#crowd creativity

With the rapid development of new media, many new forms of labour also born in the new media enterprises. Actually, people working in, with new media now in not very different. Cloud labour is now becoming a very common phenomenon in the new media. According to Fuchs (2013), Internet prosumer labour is a new form of labour that is connected to other forms of exploited labour which is unpaid or low paid.

   “Corporations reduce their investment costs and labour costs, jobs are destroyed, and consumers who work for free are extremely exploited. They produce surplus valuethat is appropriated and turned into profit by corporations without paying wages” (Fuchs 2014, 106). As the companies grew up with the tide of internet, from the outset, their strategy is to make full use of internet resources. The key reason is, crowdsourcing can help companies save a lot a lot of money.

  Crowd creativity

New media enterprises find a shortcut which is to find talent in the crowd. The example of Threadless could explain how the “shortcut” works. 

A T-shirt company called Threadless located in Chicago suffered benefit by designing new T-shirt with the use of new media crowdsourcing. The company collected the print design on their T-shirt on their website. The company's Web site received hundreds of pieces of design every week from amateur "fan" or professional artists. Then they put these designs on the site for users for rating and commenting. The top rating T-shirt design will be in the mass production shortlist (Chwialkowska 2012). Thus, the "triple win" situation was basically formed. The designers’ creativity be fully exploited, also their names will be printed on every T-shirt. The person with the highest score would win a medal and prize. Consumer’s participation and satisfaction were greatly enhanced. Threadless not only save the cost of hiring professional designers, but also obtain profit from selling those T-shirts with the corresponding online orders.

YouTube Video: Threadless / Make Great Together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqEeYqg2kSg&list=PL9D033EC9B13CD91F

  “Thereby corporations reduce their investment costs and labour costs, jobs are destroyed, and consumers who work for free are extremely exploited” (Fuchs 2013, 108). Crowdsourcing is a way of publishing tasks through the Internet to enable enterprises to not require specialized recruiters, not need to set up a dedicated office space, which can save a lot of costs accordingly.

  Furthermore, I think it provides opportunity people to give full play to the role of human resources. The barriers erected between amateurs and professionals are to be broken by the new media crowdsourcing. Because the Internet is an international open platform, not limited by region, country and nation, etc. As long as you have ability to complete related tasks, you can become “Witkey”. It breaks through the constraints of fixed place of work and working hours, and maximum the range and the use of the human resources community. Consumers can directly input their own ideas. Then companies allow consumers to assess their own ideas after gathering the opinions by crowdsourcing. Finally, the implement "mass customization", that greatly reduces the market risk of the product.

        References

Fuchs, Christian. 2013. Chapter 5: The Power and Political Economy of Social Media. In Fuchs, Christian, Social media: a critical introduction, (pp.97 - 125). London, UK: Sage Publications. https://qutvirtual3.qut.edu.au/qv/cmd_common_p.show_item?p_item_id=212871

Crowdsourcing

I found week 4 lecture very interesting since I had never heard of the name/topic crowdsourcing before. Although I realised that it was not all that new to me since I (obviously) know for example what Wikipedia is and how it works (just to clarify, Wikipedia allows their ‘crowd’ to create and publish information and has become a world known online encyclopaedia). In addition, Theresa Sauter (2014) described crowdsourcing as “harnessing collective resources (knowledge, money, creativity) to solve problems and/or produce things” and that there are various different kinds of crowdsourcing. Furthermore, Jenkins (cited in Fuchs 2013, 98) explains it as "the Web has become a site of consumer participation".  Consumers are contributing to crowdsourcing by participate in various activities. However, by participate in these activities we might not always know what it is that we are actually contributing to.

Since there are several different types of crowdsourcing I will focus on 2 specific ones, Gamification and Crowd creativity.

Gamification

Crowdsourcing (2014b) explains that gamification encourage the crowed in playing a digital game were the participant is being rewards with “award points, badges, status levels etc”. The real aim for gamification is that companies are actually trying to engage the public in a game while the company gain the public’s interest in their service, product or brand. One example is a game called “Mole bridge” (see YouTube clip) where the crowed is challenged “to correctly identify text” (Crowdsourcing 2014b). However, the truth is that the “participants are helping to digitize the Finnish National Archives” (Crowdsourcing 2014b). Fuchs (2013, 118-119) describes it as the world has become a “social factory” where the internet is blurring “the boundaries between play and work”. The participants might not be aware what they are contributing towards since they might just see it as a fun game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-W9cf9u9Qw#t=17

(Microtaskblog 2011)

  Crowd creativity

As the title reveals the second type of crowdsourcing is crowed creativity which is referring to participants taking part of generating creative content such as photographs, advertising graphic design branding concepts etc. for companies for free (Crowdsourcing 2014a).

