I feel kinda dirty

As the job continues to plod along in its predictable pace; as the cigarette craving has subsided and the gum chewing frequency has decreased; as the long northwest winter eases out of its shortest days; I find myself looking to more creative stimulation. The screenprinting is going well, perhaps more on that later. I have also redoubled my efforts to secure freelance graphic design projects as a way to keep my design sense sharp while bringing in some extra money.

Craigslist is among the sites I troll for work. I check the Creative Gigs page almost daily and almost daily there is, among the creepy solicitations for young female photo models, a listing or two posted by someone looking for design work. The posts vary in length and information. Some seem honest while others smell like scams, or at least schemes to get skilled design work done for extremely cheap or free (I'm sorry, I will not barter a logo for life coaching sessions or for a collection of portrait photos. Not now, at least.)

Responding to the seemingly-legitimate posts can take a long time, as it often involves researching their business/web site and possibly building a PDF of work samples specific to their stated needs. Once submitted, 90% never respond. I've gotten a bit of work and may get more, but overall it often feels like a pointless exercise.

The other night, after spending a few hours responding to a handful of posts I found myself wondering what my response must look like from the other end of this cyber-tube. How am I presenting myself compared to other candidates? How does my portfolio compare to theirs? Are their tones casual? Formal? Is my rate on the high end or the low end? How many other people are even out there in this emerald burg, reading this same post on this same night, investing a packet of hope in a collection of emails?

I devised an experiment to answer these questions. Yesterday afternoon I created a decoy post of my own, modeled after many of the same vague posts I have responded to. Here is a shot of the post:

The text reads:
Logo design needed (Seattle)
Startup retail boutique needs a logo designed and possibly some posters and brochures down the road. Please include examples of your work or a link to your web site as well as a quote.

(Side note, this is actually not the first time I have been involved in a Craigslist misrepresentation. There is a fantastic story about a certain Mexican rug afficianado named Mr. Dave Tapestry, but that story is for another time.)

I published this post at about 4:30 yesterday afternoon, wondering if I would get any response to such a vague post. By 5:00 I had two responses, both including price quotes for my logo. Response #1 quoted $2,500 and up. Response #2 quoted $45. So there you go. With two responses I answered my question about price quotes. All over the place. It's now 9:00pm the following day, so the post has been up for about 28 hours and I have received 90 responses. 90! I guessed 10 or 20.

I have read about 20 of them so far and plan to read them all. That's where the feeling dirty comes in. Some of the responses are so sincere, you can almost hear them begging "please" between the lines. Every one of these responses has a tiny bit of hope affixed to it, just like I affix a bit of hope to every response I post in earnest, assuming there is actual work on the other end instead of just a colleague conducting market research. Many of them sound friendly, like folks I may enjoy talking design over a beer.

Now, misrepresentation aside, this is also an extremely interesting window into a world of regional artists who might not otherwise be collected into one place, virtual or otherwise. The portfolios presented form an incredible variety of talent. I can't think of a better way to grasp such a comprehensive snapshot of design trends in the Seattle area right now. Of course, most of these are freelance folks, so the major studios are left out, but that's part of what makes this collection so unique is that these are the little guys who are designing for the small local businesses. Nike, Coke, Starbucks, Microsoft - these don't show up in this portfolio collection, but what do show up are visual identities for boutique clothing shops and restaurants, realtors and pawn shops, pet grooming and catering services.

The artistic styles on display are as varied as the clients they serve. Some portfolios include photography work, some include packaging. Some people have worked in the industry for decades, others are fresh out of school. Some are gifted illustrators, brilliant designers or visionary photographers. Others, well, others aren't quite so brilliant. All of them need work and are looking to use their skills to literally pay the bills. With two or three posts a day and 90 responses, there is nowhere near enough work to sustain the workforce. In a way, I feel better knowing that I may not get a response simply because there are too many to filter through. But I also realize how tough this search is and that when I do get to actually do some work, I had better make it count and hope for continued patronage and referrals because I may never get another chance. As far as quality of work goes, I honestly feel comforted to judge my own work somewhere in the middle - showing more skill and design sense than some but also seeing countless avenues for inspiration and improvement.

I'll pull the ad soon. Maybe 100 is a good round number to end upon. Now that I see my ad responses are swimming in a sea of portfolios, I can examine them and take steps to make mine float to the top. I won't need to perform my experiment again any time soon. A sincere and heartfelt thanks to all the local designers for playing along.