Comments on: The kiddie designers of 99designs

By: fuaaadh

fuaaadh — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:02:13 +0000

^^ Sam

I’m 15, won 31 contests, it is a really good place for young people like me to get in to the industry and gain some real world clients :)

http://99designs.co.uk/people/fuaadh

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:04:52 +0000

None of those ‘kiddy profiles’ have won any contest – so they haven’t been paid for work. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen – but those screenshots are not worth much like that. Of course, young people can register for such sites, that doesn’t mean they really get into serious work more than a hobby would be.

By: Jeff Pascual

Jeff Pascual — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:19:43 +0000

An obvious demoralization. No 11 yr old kid could finish the registration process in 99designs. If the first kid was fake, then how about the nexts? If you are the unfortunate victim of 99′s success then there’s nothing you can do but join the community and see for yourself if your knowledge in designing is enough.

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Thu, 19 May 2011 13:07:31 +0000

Well if you do on google “logo design” 99cents website comes as #1 because they pay for advertisment and funny they say “we are #1 in logo design”. The sad part is that a new client who starts a business and maybe has a budget and investors maybe fall victim to that sweat shop.

By: Carmen

Carmen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:33:25 +0000

I do also think that your portfolio is all you should show for free. You should get paid for spec work absolutely. :)

By: Carmen

Carmen — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 08:23:01 +0000

If a company is going to profit from a child’s art then the child should benefit. For example child actors. Strange comparison maybe. However, they are considered artist and any child in the state of California must have a work permit for any work in the entertainment industry. Commercials, print work (modeling) and so on. This was put in place so that children do not get taken advantage of and to enforce strict child labor laws. Just saying.

By: On Value | Eric D. Brown

On Value | Eric D. Brown — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:03:26 +0000

[...] Need a logo designer? You can pay a ‘professional’ a couple thousand dollars or you can post your request on 99Designs and get a logo for ~$295. Many ‘professional’ designers are bemoaning the fact that these ‘amateurs’ are now ‘allowed into the industry’ with statements like “the kiddie designers of 99Designs“. [...]

By: Marco

Marco — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:11:50 +0000

“If you’re a great designer, this won’t effect you. If the only business you’re getting right now is from people that need spec work like this, then you should start doing better work or get into a different industry.”

If only that were the case. Unfortunately doing good design doesn’t automatically equal to getting a lot of business.

By: Brando

Brando — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:23:41 +0000

99Designs a slippery slope for child labor? Over-dramatic-much?

The OP clearly has no understanding of Child Labor Laws and is merely using this as a point of drama.

No one is forcing these children to work against their will, for longer hours, under hazardous conditions. Nor is anyone forcing companies, small biz or freelancers to use this service.

If you’re a great designer, this won’t effect you. If the only business you’re getting right now is from people that need spec work like this, then you should start doing better work or get into a different industry.

Sounds to me the OP is in danger of losing business from this because they’re a direct competitor which should bring about a certain amount of introspection.

By: Erin

Erin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:14:00 +0000

Amen Christina! Methinks really pushing this with the media, getting business magazines to talk about it would be a huge lifesaver for all of us – it’s all in reaching clients on their level so that they can actually understand what’s going on. And if we can just come up with a hot pink No Spec shirt…