A few weeks ago one of our consultants placed an ad on Craig's List looking for a graphic designer. He was shocked when he received well over 200 responses from designers in less than one week. It quickly became too difficult to manage sifting through all the portfolios, so he decided to issue a challenge. He sent an email to each of the respondents and asked them to design an ad. The ad was one that he had submitted to our design team some two months before, and was already being used by the client. Each of the designers was given a hand-drawn sketch of his ideas for the ad, plus a word document with the text to be used.
Then the fun started.
First of all, he received 10 to 15 emails immediately chastising him for degrading the entire design community because heaven forbid they'd have to show what they could do ahead of time without being paid. Turns out the industry has a special website set up (www.no-spec.com) to combat this kind of irresponsible hiring behavior. Some of the people got down right nasty and called him lots of fun names. They assured him that the entire industry would suffer as a result of my callous request.
Next, he started getting submissions from designers who wanted to participate. he was pleasantly surprised that, in short order he had received 26 ad submissions. He quickly found out what Simon, Paula, and Randy feel like when they have to sit through the American Idol auditions. It's very difficult to turn people down who have worked very hard and think their stuff is good. But the fact is, there was good and bad.
The critics tell us that it is only the bottom-feeders who submit ads for a challenge like this--and that REAL designers would never stoop to that level. Here's our response to that: KISS MY FOOT. If you're a good enough designer that you're in such high demand that you don't need more work, then what in the heck are you doing responding to an ad on Craig's List that UP FRONT offers $25 an hour for freelance work? Our opinion is that EVERY ONE OF THE PEOPLE who submitted an ad should be commended--and we thank you sincerely for the effort you put into this. All of you snotty designers that are too cool to be bothered, have fun counting the millions you're ostensibly already making.
That's why I've created this web page. I want everyone who has submitted an ad to at least see our judgment and be able to compare what I consider to be good, not so good, and bad. Granted it's only our opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. After all, the guy who sang "Let My People Go" thought he was awesome.
So here we go... if you submitted an ad, you can see below how you ranked. If you were one of those who initially responded, but didn't submit an ad, you can take a look at what I got. And if you're just a bystander, have fun looking.
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