Hey!
Check this awesome contest being run by Globe and West49. you can enter by going to www.globe.tv/designashoe
A pretty Sick prize is up for grabs!
ELIGIBILITY
- The Contest is open to all legal residents of Canada who are thirteen (13) years of age or older as of the first day of the Contest Period, excluding all residents of the province of Quebec.
Should this be posted on a “Canadian only” forum?
No need for a Canadian Only forum, (since when is the rest of this board US only), but interesting it a Canadian contest but the postal address is in California?
Prize doesnt sound so “sick” though…cheap way to get free design work, IMHO.
Perhaps I suggest though to move to the footwear forum?
R
Richard: I know this forum is not US only and that is one of the best things here 
, in fact I’m not from the US.
Sorry but maybe I’m just mad at this kind of contests. We as designers should recognize the value of our work and don’t give it away just for a couple of shoes. Read this: Once submitted, artwork becomes the property of the Contest Sponsors. As you say it looks like a nice way to get free design just for a pair of shoes… doesn’t sound very professional to me either.
Guys, you are doing business here. If you want to communicate that design is valuable for you, then you should treat is as such.
Besides, also give it a try an think globally. Skating is not practiced in Canada only. Maybe if you company grows you can try to reach other markets too. It would be wise then to have input from designers/skaters from other places as well.
Sorry but maybe I’m just mad at this kind of contests. We as designers should recognize the value of our work and don’t give it away just for a couple of shoes. Read this: Once submitted, artwork becomes the property of the Contest Sponsors. As you say it looks like a nice way to get free design just for a pair of shoes… doesn’t sound very professional to me either.
I agree to your point. Contests are user/desinger generated content are fine, but for sure there has to be some value for both the company and designer. My thoughts are that perhaps this particular contest is maybe not really targeted towards designers anyhow. Its really just making some pattern or graphic on top of an existing style. In that case, I guess it would be fun for a young skater kid with a bit of creativity and kinda cool to have your design sold at a shop.
But if targeted to designers, im not so sure…
As for the internation focus, perhaps its a legal requirement? Reading that it also excludes Quebec, it sounds like more legal than market based…
dunno.
R
Cut them a bit of slack.
Contests always have been and always will be “idea grabs”. Getting the exposure is, arguably, just as valuable as payment to a young designer. Don’t like the process? Don’t enter. As an “experienced designer” I would enter just for kicks (pardon the pun). To expand my portfolio, and maybe to win some new shoes.
As for Canadian only, there may be some binding Canadian laws that prevent them from making this global. Canada gets very uppity when it comes to “Canadian Content” in most all markets. i.e. Canadian radios are mandated to play 20% (I think that’s the number) of Canadian Born music. The thinking is that it allows the local artists exposure sitting next to the US glamour machine.
Value is subjective. Just like our field. You might valuate your design in dollars and cents, but others might not. A contest is not devaluing design. My experience with contests is that in the end, they will get what they pay for.
good point about value and recognition.
im starting a new thread about design competitions now… would be interested to hear
more thoughts about the subject and dont want to lead this thread off topic.
here Design Competitions
R
Prize doesnt sound so “sick” though…cheap way to get free design work, IMHO.
please don’t misconstrue, rkuchinsky because you are obviously someone who’s already established and working in the field while i am still just an ID graduate languishing at a job utterly unrelated to design, but i really think that a cynical comment.
i mean, one idea, one concept, out of hundreds that must run through the heads of designers on a daily basis,…is it really that bad to once in a while do something for free before/once you’ve got your foot into the door? didn’t we all design for fun at one point? didn’t we all fantasize about getting a design out there and the recognition would be both satisfaction and payment enough?
I don’t know…maybe I’m idealistic or maybe you’re slightly jaded (or i’m not jaded enough), but i really think that in this competitive field where everyone is fighting for that break into the business, a company providing an opportunity to aspiring designers to get their name and concepts out there isn’t the worst thing in the world. it provides one with inspiration, purpose, drive and maybe in the end, the chance to put some real-world stuff into a portfolio.
i just re-read the thread and think that my comments would be more appropriately aimed at cuototo’s statement. [/quote]
Globe footwear’s world HQ is in Austrailia. Its North American HQ is in the LA area.
Its Canadian only because the shoe is probably an exclusive for the Canadian skate shop West 49.
As far as the contest goes, I have been the “judge” of a few “design contests” for the skate company I worked for in a past life. They usually end with tremendously lowered expectations as the design either is so bad or is so limited in scope that it tanks at retail or so impossible and expensive to produce it must be watered down. Usually these “contests” are initiated without development’s knowledge and or advice in order to generate some kind of custom hype.
BUT there are often a few gems that pop out from super talenetd kids with too much time on their hands… 
They usually end with tremendously lowered expectations as the design either is so bad or is so limited in scope that it tanks at retail or so impossible and expensive to produce it must be watered down. Usually these “contests” are initiated without development’s knowledge and or advice in order to generate some kind of custom hype.
This is the “get what they pay for” I mentioned earlier.
