CrowdSPRING advertises itself as a one-stop-shop for virtually every kind of graphic design and/or content need that clients might need.  The question become: can crowdSPRING deliver, or is it simply another overhyped company?  To answer that question a fairly as possible, it would help to take a look at how crowdSPRING works from the perspective of a client.

How CrowdSPRING Works

Clients log in to crowdSPRING and create a new project that includes a budget, a deadline, and a description.  This is fundamentally different than the traditional method of requesting bids and accepting the lowest bid as the maximum amount that a project can cost is known before hand, and that is one of the strongest appeals of the service from a top-level perspective.  Once a project is created, it is available for the artistic community at large to see.  If artists want to get involved with the project, they will submit a bid and their work for review.

It is also possible to browse artists, their profiles and even their portfolios if one is very specific about who they want to do the work.  In most cases though, the general idea is to get as many bids and offers as possible.  With over 50,000 registered contributors hailing from all over the world, that should not be a problem.  In fact, crowdSPRING proudly reports that the average project receives well over 100 submissions.  This does bring up a small problem: can all of these artists be true digital artists.

Redefining the Digital Artwork Market

The contention that many make with crowdSPRING is that not all of its participants are ‘properly’ trained digital artists, and that customers might be receiving and accepting bids that are not entirely in their best interest.  The problem is that art is a very subjective thing, and while there are certain aspects of art that have been carefully studied and distilled into marketing and other subjects, the fact is that art is still art.  Does going to a school make one an artist?  Probably not.  Is it possible to be an artist without going to school?  Some say yes, some say no.  Would a human resource representative be able to make a hiring decision based on a portfolio with any more artistic insight than a manager or owner using crowdSPRING?  Doubtful.

In short, the complaints of this nature are very hard to substantiate and may be the result of angry individuals who spent a large part of their lives and a good deal of money learning the tools of their trade.  This is no minor undertaking either, but globalization has already irreversibly changed so many career fields that it is hard to feel sorry for those artists who invested so much and expected so much only to see services like crowdSPRING essentially change the game.

Here’s Why CrowdSPRING is the Best Choice

An old expression says that there are many ways to move forward yet only one way to stand still, but another expression argues that in the realm of business there are only the quick and the dead.  This leaves standing still an untenable option; businesses need art.  If there were three paths that could be taken in regards to digital art, they would be labeled: crowdSPRING, find/hire an artist, and the hard way.  The hard way involves a lot of money and time spent buying and learning the latest softwate packages and hoping that a spark of latent artistic talent is transferable to the digital medium.  Obviously this route is not cost effective and the opportunity costs could be incalculable.  Alternative, one could hire an artist full time, part time, or on spec, but that might be expensive and is far more limiting than being able to pick and choose from dozens of submissions.  This leaves crowdSPRING, which really does not seem to have any drawbacks.

Being able to set deadlines, maximum budgets, and then browse from (typically) over a hundred results is obviously better than the two forward-moving alternatives, and all of those alternatives beat living in a world without art.  You simply cannot go wrong with signing up and posting a few projects, and crowdSPRING handles EVERYTHING right down to non-disclosure agreements, intellectual property protection, reviews, feedback, and even has a strong community-drive set of forums.

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I remember joining iStockPhoto.com in 2002. At the time it was a wonderful place to download stock photos cheaply. You used to be able to get any resolution for 50 cents per download. After Getty bought the site a few years ago, the prices have been steadily rising, and in 2008 the pricing will be getting even more expensive.

In 2008, prices will rise all across the board. Small photos will now be over $3 per download (on average), credits packages will be more expensive to buy ($1 will no longer equal 1 credit unless you buy $600 worth). Getty has been steadily pushing prices up – the whole royalty-free microstock business has been eroding their core profits for years – so these price jumps seem to be their way of fighting back.

What do these price increases mean? I think many people looking for stock will start turning more and more to Flickr and Creative Commons. I know I will be.

I’ve actually been thinking about putting together a photo coop – a private pool of photos with a dozen or so other photographers/designers – where we could use each other’s photos/illustrations for free. Would any designers out there be interested?

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Earlier this year I wrote about my adventures with HDR photography here on this blog, but since that was a bit of a departure from what I usually cover, I decided to launch a separate photography site at Visual Photo Guide and move the posts there.

I plan to make Visual Photo Guide into a resource for hobby photographers like myself and delve a bit into video and more visual approaches to sharing my experiences and tips I pick up along the way.

I’ve been a reader of Darren’s Digital Photography School for a few months – he’s done a very impressive job with it and has inspired me to launch this new project. Since there are plenty of really good photo blogs and sites out there I’m still trying to carve out the right niche within this (fairly crowded) field and create something unique and useful to compliment what already exists.

The plan now is to talk about equipment and techniques from the perspective of someone who takes photos for fun, not professionally. I’ll try not to get into too much technical discussion, just straightforward examples of what I’ve seen work well in my own photography. Hopefully I won’t be talking to just myself and someone else might find it helpful and interesting. In addition I will share any deals I can find, such as the Photomatix Pro Coupon Code for 15% off.

If you’re into photography, check it out, grab the feed, and feel free to offer some suggestions about topics you’d like to see covered.

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