A juice company in Sweden used a type of crowed creativity when they promoted a new juice. The campaign invited people to log on to the company’s website and participate in designing their own juice including, taste, design, name, and then share their design on Facebook. The winner would then find their own designed juice in store. It is cleaver way to involve the consumer to participate, get feedback and advertise a product.

(Resumé 2013) 

However, there are many disadvantages in crowdsourcing. Below I have listed what I believe could be disadvantages in crowd creativity and gamification:

Labour market suffer since the consumer is doing the job for free              

Companies can easily copy concepts

No pay to participants

Addiction

Risk factor – there are no guarantee that the campaign will be a success

Poor quality

We are not always aware what it is that we are participating in as we might just see it as a fun game, or we are just trying to be creative. Therefore, we might need to pay more attention to what it is that we are actually participating in and ask our self “do I support what this company is trying to sell…?”

  References

Crowdsourcing. 2014a. “Crowed Creativity”. Accessed March 27, 2014. http://www.crowdsourcing.org/community/crowd-creativity/3

  Crowdsourcing. 2014b. “How Gamification drives Crowdsourcing”. Accessed March 27, 2014. http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/how-gamification-drives-crowdsourcing/6419

Fuchs, Christian. 2013. “Chapter 5 : The Power and Political Economy of Social Media”. In Social media: a critical introduction, 97-125. London: Sage Publications. Accessed March 27, 2014. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/ 

Microtaskblog. 2011. “How to play Mole Bridge.” YouTube video, posted Februari 1, 2011. Accessed March 27, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-W9cf9u9Qw#t=17

Resumé. 2013. “Bravo låter folket blanda”. Image. Accessed March 27, 2014. http://www.resume.se/nyheter/reklam/2013/04/16/bravo-later-folket-blanda/

We've just added a bunch of features to IdeaDemocracy that we think you'll find both useful as well as enjoy using. Here are some of them.

1. You can now start an IdeaProject and even better its free for a limited time only! Choose your category - Graphic Design, Original Writing, Web & Mobile or Multi-media and get started. 

2. You can now view Ideator or individual creatives. Browse through portfolios, applaud work that you like or simply get in touch.

3. We've added messaging. So feel free to get in touch and communicate with fellow creatives or people posting IdeaProjects.

We hope to see you on IdeaDemocracy! Its a great way for businesses and brands to connect with creative talent and Ideas. And its a great way for creative talent to connect with business opportunities.

ID: What made you become a graphic designer?

VB: Ever since I can remember, I’ve been passionate about art and design. I’ve grown up appreciating bold uses of colour, fluid animations, creative character designs and whimsical fonts. I studied Art Fundamentals and Visual and Creative Arts for a total of two years at Sheridan College.  After building a solid traditional foundation, I studied 3D Multimedia Animation for two years at Humber College. I graduated from both institutions with honours. My studies at both institutions lead me to digital painting and graphic design. I now find that I split my time between painting digitally and creating graphic designs for clients.

ID: Where do you find your design inspiration?

VB: I’m constantly looking at other designs that catch my attention – everything from greeting cards to fellow artists’ online portfolios. I’ve built up a pretty extensive “inspiration folder.”   I’ve noticed my folder has recurrent themes, colours and layouts. I have a particular style that I’m consistently attracted to, and I implement that style in all of my pieces. My design process varies a little for each design, depending on the particular intent, but my goal is consistently similar: to create a striking marriage between font, layout and colour.

ID: What’s Toronto’s best kept design secret?

VB: I would say that undiscovered talent is the best kept design secret in Toronto. Toronto is home to many talented artists who have yet to be discovered.

ID: What according to you are the top three trends in design today?

VB: I would say the top three design trends today will continue to be popular in years to come: non-standard fonts, mixing neutral and bold colours, and utilizing minimalistic layouts.   1) Non-standard fonts have become increasingly popular over the last few years. Gone are the years of using default, predictable fonts. Designers like myself are always reaching out for fresh new fonts. It’s an  exciting process to find new fonts and try them in different scenarios to see which fonts interact well aesthetically.  2) Mixing neutral and bold colour palettes has become a popular practice. Consumers will often see cards and brand identity designs (ie. logos, business cards) using classic, neutral colours with a striking  dash of colour. The sparing use of an eye-catching accent colour acts as a focal point, immediately drawing the attention of the viewer / consumer. A famous example of this is the YouTube logo, with “You”  acting as the neutral, and “Tube” acting as the bold colour accent.  3) Minimalistic layouts are a fantastic, popular design element that allow for easy readability. When viewers see a magazine spread with a clean, simple layout, for example, the focus is placed where it  should be: on the written content and/or the photographs.  Less is more. The same thing goes for business cards and other forms of graphic media. Minimalistic layouts are becoming increasingly popular as  they allow the designer to communicate exactly what is required in a straightforward manner.

