No not really, but it got your attention didn’t it?
Take a look at this topic.
Apparantly, some dude (Jonathan Fields) with FS connections is publishing a book. He started a contest where one had to design the cover of his new book. Winner would rece…

You must be kidding. You should try backing up your statements before you go throwing accusations around mave.I have never hired an offshore developer or designer to do any work, ever.

I created an open market place where clients can get several proposals from multiple designers. This is what is expected in a free market economy. I do not discriminate against anyone just because they are from a poor country, we let everyone bid on projects. Many clients will not even accept proposals from desigenrs outside their country, or outside their local metro area, we allow them to decide who they want to work with.

We even suggest proper rates for levels of skill and experience and turn away several clients if their budgets are too low. As its a free market, no one is forced to bid on projects that are asking for too much work, and several designers exercise this right.

There are good clients and there are bad clients, a lot of these clients want a lot of work for very little money because they are trying to start a business with little or no capital. These people should not be allowed to get the work they want done? They don’t have much money so they have to settle for a student or an offshore developer that doesn’t have the skills of a high-paid freelancer - but you are effectively saying that these people should not be able to get service because of their lack of funds, even though there are people in worse circumstances than you that are happy to provide (albeit lower quality) this service at a discount.

How does this translate into me making money off the backs of people in those countries?

We offer a simple service, we deliver sales leads so designers can concentrate on design instead of marketing. Unlike many other sites like elance or GAF we don’t encourage bidding wars and keep designers bids private so they arent trying to underbid eachother. Once a designers gets a client, they have direct communication so they can keep the client for years without paying us another cent.

So again I ask you - how am I making a living off the backs of people in countries where work is undervalued? You think I am doing something unethical? Explain it to me please.

So your offended that this guy decided to have a contest? It offends your sensabilities as a designer? Give me a freaking break. I started freelancing over 14 years ago and when I was starting out I did a ton of pro-bono and horribly underpaid jobs in order to build up a portfolio, its called paying your dues. So you already have a nice portfolio and your art degree or whatever other credentials have brought you to the point to where you do not have to do spec work, well congratulations. Guess what, there are a lot of people who aren’t there yet, and they don’t have a stream of clients that they can demand $100/hour from, they are hungry and desparate to build a portfolio and get some experience under their belt. A design contest is a good way to do it.

Myself, I haven’t freelanced in years, and I certainly wouldn’t do spec work or enter a contest, my time is too valuable. I also wouldn’t condem another person or website just because they decided to hold a contest.

And let me tell you something else, you better get used to the fact that its not going away. There are a couple billion people who do not enjoy the economic status of the first world but have just as much talent to offer. The difference is that they can feed their family for 3 months on $1000.

They are already here and more are coming. Everyday they are gainnig skills and experience that will put them on par with the best designers in the US and Europe and they will do it for 1/4 the price or less. Trying to make sites stop these contest isnt going to stop globablization and thats exactly what this thread is really about. They will do spec work, they will do it all night and day on the off chance that they can sell one out of ten designs. All the complaining in the world isnt going to stop them so you better come up with a better plan than whining and boycotting design contests.

As a writer for FS, I just wanted to add my two bit.

I get where many of you are coming from. There are a lot of scammers out there trying to make a buck from freelancers. Frankly-it sucks.

But, I also met Jonathan Fields the day before this article went up. His eyes lit up when he talked about how cool of an opportunity this might be for someone. He is genuine to the core and proposed this idea to his publishers himself. He was NOT in it for the money.

Anyways, I know he pulled the contest because his intentions were misunderstood. But I just wanted to make it clear that Jonathan is not one to take advantage of anyone. He truly had his heart in the right place.