Archive for the ‘Site Updates’ Category
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
Although project galleries on crowdSPRING can be visible to all users, crowdSPRING offers buyers the option to make their project galleries completely private.
We put together this short tutorial to help you understand the differences between public and private galleries and to answer some of the most common questions we regularly hear from users, including: Do public or private galleries get more entries? Which one is better for which type of project? Can gallery settings be changed after a project is posted?
PUBLIC (open) GALLERY
In a design project, the entries in a public gallery are visible to all users (in writing projects, the galleries are always private). If the project has an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) the gallery is visible after the NDA is executed.
When buyers score entries, creatives can only see their own scores and comments from the buyer (until after a project is awarded, when scores – but not comments – are revealed). Creatives can use the “Project stats” tool at the top of the gallery to decide if the buyer is active in the project (this tool show the total number of comments and the score distribution in the project).
PROs
FOR THE BUYER - Although opinions are split about open and closed galleries, we’ve found that more creatives tend to participate in open gallery projects (there are plenty of exceptions, because the size of the award, quality of the brief, and other factors also play an important role). Since we make it very easy for anyone to report potential violations of intellectual property, open galleries also make it easier for other participants to flag problem entries.
FOR THE CREATIVE – The creatives can see the competition, how other designers solve the problem, and bring up their own designs accordingly. They may also see if they can add something new to the project, or realize the competition is too stiff, and choose to move on to something else.
CONs
FOR THE BUYER – If a buyer is concerned about privacy, open galleries may not be the best option. A public gallery will allow others to see the ideas in the gallery. So if you’re concerned about privacy, you should definitely consider a private gallery. Also, some creatives only prefer to work in private gallery projects. This is a minor point because overall, participation in open gallery projects is very high.
FOR THE CREATIVE- If a creative has a unique concept, posting in an open gallery will show others that concept – and some creatives are leery of letting other creatives see (and potentially copy) their work in progress. We have strict rules about concept copying (see Q&A 14 in our post about intellectual property) – if an original concept is copied, the creative can easily report the entry by clicking ”Report violation” in the details view for that entry.
PRIVATE (closed) GALLERY
In a private gallery, only the buyer can see all of the submissions. Creatives only see their own entries in that project.
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Tags: blog, community, creative, creativity, crowdspring, design, designer, gallery, graphic design, graphics design, logo design, private gallery, public gallery
Posted in community, crowdsourcing, design, Site Updates | 5 Comments »
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
The July cS Award of $1,000 will be given to a designer or writer who has the highest average buyer score for all entries they submit to crowdSPRING projects during July.
To be eligible, you must participate, during the month of July, in at least five (5) projects on crowdSPRING and submit at least ten (10) entries total.
You do not need to win a project to be eligible for the July award.
Good luck to everyone!
Tags: crowdspring, cS Award, design, graphic design, web design, wriitng
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, Site Updates | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
Last month we announced that we would be issuing a monthly cS Award to honor quality work by designers and writers in the crowdSPRING community. The first award was to go the the designer or writer who was awarded at least one project during the month of June, and who had the highest average buyer score for all their entries submitted to projects last month.
We are thrilled to announce that June’s award will go to iSergio, who had a perfect buyer score of 5.0! iSergio won the project “Zappta ecommerce project” for which he was awarded all three of the awards offered. iSergio has been a crowdSPRING member since August, 2009 and comes from Kiev, Ukraine. We are proud to have him in our community as a wonderful Creative and are proud that he will receive the $1,000 cS Award for June.
Thanks, iSergio, and congratulations on winning the first monthly cS Award!
Image: iSergio
Tags: contest, creativity, crowdspring, cS Award, graphic design, graphics design, graphics designer, inspiration, leadership
Posted in Awesomeness, community, inspiration, Site Updates | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, June 15th, 2011
Starting this June, crowdSPRING will have monthly cS Awards to honor quality work by designers and writers in the crowdSPRING community.
At the beginning of each month, we’ll announce the criteria for that month’s cS Award – we’ll do our best to keep it simple and objective – and to focus on honoring quality work.
The June cS Award of $1,000 will be given to a designer or writer who is awarded at least one project on crowdSPRING during the month of June and who has the highest average buyer score for all entries they submitted to projects during June. If there’s a tie, the tiebreaker will go to the creative who participated in the most projects during June.
Tags: crowdspring, cS Award, design, graphic design, web design, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, community, crowdsourcing, Site Updates | No Comments »
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The image above is one of a number of fun and creative ads. More creative and fun ads in the Social Media and Marketing section below.
