CROWDRING

A new start-up, crowdSPRING (www.crowdspring.com) launched an invite-only beta test two days ago with a BANG -they are offering $5,000 for the winning homepage design and two $500 runner-up prizes. The award is open to everyone, and from the names of designers who have already submitted homepage designs, it appears that crowdSPRING has attracted quite a group - including designers from 99 Designs and a number of other popular sites. This is a great way for designers to make some money and to stake claim to be THE designer of the homepage for what looks to be a very interesting company with an approach and attitude that clearly differs from the other companies we’ve covered (such as Kluster, Pixish, etc.).

crowdSPRING (odd capitalization) is saying that it intends to radically transform the purchase of creative services. Unlike other sites we covered, crowdSPRING is taking a very focused, simple approach. The beta is by invitation only, and we are told there are already projects with a total in the thousands of dollars in fees. Judging from the public site, this one looks very promising. If they truly have simplified the process of buying services, their model will make the purchase of creative services accessible to people and businesses of all sizes.

We asked for an invitation (to post a project), but have not received a response yet. [NOTE: Someone has suggested emailing: privatebeta@crowdspring.com to request an invitation. We did that, but have not yet received a response].

The pages describing how the crowdSPRING marketplace (what they call it) will work discuss some really great features for the protection of intellectual property (such as customized legal contracts!). Additionally - something creatives will like — all buyers will be required to escrow funds prior to the start of a project. There also will be a Feedback and Ratings system which will hopefully allow people to rate one another on a range of variables and not simply plus or minus (like eBay). It appears that crowdSPRING studied the competition and talked to creatives, because they are including features that nobody else has, but ones that will surely be appreciated by the creative community and buyers alike.

We hope to provide more information after the site launches publicly or if we are lucky enough to get accepted into beta. If you have seen the beta site, we’d love to hear from you.

Pixish.com was founded about one month ago and is targeted to photographers and illustrators. They have a nice site design and the founder has a solid past in starting internet companies. Pixish helps buyers reach an audience of creatives and helps creatives reach an audience of buyers but, again, it’s targeted more towards photography and illustration. Right now, if you want images, you have two options. You could hire an artist (expensive, difficult, and time-consuming) or you could surf microstock sites (cheap, but frustrating and time-consuming). Pixish seeks to be a middle path.

On Pixish, you can post an Assignment that asks for exactly the kind of imagery you need. The Pixish creative community can then submit their work, and review each other’s submissions. Then all you have to do is pick the winners.

Should be interesting.

A new startup in this space launched with a bang at TED. Kluster opened for business a few days before the TED conference and its first project was a collaboration to design a new product. The new product - an educational board game to raise cultural awareness.

Kluster wants to let people impact the decision making process and has invented its own currency and “terms” for actions on the site. Focused on changing project management and product development, Kluster has come up with interesting but often confusing rules and terms.

The site design looks generally good overall, and is bound to improve further, since they are just getting started. Kluster definitely has some good ideas, but individuals, small and midsize businesses may have trouble following all of the rules on Kluster.

Kluster has managed to do one thing very well - they have been able to get their message out and have generated good buzz. Kluster claims to have a few large companies ready to start projects, and we’ll do a follow-up when we learn more. At this point, we remain unconvinced that a complicated and sometimes confusing model can change product development. But we are eager to see if Kluster succeeds.

SitePoint, a forum for web and graphics designers, has decided to reinvent its contests section and has spun-off a new business that it calls 99 Designs . At this moment, 99 Designs has the same look and feel as SitePoint, but from posts in the 99 Designs blog, they are working to change the look and feel of the site.

The contests section on SitePoint was a small area where buyers could post a “contest” for a log design, for example, and designers submitted designs. The buyer would select winning designs. Other than providing a forum for posting such projects, SitePoint did little else - no payment assistance, no intellectual property assistance, no dispute assistance, etc. With 99 Designs, it is not yet clear whether the new “company” will continue in the same footsteps as the contests section on SitePoint, or whether they will further improve their site. Early indications suggest that 99 Designs is working to add nice features, but there is a lot of competition in this space, including a new startup - Pixish.com (more on them in the next few days).

We’ll let you know about our experience there - we plan to post a project on 99 Designs and report on our experience!

Elance.com and Guru.com are traditional online marketplaces where buyers can look for freelance talent to work on their projects. On those sites, a buyer posts a project brief, or RFP, and providers respond with bids on the project. The buyer chooses the bid which best meets their needs and arranges with the chosen provider to have the work completed. This model is essentially a clearinghouse, which facilitates the traditional service-buyer/provider relationship.

Elance and Guru earn revenue through a combination of member fees, commissions, and service fees. Both firms have been in the market since approximately 1998. Both offer ready-made service packages. Providers can offer packages of services, such as turnkey websites, or business identity packages at a set price, ready to be customized for the buyer.

Elance recently redesigned their home page (a nice improvement) so as to consolidate a lot of the information that appeared on the old page.  Online reviews suggest that success on Elance and Guru is mixed.  Some people are successful in finding great help for their projects.  Others are not.  On the other side, creatives and technical people, particularly those with limited experience, often find it difficult to compete on those marketplaces.  We plan to try a few projects on both Elance and Guru and report on our findings.