Hi, Pierce:
This message was found on a thread already closed that we forgot to block. Plz. remember that the contests are only for design team members and on them you can't make comments of other designers or designs in there either. Part of the rules.
Welcome here and plz. take a look at the rules to avoid any future unnecesary misunderstanding.
Thanx for the patience,
Your message:
Hello All!
Totally not trying to be a jerk here, and am actually trying to be constructive . . . but I've explored this site pretty thoroughly (gotten some absolutely super inspiration here ~ thank you!!) and I have to say that while your designs have been really awesome, many haven't been very "real world." Many designs used gradients ~ while really cool aren't very printer friendly. It's true I shy away from logo design, but I do alot of traditional print design, including ad design. And it's a huge pain in the keister inserting a logo with gradients. NOt to mention that if your client uses a fax machine or a yellow pages or newspaper ad, the gradient, which looks so cool in color, looks muddy and way too heavy.
Before anyone takes offense, I've been a GA/D for over 15 years, working my way from a lowly apprentice in my father's award winning studio to print production manager for a leading DC printing firm to agency work to my own studio. And the most helpful, though most quoted, adage for design is K.I.S.S. Not that creativity has to be kept simple, but you always have to keep in mind that your client may not use it exactly as you envisioned.
And as to Turnergraphics declining everyone's hard work, he is the client, whether he's shelling out $100 or $1K. If he ain't happy, he ain't happy. True, he could've given better, clearer guidelines, but he's not the designer, ya'll are. If he could tell you exactly what he wanted, then he could more than likely do it himself. If I had a dime for everytime a client had a "vision" but couldn't get it across to me, orally or otherwise, I'd be a heckuva lot richer than I am now (not saying that I'm rich, but I don't do too bad ) And about spending all that time coming up with comps, ya'll did it knowing it wasn't a guaranteed source of income. It was a contest and everyone doesn't win at the end. It's really no different at eLancing sites ~ you can comp til you turn blue in the face and still wind up with nada.
And to Turnergraphics, I did notice that several times you were asked for more direction but didn't give any. Designers aren't mind readers and we don't just sprinkle magic fairy dust on a plain sheet of paper (or digital tablet) ~ as a printer should very well know. If you're going to sponsor a contest, you've essentially promised to give everyone an equal chance. And when you provide direction to some and not to all, you've broken that implied promise. Even a "thanks, but no thanks" would've been appreciated, I'm sure. Sitting around waiting for feedback only to receive none really tanks. If you're a printer and deal with GA/Ds even once a year, you know that what we do is very personal ~ our works of art are like our babies (selling our "babies" ~ won't even go there) and designers are, for the most part, pretty damn insecure. The last thing we need is for someone to totally ingore our hard work and sweat.
Again, please don't be offended by what I've written ~ I think ya'll got your feelings hurt (justifiably so) but turnergraphics wasn't doing anything, really, that any other client wouldn't do. Whether it's a contest or a project, he's still the customer. He could have been more gracious though. And personally, I think $100 is a bargain for a logo ~ Lord knows I charge way more than that, even to my return clientele. Ya'll's efforts with the FMP should've rated waaaay more than $250, too.
Anyway, hopefully no hard feelings . . . I've really enjoyed the site and hope to work with ya'll in the future. Esp you web site & Flash jockeys ~ ya'll really rock!! I'd like to contact some of you for outsourcing in the future ~ that is if none of you want my blood!! ( :
Very respectfully,
CMP