ID: What’s the brightest idea you had today?

VB: Lately, I’ve been very open to exploration. I’ve been experimenting with a variety of new fonts. There are so many out there! A lot of them serve different purposes, and certain fonts – ones you may assume would never look good together—make unique, exciting statements in combination with one another.

ID: What do you like most about IdeaDemocracy?

VB: I love that IdeaDemocracy has become such a large, thriving community in such a short period of time. It’s an excellent platform for artists and businesses alike, providing businesses with innovative and creative solutions, and allowing artists to grow through inspiration and competition. IdeaDemocracy also has a higher standard of quality design compared to other websites in the same field, guaranteeing premium designs of which businesses can feel proud. These attributes set it, as a platform, above its competitors.

ID: So Jake, what’s with the Iron Man business?

JR: Ironman (Tony Stark) is smart, resourceful, charming, funny and filthy rich. The only negative aspect to him is his enormous ego (which is usually his downfall). He has the ability to fly (which is a fantasy of mine) with his suit, as well as come up with super cool gadgets.

I could have picked real superheroes such as Superman, but I chose Ironman because of him being 100% human. After all human challenges are what makes life fulfilling to live.

ID: So where does Graphic Design fit in?

JR: Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had 2 passions: art and sports. I’ve always loved to draw, usually copying what I saw from comic books and also from the TV screen, to doodling in textbooks and copying the faces of my teachers when I was bored in class as a kid.

This passion for the arts eventually led to graphic design since I found the profession cool, and something I could do while getting paid and having fun.

Click the image to view more of his work.

ID: Where do you find your design inspiration?

JR: Pardon the cliché, but I get inspiration from everywhere. It could be in my surroundings, the patterns of leaves, the shapes of the clouds to the architecture of buildings. The various patterns and arrangements found in my surroundings truly fascinate me.

Other works of great artists inspire me as well. I mean which artist or designer has not been inspired by past practitioners? The only ones I could think of are prehistoric cavemen who made those ancient cave paintings and sculptures. The important thing in having others as inspiration is still staying innovative as well as making sure that my works are truly “inspired” and not rip-offs of other works.

ID: What’s Manila’s best kept design secret?

JR:  Philippines are known worldwide for its beaches and tropical weather but we also have a lot of talent in the art and design scene.

Manila’s (The capital of the Philippines) best secret I guess is the amount of talent in the art and design industries here. Creatives here have the potential to match international talent in terms of output of art/design work.

Filipinos even win a lot of online international graphic and/or art contests in the Internet; to think competition comes from countries around the world. Examples of these are the graphic t-shirt design competitions where a lot of the winners are Filipinos.

ID: What do you think are the top three trends in Graphic Design today?

JR: From what I’ve observed, the top three trends in my opinion are:

1.)    Retro elements – Retro elements such as classic ribbons with text on it, moustaches, as well as typography used in the 40’s and 50’s. I’ve just seen a lot lately (including some of my works – haha!). I guess a big inspiration for this trend is the surface of the Hipster sub-genre in culture.

2.)    Clean and minimalist– For logos, here a few examples. Starbucks got rid of the text around the Mermaid and retained the Mermaid mark itself to represent the company. Microsoft Windows’ new logo is a very minimalist version of the famous Windows icon. Apple and Nike has done this for awhile.

Websites are getting cleaner as well, using less color and the power of great typography to bring out the message being communicated.

3.)    Large Typography – Very large fonts in websites or posters used to both make the text the design itself as well as using appropriate typography as a way to communicate the message being conveyed.

ID: What’s the brightest Idea you had today?

JR: Waking up early for a run, eating a healthy breakfast of oatmeal and mangoes partnered with hot coffee – this BRIGHT IDEA of doing this most of the time will surely prolong my life.

ID: What do you like most about IdeaDemocracy?

JR: I have 3 specific things I like most about IdeaDemocracy, not just one.

First, they have IdeaContracts; which is a unique concept and is a far cry from the usual crowdsourcing websites, which makes the designer do speculative work only.

Secondly, I really like the portion where the client gives a brief to the designers. It is really in-depth and detailed, even going to a point to show the designers “IdeaStarters” of logos that they like in order to give the designers a great idea of what they really want.

Lastly, the founders of IdeaDemocracy are really approachable and helpful.