selling yourself short

i’m gonna have to ask designers everywhere not to stoop to this. i rarely, if ever, write about designer causes on this blog, but this one really gets under my skin. it cheapens you and it cheapens your industry.

imagine if i did this with burgers. so there i am in line at the shake shack in madison square park. i’ve just ordered my burger and the cashier says “$7.00″ or whatever. and i say, “well, let me just taste the burger first, and if it’s better than the burger i just tasted at dumont, then i’ll pay for it and eat the whole thing. if not, i’m gonna go back to dumont and eat that whole burger and only pay for that one.” they’d knock me into the middle of central park for that.

Posted in Uncategorized by dailey
  • http://crowdspring.com Pete

    Dailey:

    Hey, I just saw the mention on your site and thought I’d hop in. I can appreciate your point of view but thought I might just offer up our thoughts on the issue…

    It’s certainly not our intention to devalue design or the outstanding job that talented designers do. In fact, just the opposite. At the end of the day, we’d really just like to be the Threadless of other creative projects. Designers submit their ideas and hope to be chosen. In the end, only one is crowned but, really, it’s about the creative process along the way more than the money, isn’t it? And so if it’s OK to do with t-shirts, we thought we’d try it with other things. It’s a great chance for people to design, have fun and get noticed.

    The same goes for iStockPhoto, I guess. It’s just a community of people who love to create. They’re more than willing to upload their work and hope that it gets chosen because, at the heart of it, it’s what they love doing – and that’s why they do it. It’s not really for the money – it’s because creative people can’t stop being creative and they look for any outlet they can. It’s because they like the collaborating with other creatives, seeing what other people come up with and they like the feeling of being ‘chosen’.

    Your burger analogy is a funny one (touche) but it’s also fair to note that plenty of industries work this way. People make cars and hope that someone likes them enough to buy them. Same with shoes and phones and all kinds of stuff.

    OK, sure, those aren’t creative things but it happens there too. Painters make paintings because they’re creative – they can’t help it. Then they hope someone will like them and buy them. Same for photographers and movie producers and even musicians.

    Anyway, I don’t mean to start an argument – I really don’t. I respect your opinion and you’re not alone. I just saw your post and thought I might throw out our thoughts. I know everyone won’t see it this way – and that’s OK – but I also don’t want to be seen as cheapening an industry…

    Pete

  • http://crowdspring.com Pete

    Dailey:

    Hey, I just saw the mention on your site and thought I’d hop in. I can appreciate your point of view but thought I might just offer up our thoughts on the issue…

    It’s certainly not our intention to devalue design or the outstanding job that talented designers do. In fact, just the opposite. At the end of the day, we’d really just like to be the Threadless of other creative projects. Designers submit their ideas and hope to be chosen. In the end, only one is crowned but, really, it’s about the creative process along the way more than the money, isn’t it? And so if it’s OK to do with t-shirts, we thought we’d try it with other things. It’s a great chance for people to design, have fun and get noticed.

    The same goes for iStockPhoto, I guess. It’s just a community of people who love to create. They’re more than willing to upload their work and hope that it gets chosen because, at the heart of it, it’s what they love doing – and that’s why they do it. It’s not really for the money – it’s because creative people can’t stop being creative and they look for any outlet they can. It’s because they like the collaborating with other creatives, seeing what other people come up with and they like the feeling of being ‘chosen’.

    Your burger analogy is a funny one (touche) but it’s also fair to note that plenty of industries work this way. People make cars and hope that someone likes them enough to buy them. Same with shoes and phones and all kinds of stuff.

    OK, sure, those aren’t creative things but it happens there too. Painters make paintings because they’re creative – they can’t help it. Then they hope someone will like them and buy them. Same for photographers and movie producers and even musicians.

    Anyway, I don’t mean to start an argument – I really don’t. I respect your opinion and you’re not alone. I just saw your post and thought I might throw out our thoughts. I know everyone won’t see it this way – and that’s OK – but I also don’t want to be seen as cheapening an industry…

    Pete

  • http://www.daileycrafton.com dailey

    hey pete,
    good comment and good counterpoints. my post is harsh and frankly i’m a little embarrassed about how i handled it, but I’m gonna leave the post up so that people can read it and then read your response.

    i forget that behind these websites are people just like me, and it’s a shame. I shouldn’t keep from saying what I think, but i need to do it in a manner that’s not disrespectful. so i’m sorry for being a terd. can’t say that i’ll change my opinion, but i can say that you’re points are very valid and that you’ve been a perfect gentleman. thanks for the civility.

  • http://www.daileycrafton.com dailey

    hey pete,
    good comment and good counterpoints. my post is harsh and frankly i’m a little embarrassed about how i handled it, but I’m gonna leave the post up so that people can read it and then read your response.

    i forget that behind these websites are people just like me, and it’s a shame. I shouldn’t keep from saying what I think, but i need to do it in a manner that’s not disrespectful. so i’m sorry for being a terd. can’t say that i’ll change my opinion, but i can say that you’re points are very valid and that you’ve been a perfect gentleman. thanks for the civility.

  • http://crowdspring.com Pete

    Dailey:

    Hey, no worries – you’re definitely not a terd! Like I said, you’re not alone in your view – and I really don’t mind that – I just ask that people give us a fair shake and you’ve definitely done that. By even posting my response, you’ve been more than fair so I appreciate and respect that.

    At the end of the day, the creative community is going to disagree about all sorts of things and we just need meaningful discussion and debate. I’d like to think we had a little slice of it just now so thanks – really…

    Pete

  • http://crowdspring.com Pete

    Dailey:

    Hey, no worries – you’re definitely not a terd! Like I said, you’re not alone in your view – and I really don’t mind that – I just ask that people give us a fair shake and you’ve definitely done that. By even posting my response, you’ve been more than fair so I appreciate and respect that.

    At the end of the day, the creative community is going to disagree about all sorts of things and we just need meaningful discussion and debate. I’d like to think we had a little slice of it just now so thanks – really…

    Pete

  • David

    I’m glad I clicked the ‘comments’ sections. :) Might have to give the site a try sometime. Instead of doing fun projects that aren’t put out to the world it would be nice to take that time and devote it to something that might actually get out there and get some notice.

  • David

    I’m glad I clicked the ‘comments’ sections. :) Might have to give the site a try sometime. Instead of doing fun projects that aren’t put out to the world it would be nice to take that time and devote it to something that might actually get out there and get some notice.