Ready design: good or bad?
About three years ago, when the logo / website design was created only for the order, the usual brand manager could not have imagined that soon IncSping (now Brandstack), Inkd, 99designs, StockLogos and other ready-made design services would come to the market. These resources have completely changed the way companies design.
In the Internet you can find a large number of articles on ready-made design and crowdsourcing, as an additional service that exists in a number of projects (99designs, Inkd etc). Some designers and journalists argue that such services can not meet the needs of customers in high-quality design. They point to the broad age and professional framework of the participants in these communities and the impossibility of knowing exactly which designer (professional or amateur) you are dealing with. On the other hand, the number of designers registered on such resources and interesting examples of works presented there force us to pay attention to this trend in design.
ready designs
The emergence of ready-made design resources was the result of the dominant development trend of the 21st century: rapid changes in all spheres of life, the search for new solutions and the desire to avoid any rigid frameworks and restrictions. The design is changing rapidly and just as quickly becoming obsolete, so the services of the finished design seem to be a good tool to meet the needs of companies in a quickly developed and vibrant image.
How do those who are actively involved in creating content for such resources relate to the finished design? The team of the Russian ready-made design service ManyLogo conducted an express survey among its designers to find out: why they sell the finished design, and what advantages they see in it for the client.
Alena Zhdanova, graphic designer ManyLogo:
“I use this service to realize my creative potential. In the process of working on the logo, in my head there are several interesting and creative images that I want to capture, and the client cuts them off at the idea stage. Then I draw new images with black ink or with a simple pencil and from this sketch I make a mock-up on a computer. The process, in fact, is not so simple and fast. To draw, competently build a composition (to look harmonious and beautiful), edit or re-write the font – everything requires attention, rethinking, i.e. of time. It takes at least a week to make a good, memorable logo for many logomakers.
Finding the right logo option on the finished design service saves the company a significant amount of time, which is usually spent on creating a brief and developing a design layout. On the ready-made design service, you can select the desired option in a couple of hours by reviewing all the design projects by their subject ”
Yuri Konstantinov, street art designer PolyChem:
“I place my works on the ready-made design service, since many people are comfortable and familiar with such resources. The great advantage of these resources is the ability to choose from a variety of works that differ in quality, ideologically and stylistically. In addition, the client is provided with all the necessary sources, through which his product can get the desired look. ”
Evgeny Sklyar, web designer, graphic designer ManyLogo:
“I have been working in design for 5 years. Sometimes it happens that the customer refuses the project or simply disappears. In such cases, ready-made design services come to the rescue. For me, the plus is that my work will be paid for, and the plus for the design buyer is that for relatively little money he will receive a unique, high-quality design. On the services of such a plan, good design can be found for 2-3 thousand rubles with all the sources. ”
Nikolay Martynov, web designer, graphic designer ManyLogo:
“It’s very difficult to find a good designer on the Internet. On the services of ready-made design, you can choose and immediately buy ready-made work without any extra effort, looking at once all the portfolio of the designer ”
By tradition, after the article I will add a couple of my thoughts on this. Though I am not, let’s say, an employee of the design industry, but on the Internet I came across two approaches under consideration – buying a finished product and creating it to order (it’s about copywriters and texts for websites). I think that choosing a ready-made website or logo design is quite convenient – if there are no particularly strict requirements for the appearance of the project, then you can try to find a ready-made template. In any case, for an additional fee, the details can be modified. In addition, in this case, you save a lot of time, in fact, jumping over this discussion of design, its creation, revisions, which is sometimes accompanied by several meetings, disputes, etc. As for designers, I agree with all those who spoke in the article – the opportunity to sell those work options, ideas or concepts that the customer did not like – a good extra income.