Sometimes you just have to smile, pat them on the head and humor them enough so they go back to their cubicles. At which point you roll your eyes make twirling gestures with your finger by your ear and get back to concentrating on the problems and battles that are really worth your time. Such as: How the f*ck am I going to cut $1.50 out of a $39.99 retail shoe so they can keep their 60% margin? .
Such as: How the f*ck am I going to cut $1.50 out of a $39.99 retail shoe so they can keep their 60% margin? .
Who says Industrial Design isn’t a commodotized field? 
Hey, nobody is trying to be cynical here.
i mean, one idea, one concept, out of hundreds that must run through the heads of designers on a daily basis,…is it really that bad to once in a while do something for free before/once you’ve got your foot into the door? didn’t we all design for fun at one point? didn’t we all fantasize about getting a design out there and the recognition would be both satisfaction and payment enough?
With that thinking any company would never pay for design services. Is NOT ok if somebody grabs your work for free. You are trying to make money right? You are not working just for fun.
I don’t know…maybe I’m idealistic or maybe you’re slightly jaded (or i’m not jaded enough), but i really think that in this competitive field where everyone is fighting for that break into the business, a company providing an opportunity to aspiring designers to get their name and concepts out there isn’t the worst thing in the world. it provides one with inspiration, purpose, drive and maybe in the end, the chance to put some real-world stuff into a portfolio.
If you want to get a job, my best advice is to work on your portfolio. I think that in rare ocations the best design wins in a contest. Going even further, the best people is always so busy that don’t have time for contests. I personally think that most of them give very little credit. If your portfolio is strong enough it will do the job.
all i’m trying to say is that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with contests like this. they stoke that competitive fire that drives us all to do our best. you mean to tell me you don’t need motivation at all? ever? that you are always on your game and that you know that there’s no one better out there? that you don’t ever feel the need to see what else is out there, what others can do and how you compare to them? if that’s the case, then hats off to you sir, you have supreme confidence in your skills that would make michael jordan blush.
speaking of mj, you think he liked shooting around by himself or playing competitively against other people?
best people is always so busy that don’t have time for contests
there’s a need for contests and opportunities like this and just because you enter doens’t make you mediocre, less talented or someone with no life/time on their hands. check out kicksguide.com, they have a monthly constest which has opened the door to many aspiring designers who are trying to get their name out there and garner some recognition.
With that thinking any company would never pay for design services. Is NOT ok if somebody grabs your work for free. You are trying to make money right? You are not working just for fun.
hmmm, what about internships?
hmmm, what about internships?
What about internships? I hope you aren’t inferring that internships should be unpaid.
I realize that this isn’t on topic, but if you are using an intern…pay them. Period. Even if it is minimum wage. Last I checked non-paid work of any type is bordering on slavery. If you don’t like the term slavery, try serfdom, or indentured servant. All of which went the way of the dodo long before I was born…at least in open practice.
It is my opinion that all work, no matter how “menial” must be compensated for. Knowledge transfer is not sufficient payment.
not at all. they SHOULDN’T be, but let’s face it, some of them, unfortunately, are. my college internship was mandatory for me to graduate and it was for a small design company, and so basically, my 120 hours went unpaid. it doesn’t mean that i wasn’t skilled enough to get money and it doesn’t mean that the company was a mean corporation trying to pinch every penny til snot comes out of abe’s nose, it just means ideal circumstances aren’t always available. i may have not collected design money for my work, but the knowledge they dropped and the real-world experience was invaluable and i’ll always be thankful for that opportunity.
Just do your work and try to be better than yourself, besides, design is NOT about inspiration. We are designers not artists, and when you get paid to deliver you don’t sit there waiting for inspiration.
that you don’t ever feel the need to see what else is out there,
I love to see good work! I always try to spend time doing it.
speaking of mj, you think he liked shooting around by himself or playing competitively against other people?
I couldn’t tell. I don’t know him in person and I don’t like basketball. Anyway, he es not an IDer. Very different story. But now that I think, if you translate the same situation do design, it would be team playing, not being better than your co workers. The company/studio as a whole needs to be better than the competition. This would be by delivering a better value to the clients (internal and external) in the form of products and/or services.
there’s a need for contests and opportunities like this
There are already a bunch of good design contests.
and just because you enter doens’t make you mediocre, less talented or someone with no life/time on their hands.
I didn’t say that.
check out kicksguide.com, they have a monthly constest which has opened the door to many aspiring designers who are trying to get their name out there and garner some recognition.
Yes I know about this kind of contests and I think they are very cool. I believe that cgtalk also has something like that. But it is also a very different case. There you are working for fun and you know that work is not going to be taken by a company to make profits.
what about internships?
They should be paid, at least a minimum for the expenses. Companies are also getting benefits for that.
I work as a Footwear Designer for the Globe HQ in OZ. Never heard of this project before. West49 is one of our main accounts in Canada so this may be a canadian exclusive or something fun I guess. As far as ‘free design work’ we are better than that.
i work as a footwear designer at the Globe HQ in Oz too…
Unlike Jbo (who works in the champagne room at the top of the gold-plated staircase that i am not allowed near) I can assure you that i am definately NOT better than that and that i wouldn’t think twice about stealing from you starving little rats.
you are like subhuman slave-creatures to us industry vampires.