EDIT: Actually, I feel a bit bad for posting this - still, I do believe that spec-work isn't good for designers. Competitions aren't necessarily the most productive way to go about creating a new web design for an open source project.
One of the biggest common gripes here is the non-technical partner who "just needs a programmer" to get the project off the ground. Everyone bashes those types, yet this exact thing, except for exploiting designers, is on the front page. There'd be a riot if some marketer came on this board looking for a programmer, cheap.
Oh come on. It's a TWO HUNDRED DOLLAR PRIZE. It's obvious to everyone involved that they're not looking for the best possible design for this site; this is a satisficing exercise.
If you asked him nicely, I bet the prize would also be payable in the form of grizzled man hugs, a video of sweet karate moves or maybe he'd even let you get to first base.
Don't get me wrong, I don't know tenderlove at all and I've never even met him (or twatted with him on the twitter). But I have a lot of karma so obviously I know things.
Maybe they aren't the best way, but contests can make things more fun if you don't take them so seriously. I don't think he's scouting for cheap work to capitalize on, rather he's just looking to get the Ruby community's help involved in building a pretty looking site (hence why he isn't offering it on 99designs) and offering a prize to make it more fun.
Have you taken a look at what he actually wants designed? It's a single page that lists the committers. It's not a full site design, he's not looking for the world's best designer. I think he's offering a very fair price and the time commitment is low compared to true spec work.
I'm a designer. I'm against spec work. I don't consider this to be spec work.
Tried to bring the minimalistic Japanese feel to it, like Ruby is.
(The signature on the upper corner is only for the heroku preview. I wanted to sign it for the competition, but didn't want to write my name anywhere on the site)
I am constantly blown away by how overly complicated rails is for getting a simple site set up. It almost seems like this site would be better as just plain html (or a simple sinatra site...). But oh well, I digress, sounds like fun.
This isn't some guy looking to get cheap work from random designers. It's a core member of an open-source project asking its ardent followers if they'd like to contribute something, with a smallish cash prize as a nice thank-you.
It isn't different .. this is a request for speculative work - and they're also asking for completed projects up front (in the same way that 99designs does). There's also a very small 'prize'.
A web site that connects design & development entrepreneurs. It exists to make creating apps easier by connecting you with like-minded designers & developers with the same goal: create cool & useful apps. Build It With Me will help you bootstrap your ideas into actual apps.
Why'd we make it? Because we want to make it easier for likeminded developers and designers to meet and collaborate with one another. In other words, we want to help folks actually build the lovely projects they're thinking about.
[+] [-] lwhi|15 years ago|reply
EDIT: Actually, I feel a bit bad for posting this - still, I do believe that spec-work isn't good for designers. Competitions aren't necessarily the most productive way to go about creating a new web design for an open source project.
[+] [-] sudont|15 years ago|reply
One of the biggest common gripes here is the non-technical partner who "just needs a programmer" to get the project off the ground. Everyone bashes those types, yet this exact thing, except for exploiting designers, is on the front page. There'd be a riot if some marketer came on this board looking for a programmer, cheap.
[+] [-] tptacek|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icey|15 years ago|reply
Don't get me wrong, I don't know tenderlove at all and I've never even met him (or twatted with him on the twitter). But I have a lot of karma so obviously I know things.
[+] [-] jellisjapan|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] proexploit|15 years ago|reply
I'm a designer. I'm against spec work. I don't consider this to be spec work.
[+] [-] unknown|15 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] jamesteow|15 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|15 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] tenderlove|15 years ago|reply
<3<3<3<3<3
[+] [-] spicycode|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] enra|15 years ago|reply
Tried to bring the minimalistic Japanese feel to it, like Ruby is.
(The signature on the upper corner is only for the heroku preview. I wanted to sign it for the competition, but didn't want to write my name anywhere on the site)
[+] [-] leftnode|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] icco|15 years ago|reply
I am constantly blown away by how overly complicated rails is for getting a simple site set up. It almost seems like this site would be better as just plain html (or a simple sinatra site...). But oh well, I digress, sounds like fun.
[+] [-] veeti|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pavel_lishin|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tenderlove|15 years ago|reply
https://skitch.com/aaron.patterson/r8s8i/keywords-google-ana...
[+] [-] dangero|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] EGreg|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] chc|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tenderlove|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lwhi|15 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cancelbubble|15 years ago|reply
A web site that connects design & development entrepreneurs. It exists to make creating apps easier by connecting you with like-minded designers & developers with the same goal: create cool & useful apps. Build It With Me will help you bootstrap your ideas into actual apps.
http://collabfinder.com (this site is not responding as I enter this)
Why'd we make it? Because we want to make it easier for likeminded developers and designers to meet and collaborate with one another. In other words, we want to help folks actually build the lovely projects they're thinking about.