Okay, when I first read the title of this article on Market Watch about Simple Shoes launching a design competition with Behance, my first response was: OH NO, ANOTHER CROWD SOURCING PLOY FOR FREE WORK.

You see, designers and design firms sell ideas. Our intellectual capital is how we earn a paycheck, so we’re very sensitive to spec work situations and companies requesting free ideas to be thrown at them under the guise of a “design contest.”

I read a little further into the first paragraph and saw: THE COMPETITION CHALLENGES THE DESIGN COMMUNITY-AT-LARGE TO TAKE ON A FULL-SERVICE CREATIVE AGENCY IN THE CREATION OF A NEW BRAND IDENTITY FOR SIMPLE. Hmmm…So the agency they’ve been using will have their work devalued by having to compete with people willing to work on spec? If your client trusts your judgment and creative expertise enough to hire you as their agency of record in the first place, a prospect such as this would surely rattle your bones. How do you compete with free, even if your solutions may be creatively superior?

Then, I read a little further.

It seems that Simple is running this thing the right way (according to us design-folk). They are conducting the competition in the paid brief style. Designers on the Behance network submitted their best identity work to the branding team for review. Five “winners” were chosen to compete based on their merit, meaning that they are being paid to present their ideas to Simple. Applause for this.

These five freelance designers’ solutions are pitted against Simple’s existing agency’s solution, where one of the six designs emerges as the new logo for the shoe company. Apparently, the agency is gung-ho about competing against these other creatives, saying the competition style is a “perfect fit” for them. This strikes me as PR speak, with the agency not wanting to appear as sour grapes.

While it’s commendable that Simple is respecting the firm and freelancers by compensating them for their work, if Studio 22 were asked to be part of a competition like this, we would decline. The title of the competition unsettles me – “You Vs. Our Agency”. It focuses on the business model of those creating the work, rather than the ideas. I feel there are other issues at play:

1. If a client feels they need to seek other solution providers, there is likely an underlying disconnect between the original parties anyway.
2. Good creative is good creative. Whether it comes from an agency, small firm (like us!), or freelancer, shouldn’t influence clients’ buying decisions.
3. Creating an identity for a brand is serious work, and any good designer will develop the mark with future brand strategy in mind (i.e. advertising campaigns, point-of-purchase, marketing collateral, etc.). To have one designer create the identity, then hand over their work to another to execute subsequent work is counterproductive for the client.

I’m looking forward to seeing the results of this showdown. Will the agency win and keep the client’s account? Will a freelancer win and hand over the new logo – or become Simple’s new designer?