Well said Dan. My point of view exactly.
I think Core77 is probably the most active and influential online design forum about, and admin should do what they can to set the right example, and uphold this profession. It’s really wrong to see creative professions quickly being devalued and affected by these people setting up bidding/competition sites, to make money at our expense.
You see, I was quite interested in a clock design competition. I like the subject, I have a bit of free time on my hands, and I could do with adding a different piece to my portfolio. But only if I thought that it was a fair deal, and it didn’t feel like I was being taken advantage of. This obviously isn’t, as it would be apparent if it was. Then you reply with the same, expected, overly-friendly, marketing rubbish. God I hate these type of companies popping up everywhere these days.
Here’s a design competition for you. How do you prevent companies like desall.com, freelancer.com etc. from devaluing our profession? I’ll let you know what you get paid, once you’ve done the work and handed it over.
In all seriousness, a solution needs to be found.