Thinking about selling your small business or startup? Here are five 5 tips for a safe exit – http://bit.ly/mdxENv
Good article by @jasonfried arguing business owners should not exaggerate size of their companies – http://bit.ly/iFRXNc
Thinking about selling your small business or startup? Here are five 5 tips for a safe exit – http://bit.ly/mdxENv
Startup Mantra: Hire Fast, Fire Fast – http://bit.ly/kXbWAv
Study shows Chicago lacks strong tech investor base – http://trib.in/jvjhpj
HOW TO: Sign Up Users Even Before You Launch Your Startup – http://on.mash.to/kaX2PC
The Way I Work: David Karp of Tumblr – http://bit.ly/jHPZqA
Good article by @jasonfried arguing entrepreneurs should not exaggerate size of their companies – http://bit.ly/iFRXNc
Good post by @micah about the need for startup founders to think about their health/well-being – http://bit.ly/mBa0N7
Inspired By The Start Fund, New World Ventures Offers Chicago Excelerate Startups $50K – http://tcrn.ch/iZloug
Do ad agencies struggle with social? – http://bit.ly/icuF9Q
Huge Pack Of Creative Ads – 180 Examples – http://bit.ly/jtfiEA
25 Fresh, funny and creative print advertisements – http://bit.ly/mdqR4F
185 Informative Illustrator Tutorials to make You a Better Designer – http://bit.ly/lIsNMN
33 Excellent Photoshop Tutorials For Designing Posters – http://bit.ly/lQjzD2
Retro designs are again in style for consumer goods product packaging – http://on.wsj.com/kJCH5H
Mind blowing examples of experimental typography – http://bit.ly/lPuUz9
50 Fresh And Amazing Free Photoshop Tutorial Roundup – http://bit.ly/iwb6qk
33 Excellent Photoshop Tutorials For Designing Posters – http://bit.ly/lQjzD2
(more…)
Tags: ads, advertising, copywriting, crowdsourcing, design, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, facebook, industrial design, leadership, marketing, package design, pr, product design, public relations, small biz, small business, social media, startup, twitter, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, Site Updates, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | No Comments »
Monday, April 11th, 2011
It is almost 3 years since we opened the doors to crowdSPRING and in that time we have grown dramatically. In May of 2008, we started out with fewer than 600 registered users. By May of 2009 we had grown to just under 30,000, and by May 2010 we were 79,000 strong; today we have nearly 125,000 registered users and are growing by 1,100 per week! And they are active: after one year in business, Creatives had collectively submitted over 275,000 entries to projects; by May 2010 the entry count was over 900,000 and as of today the number has more than doubled with over 1.8 million individual entries submitted to projects on the site!
Traffic to the site has also increased dramatically; When we launched on May 6th, 2008 we had already received over 19,000 visits during our beta-testing period. By the same date in 2009 we had received 551,000 visits; a year later we were well over 1.3 million. Our growth continues to accelerate; to date we have welcomed more than 2.3 million visitors!
The international flavor of our community has not ceased to amaze us and our footprint has continued to spread since we launched – after our first year in business visitors came from 204 countries and spoke 136 languages. By May of 2010 they came from 219 countries and spoke 199 languages; according to Google Analytics, there are only 5 countries from which we have not had a single visit: Chad, Western Sahara, Mauritania, Guinea, and The Central African Republic. But, not to worry – as I write this, our marketing geniuses are actively targeting those 5 nations and we expect to welcome them to our community in 2011!
Interestingly, we have become more international with each year – after one year in business, US visitors accounted for 73% of the traffic to the site; in the last year US visits accounted for only 61%! What were the 10 visiting countries in the past 3 years, you ask? Take a look here to see how the Top 10 have changed in each year over year:
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Tags: community, countries, creative, crowdsourcing, crowdspring, inspiration, languages, traffic, visitors
Posted in business, community, inspiration, Site Updates | 10 Comments »
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
I am so over this Winter in Chicago so, naturally, when I saw a logo project on the site for a blog about traveling the world I had to take a look. Little did I know, there was so much more to the blog than just world travel.
Lisa Lubin, the Magellan behind LLWorldTour, is a three-time Emmy-award-winning television writer/producer/editor with more than a decade of experience in television production. She produces a variety of broadcast specials, including food & restaurant segments for WGN-TV.
For about ten years, Lisa produced a weekly lifestyles and entertainment magazine show on ABC Chicago. After 15 years in Television she quit the TV life and spent three years traveling and working her way around the world. She writes about travel and has readers and subscribers from all over the world.
Lisa posted a logo project on the site and awarded esyu! I got a chance to talk to Lisa about her life’s adventures and she has some great advice for you guys…
1. How did you get things designed before crowdSPRING?
In my professional career as a TV producer, I was fortunate enough to work in broadcast facilities and stations with their own graphic design departments to do any and all graphics, animations, websites, etc. It was a luxury. Now as a freelancer if I have a need for my own website, I have so far just done simple things myself. This is my first project for myself in which I am paying to have something designed. If I didn’t use crowdSPRING, I would have just hired one designer in my price range.
