I got sent this through coroflot the other day but can’t help think it is a scam, as well it just looks like the standard scam email. Anyone else get this?
Dear xxxxxxxxx,
We are ZHONGJIA DESIGN COMPANY, now we are looking for a Senior Creative Director. After having a view of your design, we think you are the one we want to work with, your style is fit for our company’s design style.
Our conmpany is a very famous and experienced one in this design industry in china. we have a professional and international design team, regular clients such as TISSOT,SWATCH,ESPRIT,ONLY,JACK&JONES,PUMA,SAMSONITE,SPEEDO etc, we really hope a deep communication with you!
I have gotten a few contacts from different Chinese manufacturers. I’ve never followed up on them so it is hard to say if they are spam or not. I know a couple of the guys on here are Westerners working out of China or HK or have done that in the past, so someone might have some better guidance. I’ve always been wary, but also curious about these kinds of things.
Never heard of it and not easy to find without a city name. Zhongjia seems to be a very common name in many provinces, but based on the client list it looks like they should be closer to Hong Kong. When i try to find them most locations look closer to Shanghai.
Thanks for the replies, I’m thinking it is spam as my portfolio is exhibition/furniture design based and the companies listed are product/fashion. Shame really as it would be nice to work away from my native UK.
China is where the manufacturing is done, and China needs western designers for western markets. Nothing seems to indicate a obvious scam. There is no doubt going to be more and more back and forth between western designers and forward thinking Chinese manufacturers.
While what you say is true it is also a fact that many design firms in China have used emails like these to do things such as gain good quality photos of products from US firms in order to a) put on their web sites as there own or b) publish books of new products for the purposes of copying styles. The fact that there is no outward sign of spam is what worries me.
May be legitimate, but at the same time maybe not. I prefer the Chinese custom of becoming close friends before business partners as it protects both parties in such situations.
Everyone should pay close attention to Tim’s advice. It is great to be trusting of ones fellow man but when working with Asia you need to understand that they have a completely different culture and what is deemed acceptable or common practice is not the same as in North America. And although the goverment is starting to recognize that they need to govern some business practices better, (i.e global patent infringement) it has not happened yet.
I think that is one thing that should be offered as a class or taught in ID (interacting with Asian culture) Take for example how the word “yes” is used in some instance, when asking your Asian partners if they can do something and they respond with a Smile, and simple head bow and a Yes. interpretation : yes we will try… this miss communication can kill your dead lines!
Strangely enough I got the same email yesterday afternoon and have been thinking about replying to it. Similarly my coroflot portfolio is Exhibtion Design based and I can see that it’s likely that its been a bit of a scatter-gun approach to finding new designers and/or Freelancers.
I’m probably going to reply but as everyone else has stated I’ll play it quite carefully and not commit to anything without be sure of it first.
If they are thisZhoingjia Design Company I wouldn’t forsee much trouble contacting them. Then again, just about anyone can build a website, and list anyone as a previous client…
Same here, and they also contacted me. After graduation, when I was looking for work I responded to one of these and they followed up with a “test project” and wanted me to provide designs for them to see if I was a good fit, figured it was just a scam to get free work.
This is one thing that bugs me about the Coroflot portfolios, If I don’t have my status set to seeking fulltime or freelance, DON’T contact me with offers! It’s flattering, but annoying…Sometimes I feel bad because some of them are very legit, but I don’t respond, I think my status should be enough to tell people my availability. Is that bad?
I don’t think it is bad. It is essentially a cold call, so it is your call if you want to respond or not. Sometimes I send them the portfolio of a friend who is looking just to build the relationship both with friends and the company, if it is a company I want to do that for.
FWIW I’ve worked with a few Chinese manufacturers that contacted me in this way (or by email). Have found them to be trustworthy and always willing to pay a deposit upfront.