JADE: Pitching

The topic of design competitions in the design community is an extremely controversial one. Some people believe that solving a design problem by holding a contest not only exploits designers but also devalues and damages the professional industry of design.

Organisations such as NO!SPEC advocates that designers should boycott contests. AGDA Association suggests that “spec work” is an unprofessional practice for both clients and designers to engage in.

I agree that these contests are unprofessional in alot of ways, but I think there is room for it in the industry. I think it provides alot of opportunities and contacts for unqualified designers and students, adn brings out alot of new talent. I dont think these contests are only suitable for unqualified designers though, I think it would be a good experience for any one who wants to improve their design skills and have a chance at winning, which can lead to recognition of your work and talent, which can then lead to contacts and professional work. Going in these competitions mean you have a lot of flexibility, you dont have to answer to a boss, it’s an exciting challenge and its also flexible in the way that you only have to enter into competitions that hold your interests.

Crowd sourcing sites with large communtites of designers are becoming increasingly abundant on the web, with competitions becoming more and more popular. But as I said before, there is room in the industry for these competitions, I dont think pitching and design contests will ever “take over” the professional design industry, I think there will always be too many people who are against them, or are just not interested in getting involved. And there will always be the need for the big, traditional companies. with alot of design problems, there just isnt time to have free pitching. And design competitions don’t provide the same one on one interaction of the designer and client.