The topic of crowdsourcing graphic design is a much-discussed topic these days. It’s typically maligned by designers and applauded by those small business owners with very small marketing budgets.

When crowdsourcing first came to the design world, we designers argued that our work was being devalued by this process and that the people paying for the work were not actually receiving quality design. Both valid arguments, if I do say so myself, but somewhat intangible and not convincing enough to change many people’s minds.

Recently a more convincing argument has come up with regard to the originality of the designs that are being submitted to these contests. It seems that with increasing regularity, designers are pawning off the work of others in order to win the contests on various crowdsourcing sites. Given the anonymity the internet provides, the low likelihood of getting caught, and the fact that the designer most likely won’t get paid in the end anyway, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

The practice of stealing artwork is a huge problem for the graphic designer that originally created the work as well as the person who thinks they paid for an original logo. This type of thefts opens up the door to lawsuits from all sides.

I really recommend reading this post from thelogofactory.com. It’s a fascinating write-up of the several instances where work has been stolen for use in a graphic design contest. Although I’m not sure if this article or others like it have persuaded anyone to steer clear of design contests, I hope it encourages people to take a closer look at the practice and realize that it may not be worth the money they’re saving.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 1:50 pm and is filed under Design, Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.