skill in design and developing, we can usually leave the comparisons behind and get into the game much easier. But that isn’t the only way to work through this problem.

Trends are Not Always Your Friend

This is one of the main problems with following design trends. With so many examples of that trend in practice, you can begin to more emulate others’ use of the trend, rather than finding ways that you can work this technique or elemental inclusion into your project with your own unique approach and style. And once that happens, then comparing your use of it to others can be an easy trap to fall into. You begin thinking it is either too similar, or not stylish enough in comparison to other ways you’ve seen it, rather than making it fit the project perfectly.

So trends are not always your friend in this regard. They can effectively hold you back and keep you from progressing through a design or project. Like Fleetwood Mac once advised, you can go your own way. And if you are being held back creatively, then you might not be trying to do things on your terms and in your own way.

It’s Your Creative Voice, Use It

Which leads us to the other thing that will help us stop comparing our work to others’ creative output in the field and just get us to working, using that which is uniquely ours. Our creative voice. Each of us has a style and particularly approach that we have crafted over the years. This is our creative voice. When we use it in our work, then we are more apt to break through those comparisons that hold us back. To find innovation, not just inspiration.

When we allow ourselves to imitate what others are doing, we are speaking with their voice. Not our own. This is not to say that we cannot use resources that are available, or even bite on a trend or two. It is all about injecting our own flavor into the mix, in order to ensure that we are coming up with, and at this with uniqueness. Our voice is the main creative tool that we are armed with, so why would we co-opt someone else’s when we have such a powerful one of our own.

Many also have a fear that their own creative voice won’t match up to others out there. But as we have talked about before, those comparisons don’t tend to do us any favors. So let them go, and just create!

Get to It!

So what are you waiting for? What have you noticed is keeping you on the sidelines? Leave us a comment to keep this dialog moving forward. Share your tips for getting in the game, or your thoughts on those discussed here.

Yes, yes, I know, I know — Pinterest is hot and people love it, blah, blah, blah. Well, I DO love it! I was falling behind keeping my writing blog up to date and in the time it would take to add four or five articles to that blog, I was able to add my entire collection of writings onto Pinterest. That’s one big advantage right there. I was pleased to see there were a few more my blog didn’t offer.

Sure, my blog was getting a good number of hits, and still does but the ads and affiliate marketing was going nowhere. Some comments here and there but most of the comments needing moderation were spam (the success of a site or blog is the amount of spam people attempt to put on it). Otherwise, it was a huge investment as a place to show my samples. I held off on joining Pinterest but kept my eye on it. As a writer of tech and social media for businesses and freelancers, I had to keep up with it, at least in my readings. I guess it was only a matter of time before I added it to my social media channels. Oddly enough, it has become the most important. It is the center of my tweets, Facebook posts and other tools that point interested parties to my boards.

So, what does Pinterest REALLY hold for your business? Forget about the demographics of the average Pinterest user (About 80% of Pinterest users are female, with 25- to 34-year-old women making up the site’s biggest demographic). You want your company’s demographics to use your account. You need them to follow links to your own boards, maybe use specific boards for inbound marketing and, as Pinterest is, over some social media channels, be able to do it all with ease (69% of online consumers who visit Pinterest have found an item they’ve bought or wanted to buy, compared with 40% of Facebook users).

The best description, or rather, the simplest is, “The bulletin-board-style social image sharing website is a relatively new social-media phenomenon, created just two years ago and rapidly became one of the largest online social networks. The site allows its users to create and manage image collections, known as ‘boards,’ grouped by theme, and follow others with similar tastes and interests.”

That description comes from an article written by Karen Leland on Entrepreneur.com, “5 Ideas for Pinterest Boards That Can Help Build Your Brand.” A good article to start you off on your Pinterest, it covers using boards for information, which is essential for your product or services, feedback and makeovers, which supplies you with consumer opinions of new products and product changes and even your company culture, which humanizes your brand and that’s important to consumers. There are further links within the article that takes Pinterest usage to the next level.

How Pinterest Can Help Your Business (infographic)

It’s important, as with any brand building initiative, to gather all of the information you’ll need to do it right before you ever pin your first entry into Pinterest. Luckily, the greatest collection of Pinterest-interest information can be found on Pinterest itself. Pour yourself a fresh cup of coffee or tea and start wading through the pinned information you’ll see on the image below.

While Pinterest is an important addition to your business social media outreach, you will still need the other channels you have nurtured long the way. Eventually, I’ll need to get my blog back up to speed but my Pinterest additions will continue. Twitter, Facebook and your site or blog dovetail each other nicely and with Pinterest in the mix, you’ll find you have all the key elements for social media marketing success. It’s all free unless you consider the cost of having a social media expert handle the entire load, which you should but that’s another subject for another article.

Featured image ©GL Stock Images

One of the great things about the web design community is the amount of amazing resources they continuously pour into the mix, readily sharing to strengthen the industry. With so many fantastic shortcuts on offer it can be quite the chore to sort through the noise and come up with the cream of the resource crop. Which is why it is often so helpful when someone takes the time to sort through the massive resource pool for us. That is what we have done for our readers today.

Below is a collection of stunning and extremely useful web design resources that will keep your designs from sucking! Go ahead and dive in, we hope that you find what you were looking for. Or at least one or two things that you weren’t, but that you now cannot go on without adding to your arsenal. Enjoy!

Blogs

First off, we come to the blog section, as there are numerous sites that have such a commitment to excellence and expertise, that they themselves have become a powerful resource to the web design community. So take a look at these blogs and be sure that you are following their useful feeds.

Think Bigger Media

Colorburned

Naldz Graphics

Web Design Ledger

SimpleBits

Podcasts

Over the years, many talented web designers and developers have turned their talent towards the podcasting arena to help get spread the skills and insights that have steered and guided them and their careers. If you haven’t given a listen to them yet, check out what they have to offer.

Let’s Make Mistakes

ShopTalk

The East Wing

Boagworld

The Web Ahead

Brushes

Naturally, PS brushes and beyond, are extremely popular among the web design community, so we have compiled a wonderful collection of brushes to give your designs the perfect accent. Come and get ‘em!

Watercolor Splatters

Tanathe’s Lazy Brush Set

Real Smoke Brushes

Speckle Brushes made of Cocoa

Templates and Wireframes

Templates and wireframes can be a huge time-saver, providing web designers with a functioning foundation from which to build on. Using these resources has become somewhat second nature for many in the field, so we couldn’t ignore this area of heavy hitters.

Feathered

Free Responsive Wireframes

Spoon : A simple and elegant wireframe kit

Html5 Template : HalfTone

Html5 Template : Zerofour

UI Kits

Another major time-saving set of resources that comes in handy to have well stocked in your arsenal are UI kits. With the wide range of tastes that clients will tend to have, it is nice to have several styles and kits at your disposal. Below are some that you might want to add to your stockpile.

Flat UI Free – PSD&HTML User Interface Kit

Ui Kit

Dark Web UI Kit

Beach GUI

Dark Blue UI Kit

All for Now

That wraps up this collection for now, but that doesn’t mean things have to stop here. Drop us a link to your favorite web design resource or time-saver in the comments section to deepen the reach of the post. Or leave your thoughts on some of the resources we have highlighted that you may have some experience with. Either way, we’d love to hear from you.