2. Why in the world did you decide to use crowdSPRING?!
A very good friend of mine, who used to work for Feedburner/Google, suggested it to me. She is actually the person that got me going on a WordPress blog in the first place nearly five years ago. She is always in the know of all things web-like and I trust her advice, plus I liked the fact that they were a local start-up. I’m a fan of all things Chicago and it does mean more to me to use a company that I know is right here.
(more…)
Tags: crowdspring, lisa lubin, llworldtour, small biz, small business
Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, Site Updates, social media, start-up tips, Strategy | No Comments »
Thursday, January 13th, 2011
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
The image above is from an outstanding collection of black and white photographs taken by Vivian Maier, a street photographer whose work was discovered at an auction in Chicago. Her fascinating story is in the Other section below.
Crowdsourcing Examples in Business – http://bit.ly/ghMbXI
crowdSPRING’s latest small biz newsletter: lean marketing, social media, crowdsourcing & more – http://bit.ly/fdfdFh
crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: D.I.Y. Wholesale Flowers – http://bit.ly/hhzR10
List of hosting choices by yc startups – http://bit.ly/f7VeCm
Going to raise VC at some point? Here’s a short primer on process, people & deck -http://bit.ly/hCIenD
VC’s apparently are increasingly nervous about early stage investments – http://bit.ly/ebz1S8
Women-Run Tech Startups – http://bit.ly/fSyGoi
When They Are Throwing Money At You – http://bit.ly/i07O63
10 Rules for modern collaboration – http://bit.ly/fv2RaT
What’s next for social media marketing (slides) – http://scr.bi/eXk57V
Celebrities in Advertising Are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money – http://bit.ly/eygbnA
(more…)
Tags: ads, advertising, copywriting, crowdsourcing, design, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, facebook, industrial design, leadership, marketing, packaging design, pr, product design, public relations, small biz, small business, social media, startup, twitter, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Site Updates, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology, writing | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!
10 Tips for Startups and Small Businesses on Naming Your Company - http://bit.ly/d7DPXv
Small business or self-employed: finding the courage to trade - http://bit.ly/a5XpSZ
6 Reasons Why People Are Afraid to Start a Business - http://bit.ly/dAwdDS
@crowdSPRING Small Biz Newsletter. This issue focuses on starting a business - http://bit.ly/cP2zSe
@IncMagazine writes on importance of a good biz name - http://bit.ly/dBbVQi (expand) | 10 tips to get one - http://bit.ly/d7DPXv
crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: Swiftrank – http://bit.ly/c74FKK
10 Tips for Startups and Small Businesses on Naming Your Company - http://bit.ly/d7DPXv
6 Reasons Why People Are Afraid to Start a Business - http://bit.ly/dAwdDS
New York Times interview with Twitter VC @fredwilson – http://nyti.ms/a1cuga
Small business or self-employed: finding the courage to trade - http://bit.ly/a5XpSZ
The 12 Dysfunctions of an Entrepreneur - http://bit.ly/aD8aQg
@crowdSPRING Small Biz Newsletter. This issue focuses on starting a business - http://bit.ly/cP2zSe
@IncMagazine writes on importance of a good biz name -http://bit.ly/dBbVQi (expand) | 10 tips to get one - http://bit.ly/d7DPXv
The Art of Failure: The Point transforms into Groupon - http://bit.ly/abucu9
Great quote for entrepreneurs from Theodore Roosevelt – http://bestc.am/E3Eo
7 Steps to Creating and Cultivating a Brand in Social Media - http://bit.ly/9g277a
New study says most companies use social media w/o strategy - http://bit.ly/dyNymo
30 of the Best Infographics that Effectively Showcase Data - http://bit.ly/dux7vQ
50+ Great Examples of Creative Print Advertisement Design - http://bit.ly/bLgXhQ
Mega Collection Of Cheatsheets for Designers And Developers - http://bit.ly/b1bCzL
Dealing with trademark, copyright and Legal issues - http://bit.ly/bmcYdP
Collection of Beautiful Magazine Covers for Inspiration -http://bit.ly/cCXPLf
27 Spicy Event Flyer Design Samples - http://bit.ly/d44Z04
(more…)
Tags: copywriting, crowdspring, design, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship, facebook, leadership, marketing, pr, public relations, small business, smallbiz, social media, startup, twitter, writing
Posted in Awesomeness, business, community, crowdsourcing, design, How To, inspiration, Interviews, marketing, Reviews, Site Updates, social media, start-up tips, Strategy, Technology | No Comments »
