Design is as much a matter of finding problems as it is solving them.

—Bryan Lawson

My previous post on how the Free industry has been developing and damaging the design world has been met with a relatively good number of varied reactions (thanks guys!) considering how tiny my blog is. But the most interesting feedback I got was from a guy named Ross Kimbarovsky who ReTweeted my post over at twitter. (Add me up!)

Apparently, to my big surprise, he’s the co-founder of the infamous Crowdspring.com!

I really don’t know if my writing was confusing as it was apparently misinterpreted; but let me try to clarify. Although I am not a supporter of Crowdspring and Spec work, I do not fully agree with the way designers are responding to spec.

Let me get to the second point first. I think battling spec work is a noble cause and telling people about it actually does help in keeping design’s value in place. (Thanks to Specwatch and NoSpec, plus other blogs like JCD trying to help fight spec.) Clearly, Spec is causing a lot of designers and other creative industries a hell lot of headaches and lost opportunities. Unfortunately, with the rise of accessible design tools, which is in effect causing more people to be aware of design(watch Michael Bierut’s take on Design’s rising Popularity) and consider themselves designers, I don’t think Spec is going away anytime soon.

No matter how much we (designers) complain or rally against it, Spec is already part of the design process for most people who are unaware of the complexities of real design. It has already been weaved into the system and isolating and detaching it is a nearly impossible task. Designers will not be able to bring down spec for as long as the clients who hold the money are continually receiving great value from the system and hungry designers are willingly providing it at the expense of others in the industry. As some would call it, it’s a business evolution that was waiting to happen with the forces of supply, demand, technological developments and economic recession gravitating towards it.

Another important fact to note is that no matter how much we as designers hate to admit it, Crowdspring really is providing value to many people, which is most probably the reason it reached this kind of publicity and fame. (Seriously, if I were a typical, zero-design background entrepreneur with no budget and in need of a logo, I’d think Crowdspring is heaven. Wouldn’t you? Honestly?) The problem lies in the fact that the value is siphoned towards only one direction.

Crowdspring is doing a Robin Hood by stealing from the rich and giving to the poor; but designers aren’t exactly rich, and the clients are far, far from poor.

Now to the ideal solution that hasn’t been thought of yet…!

To make things a little clearer, the point I was driving at in my first post was that I was wondering if there is a way we could think laterally and find a some method to actually transform or modify the Spec environment into a totally new system that will benefit all parties involved unlike the one-sided Spec system we have today.

The challenge now that we (designers vs. the people supporting SPEC) are all facing today is to find out and discover that third way of finding a sustainable solution to this long-standing problem. Amazon.com has changed the way people purchased books. Starbucks invented the coffeeshop and defined a whole new industry. Apple beefed up the way everyone listens to music. Why can’t there be a positive innovation in how people see, perceive and deal with design?

Before I end, let me give out a final thought on Spec and the essence of design. (I’ll stop posting about Spec after this.)

When I started designing not too long ago, the most important lesson I learned about what differentiates a designer from a decorator was one very important ability: problem-solving.

Isn’t the essence of design harnessing the powers of the human mind to find solutions to the problems we face daily? The chairs we sit on were designed so that we can rest and work properly. The 150% leading in the Verdana you’re currently reading was designed to make it easier on your eyes. The internet that gives you the ability to read this message halfway across the globe was designed for the purpose of connecting.

Spec is just another design issue we designers face daily. The only difference is that this time, we have to design a system, not a logo.

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